Digital Commons Network^™

The Constitutionality Of California's Cap-And-Trade Program And Recommendations For Design Of Future State Programs, Thomas Alcorn

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Global climate change has emerged as one of the greatest challenges of our time. While action has stalled on the national stage, states have started to take action to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Confronted with the risk of severe impacts that could cost it tens of billions of dollars annually by the end of the century, California has taken the lead and developed the first comprehensive cap-and-trade program in the nation and seeks to achieve significant reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its economy. The success of California’s program will determine whether other states and the federal …

Permitting Problems: Environmental Justice And The Miccosukee Indian Tribe, Charles Prior

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians is a federally recognized tribe that works and resides in the Everglades region of the State of Florida. The Miccosukee have been battling lax water quality standards through lawsuits since the 1990’s. Recent rulings in federal court held that the State of Florida has failed to comply with the Clean Water Act and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to set nutrient criteria for the water bodies in the state of Florida until the Florida Department of Environmental Protection complies with the Clean Water Act.

This article uses the principles of environmental justice to analyze ways …

Mapping The Terrain Of Earth Jurisprudence: Landscape, Thresholds And Horizons, Anne Louise Schillmoller, Alessandro Pelizzon

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This paper investigates central ideas in the emergent field of Earth Jurisprudence. It suggests that development of conceptual and practical frameworks for an earth justice system predicated on rights of nature is currently at a nascent stage, but such ‘creative uncertainty’ provides scholars and practitioners with opportunities to identify and articulate new conceptual frameworks which avoid some of the hazards of human exceptionalism.

Part I suggests that the concept of ‘rights of nature’ rests upon contestable epistemological and ontological claims and that an effective Earth Jurisprudence will require a continual negotiation of interpretative disagreements and frameworks for action.

Part II …

The "Positive Effect" Escape Hatch: The Eleventh Circuit's New View Of The Catalyst Theory And The Resulting Difficulty For Plaintiffs To Receive Attorney Fees, Lindsay Schafer

Mercer Law Review

Environmental plaintiffs now have fewer opportunities to receive attorney fees in the wake of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit's decision in Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water Management District (Friends of the Everglades II). In this case the court further narrowed what plaintiffs' civil suits must accomplish to have a "positive catalytic effect." While many circuits, including the Eleventh Circuit, have focused on what it means for a party to be a "prevailing party" under various statutory schemes, and thus receive attorney fees, this case marks the first time the Eleventh Circuit has …

Environmental Protection Agency Consultations With Indian Tribes: An Intercultural Struggle Over Process Of 'Consent', Denise Scannell Guida

Publications and Research

On November 6, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed his final executive order on

Consultation and Coordination with Tribal Governments. It was his last attempt to establish meaningful consultation processes with American Indians in the development of federal environmental policies. Based on ongoing environmental issues between the two cultures and the rising concern for environmental justice, the United States government wanted to identify the necessary improvements in communication and coordination among tribal and federal environmental programs, specifically regarding issues of information exchange, and creating partnerships among stakeholders. An analysis of the executive order, and a case study of the U.S. …

A Mindful Environmental Jurisprudence?: Speculations On The Application Of Gandhi’S Thought To Mcwc V. Nestlé, Nehal A. Patel, Lauren Vella

Pace Environmental Law Review

We attempt to engage modern legal reasoning with Gandhi’s thought. We hope to speculate on what jurisprudence would look like if it were more mindful of the concepts central to Gandhi’s thought. By using Gandhi as an intellectual anchor, we hope to take a step toward creating a more “mindful jurisprudence” that implicitly incorporates into its reasoning the needs of environmental stewardship, disempowered populations, and the poverty-stricken. Because Gandhi’s thought has been discussed at length in environmental justice campaigns, we begin this effort by examining the relationship between environmental law and Gandhi’s thought. Given Gandhi’s commentaries on exploitative and oppressive …

Moving From Principles To Rights: Rio 2012 And Access To Information, Public Participation, And Justice, David Banisar, Sejal Parmar, Lalanath De Silva, Carole Excell

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Growth Of Environmental Justice And Environmental Protection In International Law: In The Context Of Regulation Of The Arctic’S Offshore Oil Industry, E.A. Barry-Pheby

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Seven Principles For Equitable Adaptation, Alice Kaswan

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Free, Prior, And Informed Consent: Implications For Transnational Enterprises, Tendai Zvobgo

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

A Legal Standard For Post-Colonial Land Reform, Amelia Chizwala Peterson

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

On Fertile Ground: The Environmental And Reproductive Justice Movements As A Unified Force Fo R Refo Rming Toxic Chemical Regulation, Angie Mccarthy

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

On Diversity And Public Policymaking: An Environmental Justice Perspective, Patrice Lumumba Simms

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Legal Tools For Environmental Equity Vs.Environmental Justice, Mike Ewall

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Editors' Note, Mark Borak, Bethany Peak

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

A Proposal For Addressing Violations Of Indigenous Peoples' Environmental And Human-Rights In The Inter-American Human Rights System, Natalia Gove

Student Works

International concerns in the areas of human rights, health, and environment have expanded considerably in the past several decades. International environmental law primarily focuses on environmental damage, rather than its impact on human beings. The focus of environmental treaties is primarily on constraining environmentally deleterious behavior, rather than preventing injuries to people. Part I of this paper will discuss the significance of environmental protection for indigenous peoples. Part II will analyze the linkage between environmental and human rights, as well as the lack of a direct enforcement mechanism for redressing violations of environmental rights. It will also describe the existing …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Environmental and Sustainability Law

No abstract provided.

What Does Environmental Justice Mean In An Era Of Global Climate Change?, Michael B. Gerrard

Journal of Environmental and Sustainability Law

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Sustainability To Meet The Climate Change Challenge, Michael Burger, Elizabeth Burleson, Rebecca M. Bratspies, Robin Kundis Craig, Alexandra R. Harrington, David M. Driesen, Keith H. Hirokawa, Sarah Krakoff, Katrina Fischer Kuh, Stephen R. Miller, Jessica Owley, Patrick Parenteau, Melissa Powers, Shannon M. Roesler, Jona M. Roesler

Journal Articles

This article presents a preliminary effort to capture the dialogue at the Environmental Law Collaborative’s inaugural Workshop. Attendees engaged in the re-conceptualization of sustainability in the age of climate change, premised on evidence that climate change is forcing changes in the norms of political, social, economic, and technological standards. As climate change continues to dominate many fields of research, sustainability is at a critical moment that challenges its conceptual coherence. Sustainability has never been free from disputes over its meaning and has long struggled with the difficulties of simultaneously implementing the “triple-bottom line” components of environmental, economic, and social well-being. …

The Political Landscape Of Hydraulic Fracturing: Methods Of Community Response In Central Arkansas, Alyssa M. Solis

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis looks at the current fracking debate on a national scale, before focusing specifically on how this debate is playing out in the landscape of Central Arkansas. Focusing on the lack of national regulation, the unique array of state regulations that have popped up are assessed in their effectiveness on the ground through speaking with residents of the area. The demographics of these residents are analyzed within an assessment of environmental injustice vulnerability. This ethnographic approach also compares the de jure v. de facto outcomes of these regulations through the narratives of residents working with organizations across the political …

Teaching Policy Instrument Choice In Environmental Law: The Five P’S, James Salzman

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Mayfly Mayday: The West Virginia Legislature Attempts To Redefine Compliance With The Narrative Water Quality Standards Through Senate Bill 562, Aaron S. Heishman, Robert G. Mclusky

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tidal Turmoil: Environmental Justice And Sea Level Rise In Hampton Roads: Norfolk Case Study, Michael Boyer, Erica Penn

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

The Patterns Of Pollution: Providing Evidence Of The Unequal Distribution Of Pollution In Environmental Justice Communities, David Deganian

Environmental and Animal Law

The Center for International Law & Justice and the Environment, Development & Justice Project Present the Third Annual Spring Environmental Justice Lecture featuring Professor David Deganian.

Climate Change Meets The Law Of The Horse, J.B. Ruhl, James Salzman

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The climate change policy debate has only recently turned its full attention to adaptation - how to address the impacts of climate change we have already begun to experience and that will likely increase over time. Legal scholars have in turn begun to explore how the many different fields of law will and should respond. During this nascent period, one overarching question has gone unexamined: how will the legal system as a whole organize around climate change adaptation? Will a new distinct field of climate change adaptation law and policy emerge, or will legal institutions simply work away at the …

Getches Wilkinson Center Newsletter, Winter/Spring 2013, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment Newsletter (2013-)

No abstract provided.

Book Review, David R. Boyd, The Environmental Rights Revolution: A Global Study Of Constitutions, Human Rights, And The Environment, Bradford Mank, Suzanne Smith

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

David R. Boyd’s book entitled, The Environmental Rights Revolution: A Global Study of Constitutions, Human Rights, and the Environment, provides a comprehensive overview of nations that have incorporated the right to a healthy environment in their constitutions. Throughout his research, Boyd analyzes the effectiveness of environmental protection provisions in national constitutions and seeks to determine whether constitutional provisions guaranteeing the right to a healthy environment have measurable, positive effects on the environment. His wide-ranging compilation and analysis of environmental rights provisions in numerous countries is an important contribution to international human rights literature. Although Boyd explains that treating the right …

The Challenges Of Adapting To Climate Change In San Francisco Bay, Tim Eichenberg

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Third Annual Environmental Law And Justice Symposium Issue: Introduction, Randall S. Abate, Richard D. Schulterbrandt Gragg Iii

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Could You Repeat That Please? Forty-Five Years Of Pesticide Experiments On People, Barbara Leiterman

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.