Law Commons^™

Sustainability And Global Environmental Constitutionalism, James R. May

James R. May

No abstract provided.

The Executive And The Environment: A Look At The Last Five Governors In New York, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

Gubernatorial leadership is the single most important indicator of how sustainable New York will be when it comes to issues of environmental protection and conservation. In preparing for the Kerlin Lecture, one of the things that struck (the author) is that New York governors for at least the last thirty years have consistently identified the critical economic, social, and environmental challenges facing this state. Is it simply political rhetoric to decry that the state is in terrible fiscal shape, that programs need to be funded to help those is need, and that we must pay attention to stewarding the environment …

Billy Joel: The Chronicler Of The Suburbanization In New York, Patricia E. Salkin, Irene Crisci

Patricia E. Salkin

Artists often chronicle historical developments through their chosen medium. In the case of Billy Joel, some of his lyrics can be traced to the early sustainability movements as he wrote about the migration of people from the cities and the attendant problems with rapid suburbanization. Described by Tony Bennett as “a poet, a performer, a philosopher and today’s American songbook,” his lyrics address, among other topics, land use, community development, and environmental issues. Following World War II, there was a major shift in population settlement patterns in the United States. As war heroes returned home, not only did the country …

Introduction: Shale Gas And The Future Of Energy, John C. Dernbach, James R. May

John C. Dernbach

Shale Gas And The Future Of Energy: Framing The Sustainability Questions, John C. Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

Millennial Pivot: Sustainability-Purposed Performance Zoning Guidelines In Urban Commercial Development, Michael Widener

Michael N Widener

This paper argues that economic competitiveness requires cities and towns to reimagine their zoning regulations, leveraging technology advances to address challenges revealed by demands for sustainability in building urban projects. The optimal means to accomplish this is to use performance zoning, a method encouraging creative solutions to problems caused by increasing development densities. Performance zoning consists of a series of standards addressing specific sub-optimal neighborhood or community impacts of commercial development; these standards can be negative or positive expressions of municipal goals for sustainability and environmental justice. Pivoting to performance zoning is desirable because the development community has a firmer …

Facing Down The So-Called Agenda 21 'Conspiracy', John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Cybersecurity: Applying Lessons From The Green Movement To Managing Cyber Attacks, Scott J. Shackelford, Tim Fort

Scott Shackelford

According to Frank Montoya, the U.S. National Counterintelligence Chief, “We’re an information-based society now. Information is everything. That makes . . . company executives, the front line – not the support mechanism, the front line – in [determining] what comes.”[1] Chief Montoya’s remarks underscore the central role played by the private sector in ongoing efforts aimed at enhancing cybersecurity, much like the increasingly vital role firms are playing in fostering sustainability. For example, according to Accenture surveys, the number of managers who consider sustainability to be critical to the future success of their organizations jumped from fifty to more …

Market Failures And Protecting The Environment, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Can Shale Gas Help Accelerate The Transition To Sustainability?, John Dernbach, James May

John C. Dernbach

The sudden and unexpected development of shale gas has the potential to accelerate or hinder the transition to sustainability, depending on how it is handled. Sustainable development is a useful evaluative framework for shale gas development. It would have us analyze its environmental, social, economic, and security dimensions at the same time, and look for ways to make all four dimensions mutually reinforcing. This article suggests that sustainable shale gas development: 1) requires a sophisticated and comprehensive regulatory system to protect the environment and public health as well as a legal and policy framework capable of both ensuring significant social …

Using Sustainability Criteria For Biomass, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

This article explores the use of sustainability criteria for biomass as a tool to promote and safeguard sustainability of this product. Much attention is paid to the issues that sustainability criteria for biomass should consider. Among them the priority for food supply and food security, the emission reduction of green house gases (GHG) through the whole production chain, the preservation of areas of high ecological value, the protection of soil and water quality, and the requirements to the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are highlighted. In general, different issues relevant for sustainable biomass can be outlined and promoted. Their …

Valuing Ecosystem Services In Coastal Management Policy: Looking Beyond The Here And Now, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Climate-Induced Sea Level Rise And Sustainable Coastal Management: The Influence Of Existing Policy Frameworks On Risk Perception, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Building An Environmental Ethic From The Ground Up, Alyson Flournoy

Alyson Flournoy

Over the last twenty years there has been a remarkable theoretical flourishing in the field of environmental philosophy, with the development of biocentric ethics, animal rights theories, deep ecology, ecofeminism, modified utilitarianism, moral pluralism and theories drawing on numerous religious and cultural traditions. These theories explore the intellectual and moral causes for the environmentally destructive practices of the dominant western industrial and economic culture, and propose alternatives that might avoid these consequences. This symposium raises a worthy question: to what extent have these theories had practical impact on environmental law and policy. I come to this question as a lawyer …

The Law Of The Lakes: From Protectionism To Sustainability, Christine A. Klein

Christine A. Klein

This Article has a practical goal: to convince state lawmakers of the need to regulate in a comprehensive and evenhanded manner, avoiding short-sighted fixes or politically appealing shortcuts. To accomplish that goal, Part I focuses upon another region of the country-the Colorado River Basin-where residents have also undertaken the task of managing a water system that includes two nations(The United States and Mexico) and numerous states. Learning from the successes and failures of the resultant Law of the River, this Article derives guiding principles for the emerging Law of the Lakes. Part II makes a crucial distinction between protectionism and …

Ten Good Practices In Environmental Constitutionalism: Structure, Text And Justiciability, James May, Erin Daly

Erin Daly

Environmental constitutionalism is a relatively recent phenomenon at the confluence of constitutional law, international law, human rights, and environmental law. It embodies the recognition that the environment is a proper subject for protection in constitutional texts and for vindication by constitutional courts worldwide. This White Paper posits ten “good practices” – those attributes that make effective outcomes more likely, but not assured – in environmental constitutionalism for advancing positive environmental outcomes considering energy, and governance and sustainability. Good practices in environmental constitutionalism can serve as a useful construct for considering the relationship between sustainability, energy and governance. Accordingly, Section A …

Sustainability As A Means Of Improving Environmental Justice, Patricia E. Salkin, John C. Dernbach, Donald A. Brown

Patricia E. Salkin

This article explains why environmental justice provides much of the foundation for sustainable development, and shows how sustainability can improve our ability to achieve environmental justice. The article first explains a basic but often unrecognized truth about environmental policy: environmental pollution and degradation, sooner or later, harms humans. Both sustainable development and environmental justice respond to this problem, though in somewhat different ways. Sustainable development, however, suggests a broader set of tools to address this problem than are often employed for environmental justice. The article shows how four broad approaches — more and better sustainability options, law for sustainability, visionary …

Losing The Message: Some Policy Implications Of Anthropocentric Indirect Arguments For Environmental Protection, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Essential Reading On Sustainable Development Law, Andrea Ross, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

This short bibliography identifies and describes twelve key readings in the law of sustainable development.

The Growing Importance Of Sustainability To Lawyers And The Aba, John Dernbach, Lee Dehihns, Ira Feldman

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

Thinking Ahead: The Impacts Of Sea Level Rise On Coastal Landscape Protections, Chad J. Mcguire, Devon Lynch

Chad J McGuire

Linking Land Use With Climate Change And Sustainability Topped State Legislative Land Use Reform Agenda In 2008, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

Linking land use with climate change and sustainability topped state legislative land use reform agenda in 2008. The only discernible state land use reform trends in 2008 have focused primarily on themes surrounding sustainability. Many states pursued statutory reforms to address the strong linkages between land use and climate change, green development and affordable housing. Only one state, Michigan, focused on recodification of its planning and zoning enabling acts.

Hitting The Sustainability Accelerator: 51 Sustainability Experts, 4 Approaches, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

Acting As If Tomorrow Matters: Mapping The Obstacles To Sustainability, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

What Motivates Sustainability Efforts In The U.S.?, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

U.S. Sustainability Efforts: Modest Progress But An Increasingly Distant Goal, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

As If Tomorrow Matters: Accelerating Progress Toward Sustainability, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

Our Own Private Sustainable Community: Are Green Covenants, Conditions, And Restrictions A Viable Alternative To A More Environmentally Sustainable Future For Homeowners?, Darren Prum, Robert Aalberts

Darren A. Prum

Residential and commercial property owners have sought for centuries to develop and enrich their physical environment through private land use planning. In more recent decades, residential owners residing in community interest communities have been particularly active in crafting an evolving array of deed restrictions contained in Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions( CC&R’s). CC&R’s, which are generally created by the CIC developer , are mutually binding and enforceable against all those who live or conduct business in self-selected residential subdivisions or commercial developments . Importantly, CC&R’s are monitored sometimes quite forcefully, under the watchful eye of an empowered planned development association.

Although …

Are We There Yet? A Legal Assessment And Review Of The Concept Of Sustainable Development Under International Law, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Some of the most consistently utilized terms in international environmental law are “sustainable development” and “sustainability”. Sustainable development is mentioned in virtually every domestic, regional and international laws on environment, energy and natural resources. This has led to the contentions by some scholars that the concept of sustainable development has matured into customary international law, or at least has become a general principle of international environmental law. Many researchers, however, argue that the idea of sustainable development is vague, elusive and does not add much to the efficient implementation of international environmental law. This article aims to examine and discuss …

Using Sustainability Criteria For Biofuels In A Legal Context - An Analysis Based On The Eu Policy For Transport Biofuels, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Sustainable quality of biofuels and their production methods should be seen as a part of the wider concept “sustainability”. Sustainability of biofuels should be measured in relation to resources and possibilities that the Earth can supply us with. This presentation focuses on sustainability criteria in their function to promote sustainability in a legal context, followed by the analysis of the binding EU regulations for transport biofuels as an example. Two main issues are examined: - the concept of sustainability criteria, special features of their use in law and aspects relevant for their practical implementation, and - the issue of control …