Digital Commons Network^™

Ecocentric Environmental Justice: Why We Should Go There And How We Can Get There, Jillian R. Houle

Pace Environmental Law Review

Environmental justice is necessary. It forces us to grapple with the fact that environmental burdens and benefits have been disproportionately divvied up across arbitrary race- and income-based lines, asks “what are you going to do about it?”, and offers solutions and answers to the problems it identifies. Everyone benefits from environmental justice. At the same time, environmental protection is necessary. Not only does environmental protection, by definition, protect the biotic and abiotic components of the natural world, but it further serves to protect humans, who unequivocally rely on the natural environment to sustain their collective life. Everything – living and …

Pace Financing: A Legal Guide To Energy And Water Efficiency Funding, James P. Cargas

PEEL Alumni Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Population: The Who Of Biodiversity Law, Andrew W. Torrance, Bill Tomlinson

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

This Article investigates the impacts of human population, including distribution and growth, on biodiversity at every level—the biosphere, ecosystems, communities, populations, and individual organisms. It assesses how legal frameworks around the world address the pressures of human population on biodiversity. This Article explores how factors such as population size and migration contribute to biodiversity loss, with a focus on diverse regions around the globe. This Article offers a comparative overview of population-related laws in regions including North and South America, Europe, Oceania, Asia, and Africa. Key legislation, like the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act, the UK’s Environment Act 2021, …

Pollution: The What Of Biodiversity Loss, Andrew W. Torrance, Bill Tomlinson

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

This Article examines the damage to biodiversity caused by anthropogenic pollution at all levels—to the biosphere, to ecosystems, to communities, to populations, and to individual organisms. It also analyzes pollution control laws across the globe and their efficacy in mitigating or preventing harm to biodiversity. The analysis covers all forms of pollution—air, water, and land—that threaten biodiversity, noting both improvements and ongoing challenges in different regions. The Article provides a comparative study of diverse jurisdictions, including North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia. It scrutinizes pivotal legislation such as the United States’ Clean Air Act, the UK’s Environment Act, and the …

Cancer Alley: Solutions For Effective Regulation And Enforcement Of Air Pollution, Lisa Lee

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Labor And Environment Entwined: A Radical Green New Deal And Just Transition In Appalachia, Anne Marie Lofaso, Nicholas F. Stump

West Virginia Law Review

In this Article, Professor Lofaso and Professor Stump propose a genuinely transformative Green New Deal and Just Transition in Appalachia. The Article opens by tracing the long history of the Appalachian labor and environmental movements. Next, the Article interrogates the common contention that the Appalachian environmental and labor movements are opposed. While this contention has substantial truth, more complex forces have been at work in the region. Fossil fuel industry elites, for instance, have wielded exaggerated “jobs versus environment” rhetoric to maximize profits and quash emergent solidarities among local workers, residents, and activists. This Article contends that a key solution …

21st Annual Diversity Symposium Dinner 2025, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

“Everybody Else Seems To Be Able To Get Help”: Rural Regulation, Access Loss, And Antigovernment Sentiment, Jennifer Sherman

West Virginia Law Review

This Essay draws upon two decades of the author’s research on rural United States communities to explicate ways in which the regulatory state has intervened in rural areas and economies, often with the claim of protecting land, natural resources, and/or wildlife. The outcomes are frequently disastrous for the human populations of those communities and generally are not planned for or mitigated by policy. The Essay argues that rural distrust of and aversion to government oversight is not caused primarily by ideological or cultural stances, but rather is an outcome of experiences of abandonment by the agencies that are meant to …

Environmental Geography And Law: Toward A Synthesis, Michaela Anang-Hadjicostandi, Sophia Borgias, Karrigan Börk, Ann M. Eisenberg, Guadalupe M. Franco, Cinnamon Carlarne Hirokawa, Keith H. Hirokawa, Jonathan London, Melinda Morgan, Jessica Owley, Shannon Roesler, Sonya Ziaja

Articles

This Article introduces the new interdisciplinary field of Environmental Geography and Law, which has deep roots in ecology, social science, and law. Environmental and natural resources laws are situated in specific times and places where the climate, ecosystems, history and political economy influence both the land and the law. These places drive and constrain the way law develops. In turn, the law shapes places, from the dispossession and forced migration of indigenous groups, to land development via railroad land grants, to patterns of resource extraction and infrastructure development. Past efforts to integrate law and geography have focused more on critical …

Unveiling A Hidden Hazard: A Deep Dive Into Forever Chemicals And The Urgent Need For Solutions, Katie L. Uszakiewicz

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

What Did Scotus Do To Wotus?, Hailey Rizzo

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The term “waters of the United States” has sparked half a century of debate among policymakers, judges, Supreme Court Justices, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Army Corps of Engineers, culminating in the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. This Article chronicles the interpretive history of “waters of the United States” within the context of wetlands and discusses the broader implications of the Sackett decision on the nation’s water bodies.

Sovereign Lands, Brent D. Chicken, Tanner M. Boyzuick

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Tfpa, Wildfire Mitigation, And The Dissemination Of Indigenous Knowledge, Lauren Palmer

Pace Environmental Law Review

The United States is experiencing a multitude of environmental issues across the country, including increasingly frequent and disastrous wildfires. Simultaneously, Indigenous persons are demanding their right to self-sovereignty and working to preserve intergenerational Indigenous Knowledge including cultural burning practices. Cultural burning is a practice of many Indigenous tribes that help environments and the species that comprise them, foster and grow. To further help tribes with their mission in keeping Indigenous Knowledge alive and to reduce the frequency and severity of destructive wildfires, this article argues the federal government should amend federal acts to provide Indigenous tribes with a greater opportunity …

Taking Back Control: Using The Takings Clause To Hold Animal Agriculture Responsible For Its Waste Problem, Rowan Aragon

Northwestern University Law Review

Between the mid-twentieth century and modern day, the animal-agriculture model has shifted from small farms to industrial operations. During that evolution, the negative externalities of animal-farming practices have intensified. One of those externalities—animal waste—has become particularly problematic. Because of the sheer number of animals raised in the United States for slaughter and dairy production, the magnitude of animal waste produced is overwhelming. To deal with this problem, animal farmers often liquefy the animal waste and then spray it onto open fields. In that spraying process, liquefied animal waste carries through the air and reaches nearby homes, coating those properties with …

Infrastructure, Equity And Climate Change: The Promise Of The Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act (Iija), Dante R. Gurule

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Overview Of Oil And Gas Activities In The Amazonian Territories, Leonardo Costa Da Fonseca, Marcio Pina Marques

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Article Iii Standing For Cercla Private Cost Recovery Actions: How The Test's Strained Logic Belies Its Authority, Jonathan M. Palacios

Fordham Environmental Law Review

This Note examines how Article III standing doctrine applies to

private plaintiffs’ cost recovery actions under § 107(a)(4)(B) of the

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act. A review of judicial decisions reveals inconsistencies

in the analysis of injury in fact and traceability, and suggests that

current Article III standing doctrine is misaligned with its purported

objectives. In response, this Note proposes a structured framework

for assessing injury in fact and a refined approach to analyzing

traceability that distinguishes between different forms of causal

uncertainty. These doctrinal adjustments should better align case

outcomes with Article III standing doctrine’s constitutional and …

Resistance: The Mura Struggle Against Canadian Potash Mining In Brazil’S Amazon, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr), Federal University Of Rio Grande Do Sul, Graduate Program In Law (Ppgd/Ufrgs), International Human Rights Program (Ihrp), University Of Toronto Jackman Law, Observatory Of Socio-Environmental Law And Human Rights In The Amazon (Odsdh/Ufam)

CLIHHR Reports & Policy Submissions

A comprehensive human rights and environmental report documenting the Mura Indigenous people’s resistance to Brazil Potash’s Autazes Potash Project in the Brazilian Amazon. The report details environmental risks, human rights violations, failures in consultation processes, litigation history, corporate accountability, and the ongoing struggle for land demarcation.

The Real Story Of Nepa Litigation In Clean Energy Permitting, Anna Mance

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Environmental protections and the processes of the administrative state are under attack. In recent years, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has drawn outsized criticism from across the political and legal spectrum as a major impediment to climate friendly infrastructure and the clean energy transition. NEPA enables private groups to challenge development through litigation. Critics are moving to strip public oversight over federal permitting based on claims that these private groups bring largely frivolous environmental claims to court, driving up costs for developers and delaying progress responding to climate change. But is this really true?

Drawing on an original dataset …

A Critical Juncture: The Convergence Of Natural Resource Management And Tribal Sovereignty, Anna Aleta Butterfield

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This portfolio reflects the work I’ve done in my four years as a dual degree student, pursuing a Master of Science in Environmental Studies and a juris doctorate degree, and focuses on policies and laws surrounding natural resource management. It touches on how those policies relate to and expand or constrict the exercise of sovereignty by indigenous populations.

This piece first considers the effects of plastic on salmon populations and those indigenous groups that rely on salmon for subsistence and cultural purposes. The remaining three pieces focus on various aspects of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes - Montana Water …

The Historic Superfund Listing Of The Lukachukai Mountains Mining District, Nadine Padilla

Faculty Scholarship

President Biden’s 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included, among its many provisions, a historic investment of $3.5 billion to be allocated toward cleanups under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund. This investment will help in addressing the problem of legacy pollution that impacts communities across the country. Approximately $1 billion will go towards clearing the backlog of 49 previously unfunded Superfund sites and will accelerate cleanup at over 85 current Superfund sites. Remaining funds will go towards launching cleanup efforts at 25 new Superfund sites. In a development that aligns with these broader cleanup …

Homelands Not Graveyards, M. Alexander Pearl

Faculty Articles

Within the last five years, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up several transformative cases affecting Native nations and federal Indian law jurisprudence. The Supreme Court’s decision in Arizona v. Navajo Nation is no different. This Article examines that decision and situates it within that legal history as well as the realities of present-day water resource availability. While recent decisions have shown the Court’s willingness to confirm fundamental components of federal Indian law, such as the legal tests for determining the persistence of reservation and the authority of Congress to enact the Indian Child Welfare Act, the Court’s examination of …

Pengakuan Hak Masyarakat Adat Dalam Hukum Pengelolaan Sumber Daya Alam: Studi Perbandingan Indonesia–Australia, Farid Al Hadana, Sukarman Sukarman, Farhan Margono, Hamzah Hamzah

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Meskipun terdapat pengakuan konstitusional di Indonesia dan Australia, hak-hak masyarakat adat dalam tata kelola sumber daya alam masih lemah perlindungannya, terutama karena kerangka kerja Indonesia yang terfragmentasi dan tersentralisasi gagal mewujudkan keadilan lingkungan. Makalah ini membandingkan rezim hukum Indonesia dan Australia terkait tata kelola lahan dan sumber daya masyarakat adat untuk mengidentifikasi bagaimana pengakuan dapat diubah menjadi hak yang dapat ditegakkan dan untuk merumuskan model reformasi yang berorientasi pada keadilan bagi Indonesia. Dengan menggunakan analisis hukum komparatif kualitatif, makalah ini menggabungkan observasi doktrinal terhadap yurisprudensi konstitusional, peraturan-undangan, dan yurisprudensi dengan pemeriksaan dokumen kebijakan dan konflik ilustratif yang melibatkan wilayah masyarakat …

The Biopiracy Of Traditional Knowledge In United States Patent Law, Hannah Green

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The United States intellectual property (“IP”) system is deeply intertwined with our country’s history and constitution. t is foundational in favoring young American inventors. George Washington signed the first patent act in 1790 in hopes of promoting the innovation and progress of science and useful arts. Yet, our patent system was also built around the Western tradition of individualism and competition, which failed to recognize the communal nature and traditional knowledge of tribal communities. This disparity allows the biopiracy of traditional knowledge to be lawful. This comment will explore the harmful toll that United States patent law has taken on …

Community Benefits And Alternative Energy Infrastructure Siting, Edward W. De Barbieri

Pace Environmental Law Review

This essay studies the increasing use of community benefits frameworks in the siting of alternative energy infrastructure. It begins with a discussion of the community benefits agreement movement, the types of agreements that fall under the community benefits agreement frame, as well as the use of community benefits agreements at local law, and in different geographic contexts. Next, it introduces the increasing use of community benefits legal tools in the context of wind energy infrastructure siting. The second part of this essay presents an example of an agreement to share community benefits particularly in the context of federal subsidies through …

A Transformative Era Of Action: How The Public Land And Private Sectors Are Realigning To Solve The Energy Transition And Climate Change, Roger Martella, Jillian Lavery, Michael O'Hora

Pace Environmental Law Review

Over the last 50 years, environmental laws have transformed the areas we inhabit—and Planet Earth—for the better. Since the daybreak of the environmental law movement in 1970, our air and water are clearer, the lands we navigate are cleaner, and the food and products we consume are safer. Unfortunately, this same legal framework has not met the same success when tackling two of the biggest challenges of ours and future generations: the energy transition and climate change. Since the Supreme Court empowered the Environmental Protection Agency to act on climate change over fifteen years ago, conventional environmental laws and policies …

Why We Need A Constitutional Right To Healthy Environment In Canada

Fordham Environmental Law Review

The increasing demand for constitutional recognition of the right to a healthy environment (‘RTHE’) has been a matter of public concern and debate in many countries, including Canada.2 This paper asks, will a constitutional RTHE within the Canadian Constitution add any value when statutes already exist to protect the environment (and thereby health)? The present environmental statutes work towards protecting the environment, and by protecting the environment, public health can be protected.3 Together, both of them form a ‘healthy environment’, ie., an environment that fosters a healthy life.4 This paper will argue that there is additional value in recognizing a …

Conservation Co-Governance As A Cure: Investigating Aotearoa New Zealand's Conservation Co-Governance Model As A Blueprint For Restoring Navajo Sovereignty In Managing Canyon De Chelly, Shana R. Herman

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Fighting Climate Gentrification In The Courts, Samantha Blend

Pace Environmental Law Review

Climate gentrification, a specific type of gentrification that occurs when the impacts of climate change displace lower-income communities, will likely increase in severity as climate change worsens. While policies such as inclusionary zoning may be the most efficient way to combat climate gentrification, litigation can fill gaps that may arise in such policies. This Note examines potential causes of action for climate gentrification litigation and their likelihood of success. Based on an examination of the different causes of action and their likelihood of success, this Note concludes that climate gentrification litigation can help legitimize the issue of climate gentrification and …

Breaking Ground: Understanding Indigenous Mining Disputes Through Negotiation Theory, Shaadie Ali

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.