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Articles 1 - 30 of 88
Full-Text Articles in Law
Climate Zoning, Christopher Serkin
Climate Zoning, Christopher Serkin
Notre Dame Law Review
As the urgency of the climate crisis becomes increasingly apparent, many local governments are adopting land use regulations aimed at minimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The emerging approaches call for loosening zoning restrictions to unlock greater density and for strict new green building codes. This Article argues that both approaches are appropriate in some places but not in others. Not all density is created equal, and compact multifamily housing at the urban fringe may actually in-crease GHG emissions. Moreover, where density is appropriate, deregulation will not necessarily produce it. And, finally, green building codes will increase housing costs and so …
Energy Justice And Renewable Rikers, Rebecca Bratspies
Energy Justice And Renewable Rikers, Rebecca Bratspies
University of Miami Law Review
Unsustainable energy practices generate the lion’s share of global carbon emissions as well as staggering levels of deadly particulate pollution. Replacing the current dirty, fossil fuel-based system with affordable, clean energy is both a human rights imperative and a climate change necessity. This transition, which has already begun, creates the opportunity to do things differently. By confronting the structural racism embedded in existing energy structures, we can build a just transition rather than just a transition. This Article uses New York City’s Renewable Rikers project as a case study to explore how we might take advantage of the intersections between …
Catalyzing Climate Resilience In The Electric Utility Sector: Investor-Backed Utilities Must Prepare For The Approaching Storm, Jose J. Gonzalez
Catalyzing Climate Resilience In The Electric Utility Sector: Investor-Backed Utilities Must Prepare For The Approaching Storm, Jose J. Gonzalez
Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review
Communities and businesses that fail to take proactive measures will be devastated by the impacts of climate change. Across the United States, public and private entities have taken steps to protect companies and communities from climate change. However, financial restrictions and shareholder concerns have slowed such a response from the electric utility sector. This inaction has devastated communities such as Paradise, California and Lahaina, Hawaii. This Comment identifies how electric utility companies should utilize recently passed federal legislation, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, to finance large-scale projects to update America's power grid. This Comment also argues …
Big Oil Liability In Canada: Lessons From The Us And The Netherlands, David W-L Wu
Big Oil Liability In Canada: Lessons From The Us And The Netherlands, David W-L Wu
Dalhousie Law Journal
The number of nuisance and negligence tort claims in the US against “Big Oil” companies have grown significantly in the last five years. The Netherlands case of Milieudefensie et al v Royal Dutch Shell represents the first major success of such a claim internationally. While the US cases and Milieudefensie demonstrate starkly different approaches as to how to seek accountability from Big Oil for climate change harms, the increasing judicial engagement on these issues may mean the time is right for similar lawsuits in Canada. Three Canadian common law causes of action are examined: nuisance, negligence, and unjust enrichment. Defences …
Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under The Endangered Species Act, Eric Biber
Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under The Endangered Species Act, Eric Biber
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
Despite the devastating impact climate change will have on biodiversity, most legal scholars and policymakers are skeptical that the flagship statute for protecting biodiversity in the United States, the Endangered Species Act (ESA), should be deployed to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This skepticism has been driven by the concern that using the ESA to regulate greenhouse gases could lead to administrative issues, legal chaos, and political backlash that might endanger the Act overall.
In this article, I draw on three different elements to argue that the ESA could plausibly be used to regulate greenhouse gases. Specifically, I draw on recent …
Why Stop Grazing The Climate Commons?, Brigham Daniels
Why Stop Grazing The Climate Commons?, Brigham Daniels
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
Many have argued that climate change is the textbook example of a tragedy of the commons. Assuming that is correct, to make headway on climate change, we would expect an enforceable agreement that provides for global collective action. The tragedy of the commons assumes that those who cut back when others do not are—to use the formal language of game theorists—suckers. So, the last thing we would expect is a surge of unilateral action. Contrary to theory, for the past decade, unilateral climate action has flourished among governments, businesses, other organizations, and individuals.
Is the number of climate suckers growing …
The Great Climate Migration: A Critique Of Global Legal Standards Of Climate-Change Caused Harm, Mariah Stephens
The Great Climate Migration: A Critique Of Global Legal Standards Of Climate-Change Caused Harm, Mariah Stephens
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
Approximately 2.4 billion people, or about forty percent of the global population, live within sixty miles (one hundred kilometers) of a coastline. The United Nations (“U.N.”) determined that “a sea level rise of half a meter could displace 1.2 million people from low-lying islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with that number almost doubling if the sea level rises by two metres.” The U.N. also reports that “sudden weather-related hazards” have internally displaced an annual average of 21.5 million people since 2008. Within the next few decades, this number is likely to continue to increase. …
Editors' Note, Rachel Keylon, Meghen Sullivan
Editors' Note, Rachel Keylon, Meghen Sullivan
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
For more than two decades, the Sustainable Development Law and Policy Brief (“SDLP”) has published works analyzing emerging legal and policy issues within the fields of environmental, energy, sustainable development, and natural resources law. SDLP has also prioritized making space for law students in the conversation. We are honored to continue this tradition in Volume XXIII.
Introduction, Gabriella Mickel, Samantha Blend
Introduction, Gabriella Mickel, Samantha Blend
Pace Environmental Law Review
No abstract provided.
Oil, Indifference, And Displacement: An Indigenous Community Submerged And Tribal Relocation In The 21st Century, Jared Munster
Oil, Indifference, And Displacement: An Indigenous Community Submerged And Tribal Relocation In The 21st Century, Jared Munster
American Indian Law Journal
Coastal land loss driven by erosion and subsidence, and amplified by climate change, has forced the abandonment and resettlement of the remote Louisiana Indigenous community of Isle de Jean Charles. This relocation, to a relatively ‘safer’ site inland has led to division among the residents and will inevitably cause irreparable damage to the culture and traditions of the Houma and Biloxi Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogees peoples who called this small, isolated island home. Driven to the water’s edge by European colonization of south Louisiana, this community developed a dynamic subsistence lifestyle based on agriculture, hunting, and fishing which survived undisturbed …
About Sdlp, Sdlp
About Sdlp, Sdlp
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
The Sustainable Development Law & Policy Brief (ISSN 1552-3721) is a student-run initiative at American University Washington College of Law that is published twice each academic year. The Brief embraces an interdisciplinary focus to provide a broad view of current legal, political, and social developments. It was founded to provide a forum for those interested in promoting sustainable economic development, conservation, environmental justice, and biodiversity throughout the world.
Accounting For Climate Change In United States Regional Ocean Planning: Comparing The Obama And Trump National Ocean Policies To A Climate-Forward Approach, Taylor Goelz
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
No abstract provided.
“At What Cost?’: The Future Of Securities Enforcement In Climate Change Litigation, Angela Washington
“At What Cost?’: The Future Of Securities Enforcement In Climate Change Litigation, Angela Washington
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
No abstract provided.
Climate Gentrification: An Imminent Threat To Oceanfront Cities, Marcel Apple
Climate Gentrification: An Imminent Threat To Oceanfront Cities, Marcel Apple
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
Overview
Traditionally, gentrification occurs when real estate prices appreciate, leading to significant cultural change in low-income communities and involuntary displacement of low-income residents. In recent years, Miami, Florida is beginning to feel the impacts of “climate gentrification.” High-income buyers, who historically develop property close to the ocean, are affected by rising sea levels and increasingly look inland to develop areas on higher ground. The influx of real estate investments in these is expected to lead to spiking home prices and property taxes, forcing many longtime community members to abandon their homes.
Homeowners in these communities already report approaches from developers …
Energy Grid Decarbonization: A Tale Of Resistance And Compliance In Florida, Rachel Tennant
Energy Grid Decarbonization: A Tale Of Resistance And Compliance In Florida, Rachel Tennant
Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice
No abstract provided.
Tightening The Legal ‘Net’: The Constitution’S Supremacy Clause Straddle Of The Power Divide, Steven Ferrey
Tightening The Legal ‘Net’: The Constitution’S Supremacy Clause Straddle Of The Power Divide, Steven Ferrey
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
This article analyzes Constitutional Supremacy Clause tensions in preempting state law that addresses climate change and the rapid warming of the Planet. Net metering laws, enacted in 80% of U.S. states, are a primary legal mechanism to control and mitigate climate warming. This article analyzes three recent federal court decisions creating a preemptive Supremacy Clause stand-off between federal and state law and presents a detailed state-by-state analysis of which those 80% of states’ laws could be preempted by legal challenge.
If state net metering laws affected only ordinary technologies, this issue would not be front and center with global warming. …
Held V. State, Alec D. Skuntz
Held V. State, Alec D. Skuntz
Public Land & Resources Law Review
On March 13, 2020, a group of 16 Montana children and teenagers filed a complaint in the First Judicial District, Lewis and Clark County against the State of Montana and several state agencies. These young Plaintiffs sought injunctive and declaratory relief against Defendants for their complicity in continuing to extract and release harmful amounts of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. Plaintiffs premised their argument on the Montana Constitution’s robust environmental rights and protections. The Defendants filed a motion to dismiss which the District Court granted in-part and denied in-part. Held provides a roadmap for future litigation by elucidating …
When Fast-Tracking Slows You Down: Reconsidering Nationwide Permit 12 Use For Large-Scale Oil Pipelines, Megan Rulli
When Fast-Tracking Slows You Down: Reconsidering Nationwide Permit 12 Use For Large-Scale Oil Pipelines, Megan Rulli
Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)
The consumption of oil pervades everyday life in America. The network of pipelines transporting oil from field to consumer is largely invisible. Until a major news event bursts pipelines onto headlines, this indispensable and invisible system fuels the country without fanfare. At the same time, concern over global climate change has made new large-scale projects for fossil fuel extraction and consumption highly controversial. The Keystone XL (“KXL”) pipeline was originally designed to transport crude oil extracted from oil sands in Canada to the Gulf of Mexico for international export. After more than a decade of false starts, the project currently …
Vecinos Para El Bienestar De La Comunidad Costera V. Ferc, Malcolm M. Gilbert
Vecinos Para El Bienestar De La Comunidad Costera V. Ferc, Malcolm M. Gilbert
Public Land & Resources Law Review
The D.C. Circuit Court remanded three Brownsville, TX LNG approval orders to FERC for failing to adequately explain conclusions around environmental justice and climate concerns. The Court ordered FERC to reevaluate whether the projects are in the public interest. The LNG terminals and pipeline will disproportionately impact low-income, minority communities, and substantial greenhouse gas emissions from production and export will contribute to anthropogenic climate change. This case note explores the role that environmental justice and climate change play in federal agency decision-making processes, analyzes the legal framework for the Court's decision, and discusses how the outcome of this litigation could …
Ancestral Comprehensions For A Policy For The Future Of The Earth: The Narrative Of The South American Andes In The Face Of The Global Climate Crisis, Erick Pajares G., Eduardo Calvo B., Jorge Iván Palacio P., Juan José Munar M., Carlos Loret De Mola, Darío Espinoza M., Yuri Godoy P., Gustavo Mora R.
Ancestral Comprehensions For A Policy For The Future Of The Earth: The Narrative Of The South American Andes In The Face Of The Global Climate Crisis, Erick Pajares G., Eduardo Calvo B., Jorge Iván Palacio P., Juan José Munar M., Carlos Loret De Mola, Darío Espinoza M., Yuri Godoy P., Gustavo Mora R.
Pace Environmental Law Review
No abstract provided.
Addressing Correlations Between Gender-Based Violence And Climate Change: An Expanded Role For International Climate Change Law And Education For Sustainable Development, Achinthi C. Vithanage
Addressing Correlations Between Gender-Based Violence And Climate Change: An Expanded Role For International Climate Change Law And Education For Sustainable Development, Achinthi C. Vithanage
Pace Environmental Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Carbon Storage Future Of Public Lands, Tara Righetti, Jesse Richardson, Kris Koski, Sam Taylor
The Carbon Storage Future Of Public Lands, Tara Righetti, Jesse Richardson, Kris Koski, Sam Taylor
Pace Environmental Law Review
To meet the climate and energy goals set forth by the Biden Administration and the Paris Agreement, the United States must dramatically reduce carbon emissions. Use of public lands for carbon dioxide removal activities, including carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), has the potential to advance carbon reduction goals and concurrently provide economic revitalization opportunities to communities dependent on fossil industries. Current federal law presents numerous challenges and opportunities associated with utilization of federal pore space for CCUS. Although federal grant programs and tax incentives encourage deployment of CCUS technologies, legal and land-management issues related to public lands have received …
Contested Places, Utility Pole Spaces: A Competition And Safety Framework For Analyzing Utility Pole Association Rules, Roles, And Risks, Catherine J.K. Sandoval
Contested Places, Utility Pole Spaces: A Competition And Safety Framework For Analyzing Utility Pole Association Rules, Roles, And Risks, Catherine J.K. Sandoval
Catholic University Law Review
As climate change augurs longer wildfire seasons, safe, reliable, and competitive energy and communications markets depend on sound infrastructure and well-calibrated regulation. The humble wooden utility pole, first deployed in America in 1844 to extend telegraph service, forms the twenty-first century’s technological scaffold. Utility poles are increasingly contested places where competition, safety, and reliability meet. Yet, regulators and academics have largely overlooked the risks posed by century-old private utility pole associations in California, composed of private and public utility pole owners and some entities who attach facilities to utility poles. No academic articles have examined the rules, roles, and risks …
The Carbon Price Equivalent: A Metric For Comparing Climate Change Mitigation Efforts Across Jurisdictions, Gabriel Weil
The Carbon Price Equivalent: A Metric For Comparing Climate Change Mitigation Efforts Across Jurisdictions, Gabriel Weil
Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)
Climate change presents a global commons problem: Emissions reductions on the scale needed to meet global targets do not pass a domestic cost-benefit test in most countries. To give national governments ample incentive to pursue deep decarbonization, mutual interstate coercion will be necessary. Many proposed tools of coercive climate diplomacy would require a onedimensional metric for comparing the stringency of climate change mitigation policy packages across jurisdictions. This article proposes and defends such a metric: the carbon price equivalent. There is substantial variation in the set of climate change mitigation policy instruments implemented by different countries. Nonetheless, the consequences of …
The Fossil Fuel Industry’S Push To Target Climate Protesters In The U.S., Grace Nosek
The Fossil Fuel Industry’S Push To Target Climate Protesters In The U.S., Grace Nosek
Pace Environmental Law Review
At the very moment when the United Nations has called for profound shifts in social and economic systems to avert climate catastrophe, state and non-state actors in the United States (U.S.) are using a series of tactics to target and stifle climate protesters. Although the move to stifle climate protesters is often framed as a government effort, this Article argues it is critical to draw out the role of the fossil fuel industry in initiating, amplifying, and supporting such tactics.
This Article highlights the role the fossil fuel industry has played in supporting the targeting and restricting of climate protesters …
Implementing Nepa In The Age Of Climate Change, Jayni Foley Hein, Natalie Jacewicz
Implementing Nepa In The Age Of Climate Change, Jayni Foley Hein, Natalie Jacewicz
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
The national government has a crucial role to play in combating climate change, yet federal projects continue to constitute a major source of United States greenhouse gas emissions. Under the National Environmental Policy Act, agencies must consider the environmental impacts of major federal actions before they can move forward. But agencies frequently downplay or ignore the climate change impacts of their projects in NEPA analyses, citing a slew of technical difficulties and uncertainties. This Article analyzes a suite of the most common analytical failures on the part of agencies with respect to climate change: failure to account for a project’s …
The Dormant Commerce Clause And State Clean Energy Legislation, Kevin Todd
The Dormant Commerce Clause And State Clean Energy Legislation, Kevin Todd
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
This Note analyzes recent litigation concerning the constitutionality of state renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) and similar environmental legislation designed to promote clean energy. It begins with a discussion of the current state of both federal and state responses to climate change. From there, it analyzes several legal challenges to state RPSs and other climate-related laws that focus on potential violations of the dormant Commerce Clause. It concludes with a brief exploration of how these cases fit the history and purpose of the dormant Commerce Clause. The Note argues that a narrow view of the doctrine is consistent with the purpose …
Beneficial Precaution: A Proposed Approach To Uncertain Technological Dangers, Edward L. Rubin
Beneficial Precaution: A Proposed Approach To Uncertain Technological Dangers, Edward L. Rubin
Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law
As a result of the specialization and cumulation of knowledge in the era of High Modernity, research and development in most technical fields is largely incomprehensible to anyone outside that field. What should policy makers do when technical specialists disagree, and particularly when some predict an oncoming catastrophe and others dismiss the concern? This is the situation with the so-called Singularity, the point at which machines design, build, and operate other machines. Some experts in cybernetics and artificial intelligence argue that this is imminent, while others consign the possibility to science fiction. If the skeptics are right, nothing need be …
Climate Perspectives Across The Generations, Dan Farber
Climate Perspectives Across The Generations, Dan Farber
Natural Resources Journal
Climate change is a multi-generational problem, but it does not impact all generations in the same way. Correspondingly, older Americans and younger ones differ greatly in how they perceive the issue and how they respond. The wave of youth activism epitomized by Greta Thunburg is on one side of this generation gap. Donald Trump’s climate skepticism is on the other. We’re talking about large groups of people, so there is a range of attitudes on both sides, but these two individuals represent the generational differences in dramatic form. My goal today is to explore these generational differences. I want to …
Creative Legal Approaches To Protect Youth’S Constitutional Rights In The Face Of Climate Change, Andrea Rodgers
Creative Legal Approaches To Protect Youth’S Constitutional Rights In The Face Of Climate Change, Andrea Rodgers
Natural Resources Journal
This interview with Andrea Rodgers was produced through written responses to prompts from Ariel MacMillan-Sanchez in April 2020.