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Full-Text Articles in Law

Vw And Gm Scandals Show Why Regulation Matters, Robert R.M. Verchick, Rena Steinzor Sep 2015

Vw And Gm Scandals Show Why Regulation Matters, Robert R.M. Verchick, Rena Steinzor

Robert R.M. Verchick

Conservatives love to belittle federal regulations — especially the ones designed to keep our air clean, our water drinkable, our workplaces safe, and our financial markets stable. Conservatives, of course, don’t oppose any of those things. They just think unregulated markets, left on their own, will keep bad things from happening. Customers will see when a dishonest company is putting Americans at risk; and when they do, they will unleash their fury and incinerate it. Unbridled capitalism is the world’s largest self-cleaning oven. Last week’s news from the automotive industry should lay that argument to rest.


Katrina's Lessons: Learned And Unlearned, Robert R.M. Verchick Aug 2015

Katrina's Lessons: Learned And Unlearned, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

In the last few years, I’ve commemorated the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in a new way: by pedaling along the self-guided “Levee Disaster Bike Tour.” I begin beneath muscular oaks along New Orleans’ Bayou St. John, and I weave my way around potholes and waterfowl to pay silent respects near three prominent levee-breach sites, each marked with a commemorative plaque. Ten years ago, those breaches, combined with more than 50 others to bring a great American city to its knees. I lived in New Orleans then, and evacuated to Houston for six months. Like so many others I resolved to …


Sb 469 Shouldn't Be Rushed, Robert R.M. Verchick, Christine Klein Jun 2014

Sb 469 Shouldn't Be Rushed, Robert R.M. Verchick, Christine Klein

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Gov. Jindal, Don't Sign Away Our Legal Claims Against Bp, Robert R.M. Verchick May 2014

Gov. Jindal, Don't Sign Away Our Legal Claims Against Bp, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Coping With Climate: Legal Innovation In The Absence Of Full Reform, Robert R.M. Verchick, Faye Sheets Jan 2014

Coping With Climate: Legal Innovation In The Absence Of Full Reform, Robert R.M. Verchick, Faye Sheets

Robert R.M. Verchick

In the absence of a federal legislation directing government to adapt to the unavoidable effects of climate change, the Obama administration has put its faith in existing environmental laws like the Clean Air Act (“CAA”), the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), and the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). But often federal objectives focus only on reducing greenhouse gases—what experts call “mitigation”—and neglect strategies for coping with the climate disruptions that we cannot avoid—otherwise known as “adaptation.” Where the federal policy falls short, states are beginning to experiment on their own with climate adaptation strategies. This essay examines both approaches, mitigation and …


Letting Nature Work In The Pacific Northwest: A Manual For Protecting Ecosystem Services Under Existing Law, Robert Adler, Robert Glicksman, Yee Huang, Daniel Rohlf, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 2013

Letting Nature Work In The Pacific Northwest: A Manual For Protecting Ecosystem Services Under Existing Law, Robert Adler, Robert Glicksman, Yee Huang, Daniel Rohlf, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

In the decades since Congress and state legislatures passed most of the nation's most significant environmental laws, our knowledge about ecosystems has increased dramatically. We know much more about the “goods and services” that ecosystems provide—more, for example, about the migratory species that sustain agriculture by functioning as pollinators, and more about how healthy ecosystems help to filter and clean our water. But our policymakers haven’t yet taken advantage of much of that new knowledge. As ecologists learn more about the complex and dynamic interactions that produce these valuable services, decisionmakers and advocates should adopt an ecosystem services approach to …


In Making Disaster Plans, We Have To Imagine The Worst Case, Robert R.M. Verchick Apr 2011

In Making Disaster Plans, We Have To Imagine The Worst Case, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Recovery In Japan: Will It Be Heavy-Handed Or Hands-Off?, Robert R.M. Verchick Apr 2011

Recovery In Japan: Will It Be Heavy-Handed Or Hands-Off?, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Climate Change And The Puget Sound: Building The Legal Framework For Adaptation, Robert Glicksman, Catherine O'Neill, Yee Huang, William Andreen, Robin Kundis Craig, Victor Flatt, William Funk, Dale Goble, Alice Kaswan, Robert R.M. Verchick Dec 2010

Climate Change And The Puget Sound: Building The Legal Framework For Adaptation, Robert Glicksman, Catherine O'Neill, Yee Huang, William Andreen, Robin Kundis Craig, Victor Flatt, William Funk, Dale Goble, Alice Kaswan, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Adaptation, Economics, And Justice, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 2009

Adaptation, Economics, And Justice, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Protecting Public Health And The Environment By The Stroke Of A Presidential Pen: Seven Executive Orders For The President’S First 100 Days, Rebecca Bratspies, David Driesen, Robert Fischman, Sheila Foster, Eileen Gauna, Robert Glicksman, Alexandra Klass, Catherine O'Neill, Sidney Shapiro, Amy Sinden, Rena Steinzer, Robert R.M. Verchick, Wendy Wagner, James Goodwin Jan 2008

Protecting Public Health And The Environment By The Stroke Of A Presidential Pen: Seven Executive Orders For The President’S First 100 Days, Rebecca Bratspies, David Driesen, Robert Fischman, Sheila Foster, Eileen Gauna, Robert Glicksman, Alexandra Klass, Catherine O'Neill, Sidney Shapiro, Amy Sinden, Rena Steinzer, Robert R.M. Verchick, Wendy Wagner, James Goodwin

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Afterword: The Economics Of Infrastructure, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 2007

Afterword: The Economics Of Infrastructure, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


A Federal Obligation, Robert R.M. Verchick Feb 2006

A Federal Obligation, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


An Unnatural Disaster: The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, David Driesen, Alyson Flournoy, Sheila Foster, Eileen Gauna, Robert Glicksman, Carmen Gonzalez, David Gottlieb, Donald Hornstein, Douglas Kysar, Thomas Mcgarity, Catherine O'Neill, Clifford Rechtschaffen, Sidney Shapiro, Christopher Schroeder, Rena Steinzor, Joseph Tomain, Robert R.M. Verchick, Karen Sokol Jan 2005

An Unnatural Disaster: The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, David Driesen, Alyson Flournoy, Sheila Foster, Eileen Gauna, Robert Glicksman, Carmen Gonzalez, David Gottlieb, Donald Hornstein, Douglas Kysar, Thomas Mcgarity, Catherine O'Neill, Clifford Rechtschaffen, Sidney Shapiro, Christopher Schroeder, Rena Steinzor, Joseph Tomain, Robert R.M. Verchick, Karen Sokol

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Toward Normative Rules For Agency Interpretation: Defining Jurisdiction Under The Clean Water Act, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 2004

Toward Normative Rules For Agency Interpretation: Defining Jurisdiction Under The Clean Water Act, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

Wetlands advocates, from environmentalists to duck hunters, dodged a bullet last year when the Bush Administration dropped plans to narrow its jurisdiction over streams and wetlands. The decision marked a key chapter in a story that began in 2001, when the Supreme Court invalidated part of the Migratory Bird Rule, a regulation that for many years had supported federal protection over some intrastate wetlands. The Court's broad rejection of this narrow rule sent federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act into a tailspin. The decision opened debates about tributaries and intermittent streams in the Southwest. It also appeared to narrow …


Beyond The “Courts Of The Conqueror”: Balancing Private And Cultural Property Rights Under Hawaiian Law, M. Casey Jarman, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 2003

Beyond The “Courts Of The Conqueror”: Balancing Private And Cultural Property Rights Under Hawaiian Law, M. Casey Jarman, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


A Survey Of Federal Agency Response To President Clinton's Executive Order No. 12898 On Environmental Justice, Robert R.M. Verchick, Denis Binder, Colin Crawford, Eileen Gauna, M. Casey Jarman, Alice Kaswan, Bradford Mank, Catherine O'Neill, Cliff Rechtschaffen Jan 2002

A Survey Of Federal Agency Response To President Clinton's Executive Order No. 12898 On Environmental Justice, Robert R.M. Verchick, Denis Binder, Colin Crawford, Eileen Gauna, M. Casey Jarman, Alice Kaswan, Bradford Mank, Catherine O'Neill, Cliff Rechtschaffen

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Free Speech, Toxic Tort, And The Battle Of Sugar Creek, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 2001

Free Speech, Toxic Tort, And The Battle Of Sugar Creek, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


“A Civil Action” Shows How Community Is Often Forgotten, Robert R.M. Verchick Feb 1999

“A Civil Action” Shows How Community Is Often Forgotten, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Dust Bowl Blues: Saving And Sharing The Ogallala Aquifer, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 1999

Dust Bowl Blues: Saving And Sharing The Ogallala Aquifer, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Critical Space Theory: Keeping Local Geography In American And European Environmental Law, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 1999

Critical Space Theory: Keeping Local Geography In American And European Environmental Law, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

Recently, legal scholars have begun to explore the meaning and significance of geographic space in law within the United States and internationally, a project highlighted in a 1996 Stanford Law Review symposium. Much of this discussion draws implicitly and explicitly on critical legal theory in approaching geographic themes -- suggesting the beginning of what the author calls "Critical Space Theory." This article uses Critical Space Theory to address the legal significance of geography in relation to two environmental issues in the United States and the European Union: (1) transborder waste transportation and (2) judicial standing. Each issue raises questions of …


The Commerce Clause, Environmental Justice, And The Interstate Garbage Wars, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 1997

The Commerce Clause, Environmental Justice, And The Interstate Garbage Wars, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

This Article critically examines the Court's garbage cases in conjunction with traditional principles of Commerce Clause jurisprudence for the purpose of constructing a doctrine that is at once constitutionally and ecologically sound. The Article is divided into five parts. Part I briefly describes the current state of the garbage wars, both in terms of environmental effects and in terms of constitutional developments. Parts II and III critically examine the Court's garbage cases from the perspectives of two traditional justifications for the negative Commerce Clause: encouraging fair representation of residents across state lines and discouraging economic protectionism. Here I conclude that …


In A Greener Voice: Feminist Theory And Environmental Justice, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 1996

In A Greener Voice: Feminist Theory And Environmental Justice, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

This Article explores the way in which women activists--and the feminist strategies they contribute--help shape the meaning and pursuit of environmental justice. [FN8] It shows how methods associated with feminism have contributed to the movement's premier concerns for family safety and social equality and have prompted creative ways to identify and attack a broad range of environmental threats. The Article is divided into four parts. Part I briefly surveys the participation of women in the environmental justice movement and examines the reasons why so many women become involved in grassroots environmental struggles. Part II shows how the strategies and goals …