Digital Commons Network^™

Managing Climate Change Through Biological Sequestration: Open Space Law Redux, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Climate change management involves strategies that mitigate its causes and adapt human communities to its consequences. This article describes a legal strategy that does both: a national biological sequestration policy. This policy will increase the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that biological sequestration currently removes from the atmosphere and will enable human settlements to adapt to the harsh effects of a changing climate, while realizing a number of other objectives that preserved open space preservation achieves. The article sketches the influences of international and national climate change law, which largely ignore the benefits of biological sequestration on privately owned land …

Land Use For Energy Conservation And Sustainable Development: A New Path Toward Climate Change Mitigation, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Land use tools and techniques have impressive potential to reduce energy consumption, improve the economy, and mitigate climate change. This article explores the little understood influence of local land use decision-making on energy conservation and sustainable development and how it can mitigate climate change if properly assisted by the federal and state governments. The construction and use of buildings combined with extensive vehicular travel throughout the nation’s human settlements consume large amounts of energy, and much of that consumption is highly inefficient. By enforcing and enhancing energy codes, encouraging the use of combined heat and power and district energy systems, …

Hydrofracking: Disturbances Both Geological And Political: Who Decides?, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

There is much controversy about the mining of shale gas through a process known as hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) in the Marcellus Shale formation, one of the largest shale gas areas in the world. A debate is raging about its economic benefits and environmental impacts as the New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) considers what standards to require when it issues permits to drillers. New York State law gives permitting authority to DEC and calls into question the historical home rule authority of localities to control the location and land use impacts of gas wells, through comprehensive planning, zoning, …

The Rio+20 Process: Forward Movement For The Environment?, Ann Powers

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This commentary summarizes the events at the recent UN Conference on Sustainable Development, commonly referred to as Rio+20, noting both the role of official national delegations and the diversity of non-state parties that were involved in a variety of venues at and around Rio+20. It sketches the background of sustainable development efforts, maps the road from the original 1992 Rio Earth Summit to the 20th anniversary gathering, and comments on the Conference’s outcomes and their implications for international law and legal institutions. In answer to the much debated question of whether the Rio+20 was a success or a failure, or …

Regulatory Takings And Property Rights Confront Sea Level Rise: How Do They Roll?, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Under the Beach and Shore Preservation Act, the State of Florida is authorized to conduct extraordinarily expensive beach renourishment projects to restore damaged coastal properties. The statute advances the State’s interest in repairing the damage to the coastal ecosystem and economy caused by hurricanes, high winds, and storm surges. The effect of a renourishment project conducted under the statute is to fix the legal boundary of the littoral property owner at an Erosion Control Line. Plaintiffs in Walton County v. Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. claimed that the statute took their common law property rights to their boundary, which would, …

Reflections On Intellectual Hybridity, Kimala Price

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

Drawing from the growing literature on interdisciplinarity and my own experiences as an intellectual hybrid, I discuss the personal and institutional challenges inherent in crossing disciplinary boundaries in the academy. I argue that boundary crossing is a natural occurrence and that the issue of (inter)disciplinarity is a matter of degree and of determining who gets to define the boundaries. Defining boundaries is not merely an intellectual enterprise, but also a political act that delineates what is, or is not, legitimate scholarship. This issue is especially salient to women's and gender studies during times of economic distress and educational budget cuts.

An Overview Of Online Resources For Climate Adaptation Policies Relating To New England Regional, State And Local Municipalities, Nels Schnobrich

Sea Grant Law Fellow Publications

No abstract provided.

Necessarily Unpredictable - Oil Spill Risks Beyond The Horizon, Jamison E. Colburn

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Importing Democracy: Promoting Participatory Decision Making In Russian Forest Communities, Maria Tysiachniouk, Errol E. Meidinger

Contributions to Books

Published in Environmental Democracy Facing Uncertainty, Cécilia Claeys & Marie Jacqué, eds.

This paper describes how the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) jump-started democratic institutions in Russian rural communities to create a basis for social, environmental, and economic modernization within the Russian forestry sector. In Russia’s post-soviet markets and institutions, a host of multinational companies and large transnational environmental organizations sought to promote the restructuring of Russia’s legal and economic infrastructure and active subsidiaries in Russia. In order for modern forestry approaches to be imported, management practices that had developed in the West needed to be adapted to Russia’s …

Reading The Standing Tea Leaves In American Electric Power Co. V. Connecticut, Bradford C. Mank

University of Richmond Law Review

The U.S. Supreme Court by an equally divided vote offour to four affirmed the Second Circuit's decision finding standing and jurisdiction in the case in American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut. While not binding as precedent beyond the Second Circuit,the case offers clues to how the Court is likely to rule in future standing cases. This article discusses the likely identities of the four Justices on each side of the standing issue in the case, as well as how Justice Sotomayor might have voted if she had not recused herself. Furthermore, the article examines how the decision expand- ed on …

Richmond Law Magazine: Winter 2012

Richmond Law Magazine

Features:

Courage and Independence

How Shall the Constitution be Enforced?

Law Weekend 2011

Justice for All

Solar Energy Development On The Federal Public Lands: Environmental Trade-Offs On The Road To A Lower Carbon Future, Robert L. Glicksman

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The federal government has endorsed more extensive use of the federal public lands for the production of solar power, both to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change and to bolster the security of domestic energy supplies. Spurred by grant money made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2010 approved nine utility-scale solar projects on public lands in California and Nevada. These projects were designed to avoid adversely affecting the habitats of endangered and threatened species that frequent the desert southwest and cultural resources important to …

The Politics Of Clean Energy: Moving Beyond The Beltway, Joseph P. Tomain

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article argues that the United States can achieve a new and smart energy policy and that we are taking active steps in this direction. Off of the Hill, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, there is clear thinking about clean energy. Consider President Obamas choice for Secretary of Commerce, John Bryson. Bryson has been the CEO of a public electric utility, a founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and sits on the boards of such organizations as Boeing and Disney and clean energy firms like Coda Automotive and BrightSource Energy exactly the right job description for a clean energy advocate. …

Can We Regulate Our Way To Energy Efficiency? Product Standards As Climate Policy, Noah M. Sachs

Law Faculty Publications

In this Article, I demonstrate that the regulatory strategy for energy efficiency is working. Although information disclosure, financial incentives, and other softer alternatives to regulation play a vital role in reducing energy demand, these should be viewed as complements to efficiency regulation, rather than replacements. The regulatory approach has led to substantial cost and energy savings in the past, it has enjoyed bipartisan political support, and it targets products and behaviors that are difficult to address through other policy tools. Given the politics of climate change in the United States, which make federal carbon taxes or a cap-and-trade system infeasible, …

Using Tort Law To Understand The Causation Prong Of Standing, Luke Meier

Fordham Law Review

Under current Supreme Court case law, a plaintiff does not have Article III standing to sue in federal court unless that plaintiff can demonstrate “causation.” The term “causation” is ubiquitous within the law. Because of the frequency with which the term appears in various legal contexts, however, the conceptual analysis associated with that term can vary. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has never clearly established the conceptual analysis necessary for making the causation determination within standing law. Consequently, there is confusion on this question. This Article addresses that confusion by relying on causation terms and concepts fully developed within tort law. …

Scientific Integrity: The Perils And Promise Of White House Administration , Heidi Kitrosser

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lawns And The New Watershed Law, Asmara M. Tekle

Marquette Law Review

None

Conservation Easements And Perpetuity: Till Legislation Do Us Part, Richard Brewer

Law and Contemporary Problems

Brewer talks about conservation easements and perpetuity. Although conservation easements have many appealing features, their drawbacks have caused some observers to see the heavy reliance on them by land trusts as a weakness with possibly serious consequences. The protection provided may be fragile or, at least, of unproven dependability.

Baselines Newsletter, No. 8, Summer/Fall 2011, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Baselines: The Natural Resources Law Center Newsletter (2007-2011)

No abstract provided.

Alternative Strategies For Managing Pharmaceutical And Personal Care Products In Water Resources, Gabriel Eckstein, George William Sherk

Faculty Scholarship

In recent decades, concern has grown over the presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in water. This concern stems from the possibility that the presence of PPCPs in water supplies may pose a threat to both human and environmental health. Such threats may be both direct (e.g., exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds) and indirect (e.g., emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria). The water treatment and wastewater treatment community has been especially concerned over PPCPs because of PPCPs ubiquitous nature and their ability to persist or only partially degrade in water and during wastewater treatment. Studies done over the past …

Driving Forces: Police Fatalities, Carol Servino

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Law enforcement is an inherently risky occupation. The number of traffic-related fatalities for law enforcement officers in the U.S. during the past 13 years has been increasing; however, the number of fatalities for the general population in motor vehicle traffic incidents declined during the same time period.

The federal government reports that federal motor vehicle safety standards aswell as behavioral and vehicle safety programs implemented by state and local law-enforcement agencies contributed to the downward trend for the general public.

What accounts for the pattern and problem with police driving-related deaths?

Environmental Degradation In The Mesopotamian Marshlands: A Case Study In Legal Deficiencies, Kellie Ann Furr

Southeastern Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Why Do Some Nations Have More Renewable Energy Policies?, Melissa Dahl

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Some nations have considerably more renewable energy policies than others and this research is attempting to discover why. Renewable energy use is quickly growing in our world and has become a major topic in today’s politics. Existing literature suggests various theories as to why some nations have more renewable energy policies than others. I test these theories with data from two major data sources; REN21, the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, and the International Energy Agency. I anticipate that nations with a larger number of effective political parties, higher GDPs, and larger population would have more renewable …

Population Health Through Inclusive Urban Planning: Healthier Communities And Sustainable Urban Development In Indian Cities, Shriya Malhotra

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Practically Grounded: Convergence Of Land Use Law Pedagogy And Best Practices, Patricia E. Salkin, John R. Nolon

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Motions 2011 Volume 47 Number 5, University Of San Diego School Of Law Student Bar Association

Newspaper, Motions (1987-2019)

No abstract provided.

The Essential And Growing Role Of Legal Education In Achieving Sustainability, John C. Dernbach

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Baselines Newsletter, No. 7, Winter/Spring 2011, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Baselines: The Natural Resources Law Center Newsletter (2007-2011)

No abstract provided.

Destructive Coordination, Charles K. Whitehead

Cornell Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Critical Resource Or Just A Wishing Well? A Proposal To Codify The Law On Transboundary Aquifers And Establish An Explicit Human Right To Water, Justin Carlson

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.