Digital Commons Network^™

Environmental Law And Fossil Fuels: Barriers To Renewable Energy, Uma Outka

Vanderbilt Law Review

Renewable energy is gaining momentum around the globe, but the United States has only just begun to change its energy trajectory away from fossil fuels. Today, only about 10% of electricity in the United States is generated from renewable energy, and most of that comes from hydroelectric power plants that have been operating for many years. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects 30% of new capacity over the next twenty years will utilize renewable resources, without significant changes in U.S. energy policy, but at that pace renewable energy will still account for only 16% of generated electricity. These prospects stand …

Carrots And Sticks, From President Obama’S Solyndra And Beyond, Paul Boudreaux

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

No abstract provided.

Cooperative Federalism And Hydraulic Fracturing: A Human Right To A Clean Environment, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

United States natural gas production is likely to stunt the direction and intensity of renewable energy by up to two decades according to a MIT study. Gas will not provide a “’bridge’ to a low-carbon future if it erodes efforts to prepare a landing at the other end of the bridge.” Unconventional natural gas extraction need not become a “transition” to a new addiction. This article analyzes how cooperative federalism and inclusive decision-making can provide legitimacy and transparency when balancing property rights versus police powers to regulate natural gas production.

Energy And Environmental Justice: How States Can Integrate Environmental Justice Into Energy-Related Proceedings, James M. Van Nostrand

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The One Percent Problem, Kevin M. Stack, Michael P. Vandenbergh

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Parties frequently seek exemption from regulation on the ground that they contribute only a very small share to a problem. These one percent arguments are not inherently questionable; it can be efficient to exclude relatively small contributors. These arguments for exemption garner broad acceptance in part because they appeal to behavioral biases that induce individuals to discount or ignore small values. But when a regulatory problem can be solved only by regulating small contributors, accepting one percent arguments creates what we call the one percent problem. This Article shows that this general problem for regulation has particularly damaging effects on …

A Failure Of Conscience: How Pakistan’S Devastating Floods Compare To America’S Experience During Katrina, Oded Cedar

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Standing On Their Own: The Parallel Rights Of Young People To Participate In Planning Process Es And Defend Those Rights, Dawn Jourdan

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

How The Cercla Notification Requirements Facilitate The Creation Of Brownfields And What Epa Can Do To Address This Problem, Larry Schnapf

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Capturing Individual Harms, Katrina Fischer Kuh

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The aggregated lifestyles and behaviors of individuals impose significant environmental harms yet remain largely unregulated. A growing literature recognizes the environmental significance of individual behaviors, critiques the failure of environmental law and policy to capture harms traceable to individual behaviors, and suggests and evaluates strategies for capturing individual harms going forward. This Article contributes to the existing literature by approaching the problem of environmentally significant individual harms through the lens of environmental federalism. Using climate change and individual greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions as an exemplar, the Article illustrates how local information, local governments, and local implementation can enhance policies designed …

Harmonizing Climate Change Policy And International Investment Law: Threats, Challenges And Opportunities, Daniel M. Firger, Michael Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter responds to a chorus of commentary about the potential for conflict between the international investment law regime and an array of national and international actions being undertaken to mitigate and adapt to global climate change. Contrary to conventional wisdom, while some climate-friendly regulations may indeed be facially incompatible with the obligations imposed on states by typical international investment agreements (IIAs), many climate policies – especially those related to clean energy finance and technology transfer – involve principles common to foreign investment law and are largely compatible with that regime. Moreover, pending the unlikely negotiation of a single global …

Finding The Proper Forum For Regulation Of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Legal And Economic Implications Of Massachusetts V. Epa, George F. Allen, Marlo Lewis

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Natural Resources Law And Policy, Lawrence J. Macdonnell, Sarah F. Bates

Books, Reports, and Studies

This digital resource contains only an abstract, cover image and table of contents information from the published book.

Print copy of book is available in the University of Colorado’s Wise Law Library: http://lawpac.colorado.edu/record=b444104~S0

Contents: Introduction / Bruce Babbitt -- PART I : REFLECTIONS ON NATURAL RESOURCES LAW AND POLICY: Historical evolution and future of natural resources law and policy / Sally Fairfax, Helen M. Ingram, Leigh Raymond -- Ethical perspectives on resources law and policy : global warming and our common future / Sarah Krakoff -- Why care about the polar bear? : economic analysis of natural resources law and …

Siting Green Infrastructure: Legal And Policy Solutions To Alleviate Urban Poverty And Promote Healthy Communities, Alexandra Dapolito Dunn

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Green infrastructure is an economically and environmentally viable approach for water management and natural resource protection in urban areas. This Article argues that green infrastructure has additional and exceptional benefits for the urban poor which are not frequently highlighted or discussed. When green infrastructure is concentrated in distressed neighborhoods—where it frequently is not—it can improve urban water quality, reduce urban air pollution, improve public health, enhance urban aesthetics and safety, generate green collar jobs, and facilitate urban food security. To make these quality of life and health benefits available to the urban poor, it is essential that urban leaders remove …

Public Trust Limits On Greenhouse Gas Trading Schemes: A Sustainable Middle Ground?, Karl S. Coplan

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

There is a some consensus among economists, environmentalists, and politicians that some form of “cap and trade’ program is the appropriate regulatory mechanism to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions reductions necessary to avoid disastrous global climate disruptions. “Cap and trade” programs necessarily incorporate tradable emissions rights – essentially tradable rights to pollute. As such, they run into principled objection by some environmentalists who oppose the notion of creating economic rights in the global commons – essentially the “right to pollute.” This principled objection derives doctrinal support from the public trust doctrine – the ancient notion rooted in common law and …

Agenda: World Energy Justice Conference And Appropriate Technology Arcade, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law

World Energy Justice Conference (October 23-24)

The 2009 CEES Energy Justice Conference took place at the University of Colorado Law School on October 23rd and 24th, 2009. It featured 11 sessions, more than 40 speakers, and attracted over 200 attendees. The Conference brought together leading international and U.S. decision-makers in politics, engineering, public health, law, business, economics, and innovators in the sciences to explore how best to address the critical needs of the energy-oppressed poor (EOP) through long-term interdisciplinary action, information sharing, and deployment of appropriate sustainable energy technologies (ASETs).

The Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy (CJIELP) at the University of Colorado Law …

Climate Change, Consumption, And Cities, Alice Kaswan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Part I of this Article highlights the nation’s high level of energy consumption and argues that policies directed solely at tailpipes and smokestacks will fail to reach climate change goals. Part II of this Article observes that recently proposed federal legislation does not sufficiently address consumption. Part III argues that direct local land use and green building measures can and should play a critical role in reducing demand. Part IV recognizes that, notwithstanding the institutional and practical arguments in favor of local initiatives, significant barriers could slow their adoption and implementation. Part V argues that federal legislation could overcome obstacles …

Using Local Knowledge To Shrink The Individual Carbon Footprint, Katrina Fischer Kuh

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Entire texts have been devoted to exploring the meaning of the term “lifestyle” and sociological understandings of lifestyle are complex and nuanced.For present purposes, however, a more simple articulation of the term will suffice. Lifestyle can mean “mode of living,” including “patterns of action” and “patterns of ways of living.” Without rendering judgment, one observation that can fairly be made about the current lifestyles and associated behaviors of Americans is that they indirectly and directly lead to the emission of a high volume of greenhouse gases (“GHGs”).⁷ Although an American diplomat is said to have remarked in preparing for …

The History And Adjudication Of The Antonio Chavez Grant, Mark Schiller

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Slides: "Mitaku Oyasin" Means "We Are All Related", Bob Gough

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Bob Gough, NativeEnergy, Inc.

72 slides

Smart Energy Paths: How Willie Nelson Saved The Planet, Joseph P. Tomain

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In examining the need to move away from traditional energy policy and toward Smart Energy, the article draws a connection between physicist Amory Lovins and singer Willie Nelson. Both believe that our country's century-old traditional energy policy no longer meets our needs. Rather, they feel that such an antiquated policy ignores the challenges that the country and the world face today. Smart Energy is not only a promising vision of the future, it is the only realistic vision. It is pro-growth, because it promotes the development of new industries and new technologies. Smart Energy is protective of the environment by …

Book Review, Lakshman D. Guruswamy

Publications

No abstract provided.

Russian Floating Nuclear Reactors: Lacunae In Current International Environmental And Maritime Law And The Need For Proactive International Cooperation In The Development Of Sustainable Energy Sources, Douglas John Steding

Washington International Law Journal

During the second half of 2003, Russia announced plans to build barges carrying two nuclear reactors capable of supplying electricity to a town of fifty thousand people. Rapidly developing countries seem particularly interested in this proposal, as these reactors can meet their growing power needs. In addition, these floating nuclear reactors provide an alternative to coal, oil and natural gas, all sources of energy that contribute to global warming. These reactors, however, pose a substantial risk to the environment, particularly in light of Russia's lax environmental policies, and the design of the barges themselves make them susceptible to a wide …

Books Received, Natural Resources Journal

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

The Extension Of Legal Rights To Animals Under A Caring Ethic: An Ecofeminist Exploration Of Steven Wise's Rattling The Cage, Katrina M. Albright

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Resource Law Notes Newsletter, No. 50, Fall 2000, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Resource Law Notes: The Newsletter of the Natural Resources Law Center (1984-2002)

No abstract provided.

Resource Law Notes Newsletter, No. 49, Spring Issue, Mar. 2000, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Resource Law Notes: The Newsletter of the Natural Resources Law Center (1984-2002)

No abstract provided.

Resource Law Notes Newsletter, No. 48, Winter Issue, Jan. 2000, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Resource Law Notes: The Newsletter of the Natural Resources Law Center (1984-2002)

No abstract provided.

Resource Law Notes Newsletter, No. 47, Fall Issue, 1999, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Resource Law Notes: The Newsletter of the Natural Resources Law Center (1984-2002)

No abstract provided.

Resource Law Notes Newsletter, No. 46, Spring Issue, 1999, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Resource Law Notes: The Newsletter of the Natural Resources Law Center (1984-2002)

No abstract provided.

Resource Law Notes Newsletter, No. 41, Fall Issue, Aug. 1997, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Resource Law Notes: The Newsletter of the Natural Resources Law Center (1984-2002)

No abstract provided.