Law Commons^™

Subsistence As Resistance: Reconceptualizing The Theory Of Progressive Property To Incubate Resistance To Consumerism, D.S. Pensley

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article reconceptualizes the theory of progressive property by juxtaposing legal theory with the empirical study of a subsistence economy in the U.S. Subarctic. Progressive property holds that owners are bound by obligations to non-owners as a means to achieve human flourishing. The theory is constrained by the primacy of private property in Western thought, and it also lacks the ecological ethic required for sustainability. Drawing from my fieldwork, I suggest that human flourishing must additionally incubate resistance to consumerism.

Federal statute, 16 U.S.C. § 3113, defines subsistence as “the customary and traditional uses by rural Alaska residents of wild, …

Let's Bee Pragmatic: The Economic Case For Neonicotinoid Regulation In Conservative States, Annie Rosenstein

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

The importance of bees in our ecosystem and to our food system in the United States cannot be overstated. In fact, 35% of global crop production depends on bees and other pollinating insects. Pollinators not only influence the production of many foods that we hold dear and rely on, such as apples, chocolate, potatoes, and coffee, but also influence the quality of these products.

Currently, the most insidious threat against bees in the United States is neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics). While neonics are effective at killing the target populations of beetles, aphids, and flies, they are equally effective at killing pollinators, …

Environmental Bankers: States Are Billing Fossil Fuel Companies For Extreme Weather Disasters, Kelly A. Adam

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

For decades, common law has been the pathway to remediation for environmental tragedies. Victims of traditional environmental harms can pursue justice through legal challenges like nuisance, negligence, and violations of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). However, climate change–induced natural disasters have led to the normalization of the “Act of God” exception; a policy provision commonly used in insurance law that excludes coverage for damage caused by unforeseeable natural disasters. Even so, real cities suffer the consequences of the real harm, whether insurance accepts it or not; so, who bears the burden of funding the recovery?

Maryland, …

Noise Law, Joshua Ulan Galperin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The rumble of traffic, the drone of air conditioners, the blast of construction equipment. These are the mundane sources of noise pollution that we all experience but rarely think about. Or, if we do think about noise pollution, we don't think of it as a central piece of federal environmental law. This Article, however, demonstrates that noise law is, or was, central to American environmental law, and it offers insights into how environmental protection and administrative governance work today.

In the 1970s, during the height of environmental activism and policymaking, lawmakers recognized noise as a serious pollutant alongside issues we …

Buried Burdens: Contaminated Lands And The Unfinished Business Of The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Yuwen Huyan

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Legal Models For Public-Private City Greening Partnerships, Daniel J. Metzger

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Cities are significantly hotter than their surrounding areas. That difference, known as the “urban heat island” effect, is driven in significant part by the dark-colored buildings, sidewalks, roadways, and similar surfaces that dominate urban spaces, absorbing solar energy and later radiating it outward as thermal energy that heats the nearby air. This Comment suggests and describes one avenue through which cities and local community-based organizations (CBOs) could tackle extreme heat: partnering with one another to transform paved surfaces into green or reflective ones. Partnerships of this kind could combine the resources and desire to create green spaces that nongovernmental groups …

Will Systematic Stewardship Save The Planet?, Zohar Goshen, Assaf Hamdani

Faculty Scholarship

The largest institutional investors have solidified their status as “universal owners,” holding almost eighty percent of the U.S. stock market. The growing influence of these investors over the companies they invest in has sparked optimism among scholars and activists that asset managers will use their clout to steer firms towards Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) objectives. But such optimism may be misplaced. Focusing on carbon emission reduction, we argue that universal owners lack the necessary incentives and competence to pressure corporations to lower emissions.

Universal owners market ESG investments with conflicting promises of “doing well while doing good.” The untenable …

Assessing Justice In National Climate Policies: Indicators For Vulnerable Populations, Vagif Alizada

COP30

Throughout the last two decades, various researchers have continuously examined the way that climate justice principles are integrated within national climate policies, paying most attention to the extent of their impact on specifically vulnerable populations. Climate justice, encompassing distributive, procedural, recognition, and restorative dimensions, has become one of the central ideals when it comes to global climate governance. One of the major noticeable challenges faced in this field is the lack of standardised indicators to measure whether policies deliver equitable outcomes, making cross-country comparison and accountability difficult. However, despite increasing regulations and policy commitments, there is a major limitation on …

How Can Indigenous Peoples Be Meaningfully Integrated Into National Climate Decision Making Processes?, Shahd Wael

COP30

Indigenous people manage significant global terrestrial surface while simultaneously guarding around 80% of the world's biodiversity (With methodological uncertainty), despite only comprising a small fraction of the global population.Their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) supports essential climate solutions and helps in the adaptation and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. A significant depth of injustice, however, and security risk in the existing climate governance mechanisms is pronounced given that less than 1% of direct global climate finance is allocated to indigenous peoples. This policy paper argues that a transformational paradigm shift needs to take place for global climate action to be effective, …

Criminalising Ecocide For Climate Justice And Global Security, Norain El Gebely

COP30

The climate emergency is deepening and needs urgent attention involving radical, binding, and multilateral measures. Ecocide is the large-scale and deliberate destruction of ecosystems which undermines human security, destabilizes the fragile states and increases geopolitical tensions. It has been contended in this policy brief that ecocide needs to be internationally criminalized pursuant to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to place environmental destruction firmly within the scope of global peace and security. The proposals promote climate justice by prioritizing certain countries, which include Equatorial countries, industrializing high emission countries and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) through …

Climate Justice Across Borders: Responding To Ecocide And Displacement, Camila Micheletti Flores

COP30

This policy paper examines how climate change accelerates cross-border displacement, especially in regions most vulnerable to ecocide and environmental degradation. Climate refugees remain unprotected under international law, as the 1951 Refugee Convention excludes environmental grounds for asylum, leaving populations exposed to human rights violations and securitized responses. It analyzes legal and institutional gaps, highlighting failures in global climate governance and the disproportionate risks faced by SIDS and other affected regions. The paper calls for COP30 to mandate a high-level UNFCCC forum on climate displacement and ecocide to build a just, cooperative, and rights-based international framework.

How Can The Role Of The Judiciary In International Climate Governance Be Formalised To Ensure Accountability And Action When Governmental Political Institutions Fall Short?, Roy Abi Raad

COP30

Conventional Governance Framework have recurrently proved inadequate to tackle the extent and immediacy of environmental concerns as the climate calamity worsens. The judiciary has evolved into a crucial player in the assertion for climate justice because of this governance deficit. Courts can safeguard human rights, interpret international treaties, and hold people accountable for environmental deterioration, function that are acquiring increasing significance important in both developed and developing nations. Nevertheless, they lack institutional mechanism to legally incorporate the judiciary within the international climate governance framework (such as the UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, and Loss and Damage Fund). In order to guarantee accountability, …

Holding Transnational Corporations Accountable For Ecocide And Climate-Related Human Rights Violations, Njengue Cindy Joanne

COP30

The climate emergency and the scale of environmental harm require moving beyond voluntary and overly localized approaches to establish binding legal mechanisms at the global level. Transnational corporations operating in high-impact ecological sectors must be held accountable for their actions — not only to remedy the damage caused, but also to prevent future violations. COP30 in Belém presents a unique opportunity to place legal and institutional accountability at the core of international negotiations. By building on existing instruments, the ethical ambitions of the COP presidency, and strengthened cooperation between states, civil society, and private actors, it is possible to construct …

Indigenous Communities Carbon Sovereignty: A Protocol For Climate Justice, Ecocide Prevention, And Security, Lojain Waleed

COP30

This policy paper examines the Climate justice, Ecocide and security implications of carbon market mechanisms for Indigenous Peoples (IPs). Despite global recognition of Indigenous people participation , existing frameworks under the UNFCCC and mechanisms often lack enforceable safeguards to protect Indigenous sovereignty. The paper identifies critical gaps in governance, particularly the absence of Indigenous-led oversight in Carbon markets. Drawing on two case studies: Yurok Tribe and Ogiek people, it demonstrates how carbon markets can reproduce neo-colonial patterns of resource appropriation. To address these challenges, the paper proposes the Indigenous communities Carbon Sovereignty Protocol (ICCSP) as a governance framework, outlining implementation …

Kabwe’S Crisis: Toxic Lead Waste Poisoning Zambia’S Children, Jasmyn Hardin

Immigration and Human Rights Law Review

Kabwe, Zambia is among the most polluted cities, the result of nearly a century of lead mining and smelting. Despite the mine’s closure in 1994, an estimated 6.4 million tons of lead-contaminated waste continues to expose thousands of children to life-altering—and often irreversible—health consequences. This Article examines the Zambian government’s failure to remediate the environmental harm and protect children’s rights, analyzing both domestic legal obligations and international human rights treaties. It argues that the State’s pursuit of economic gain through continued lead processing has come at the expense of safeguarding the right to health and a healthy environment. Through an …

Will Systematic Stewardship Save The Planet?, Zohar Goshen, Assaf Hamdani

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Profiting From Disaster: How Rising Climate Risk Is Reducing Insurance Coverage And Paving The Way For Predatory Lending, Samuel Tunnell

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Outdated U.S. Safety Net Leaving Poor Communities Exposed To “Climate Strains”, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

America’s safety net is failing to protect its most vulnerable citizens from the growing pressures of climate change, according to new research from an Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor Andrew Hammond.

In a new article forthcoming in the Iowa Law Review, Hammond argues that while policymakers, the press, and the public tend to focus on climate “shocks” like hurricanes and wildfires, millions of Americans face overlooked climate “strains”—the everyday stresses of extreme heat, deteriorating air quality, and failing infrastructure that disproportionately affect low-income Americans.

Hammond’s paper, “Climate Strains and the Safety Net,” found that …

Tribal Sovereign Immunity: Absolute Authority Or Accountability, Kekek Jason Stark

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In the wake of the recent United States Supreme Court decision of Trump v. United States, the Court determined that the President as Chief Executive is immune from conduct associated with official acts.3 The question that emanates from this opinion is how will this decision affect Indian Country and tribal court determinations of tribal sovereign immunity? This article will attempt to address this question. I begin with the Anishinaabe story of Bebaamosed miinawaa Gawigoshko’iweshiinh (The Trickster and the Little Scary Bird)5 in an attempt to understand the complicated nature of tribal sovereign immunity.

Discovering The Doctrine Of Discovery, Douglas Lind

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The doctrine of discovery is a concept in crisis. A principle of public international law associated with the so-called Age of Discovery, the doctrine of discovery is commonly said to have authorized European nations to claim the lands of indigenous peoples and establish settlements on the basis of “discovery” alone. Today, with good reason, the doctrine is widely condemned. The United Nations has denounced it as “the very foundation of genocide.” Describing its manifest injustices against indigenous cultures, dominion, and sovereignty as “devastating, far-reaching and intergenerational,” the UN Economic and Social Council has called for the doctrine to be categorically …

Uses And Abuses Of Johnson V. M’Intosh In Native American Land Rights Cases: Investigative Insights From The Indian Law Justice Files, John P. Lavelle

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The 200th anniversary of the foundational Indian law decision Johnson v. M’Intosh has come and gone, with many scholars contributing criticism and commentary. The dominant focus has been the case’s notorious embrace of the so-called “doctrine of discovery,” an odious theory for rationalizing European nations’ claims of superior rights to lands occupied by Indigenous Native American peoples. Commanding less attention, however, is the Johnson decision’s core protective legal feature, i.e., its reinforcing the United States government’s duty to guard against the alienation of Indian lands through private, unauthorized acquisitions.

Indian Casinos Under The Big Sky: Why Tribes In Other States Have Been More Successful With Gaming And The Path Forward For Montana’S Tribes, Trevor Funseth

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The most successful method of economic development for many Indian tribes in the United States has been gaming. Tribes across the country have risen out of poverty through their casino operations and have been able to use the profits to diversify their investments and improve tribal infrastructure, education, and social programs.

Damned If You Do, Dammed If You Don’T: Solutions For The Snake River And The Nez Perce Tribe, Meridian S. Wappett

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Indian Water Rights Settlements And The Animas-La Plata Project: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Of Dependency, Sidney Paulina Williams

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Barbarians At The Gate Or Angels At The Crossroads? Examining The Impact Of The Uk Green Taxonomy On Private Equity Firms, Melek Redzheb, Fatjon Kaja

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

This Article explores whether the UK Green Taxonomy will foster sustainable corporate governance in private equity-backed portfolio companies. We explore how the Taxonomy will address the greenwashing problem that plagues financial markets, including the private equity industry. Our analysis suggests that general partners will have a twofold response to the new reforms. In the short term, they will seek to address the social concerns of limited partners by negatively screening unsustainable companies and cherry-picking more sustainable ones (the so-called “exit” strategy). In the long term, however, they will adopt a dynamic strategy to transform unsustainable targets into sustainable enterprises on …

The Dubious Role Of Institutional Investors In Driving The Green Transition: Legal And Economic Constraints, Giovanni Strampelli

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

There is a well-established trend that the process of transition to a sustainable economic growth model marked by the pursuit of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) objectives has large companies at its center, which are considered an essential hub for this purpose given their weight in the global economy. In this context, the role of shareholders, especially institutional investors, plays an important role. Indeed, it is widely recognized that they, having an increasing prominence in the shareholder base of large, listed companies, can push these public companies to adopt more virtuous conduct in the areas of, among others, environmental protection …

Emission Impossible: Challenging The Imposition Of New York City’S Local Law 97, Daniel Lopiccolo

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

New York City’s Local Law 97 was passed by the City Council in 2019 with the goal of reducing citywide carbon emissions. The law imposes civil penalties on property owners whose buildings fail to comply with carbon emissions limits stipulated by the city. While the law admirably aims to minimize New York’s carbon footprint, its present burden is excessive and disproportionate to the offense committed, making the cost of affording lower and middle-class housing units increasingly untenable for many New Yorkers, especially for property owners in co-op and condo communities. Many such as Glen Oaks Village Owners, Inc., the plaintiffs …

One Hundred Ninety-Nine Dead Birds: Review Of The Scientific Basis Of Ecological Incident Reporting Requirements For Pesticide Registrants Under Fifra § 6(A)(2), Nimish B. Vyas, Cynthia Palmer

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates pesticide use in the United States. The EPA is charged by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) with ensuring that a pesticide will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment. Incident reports (documentation of exposure and injury from pesticide applications) can serve as a reality check on the pesticide registration decisions made by the EPA scientists and risk managers. The EPA collects incident reports on human, domestic animal, and ecological injury. The FIFRA section 6(a)(2) rule requires the pesticide registrant (generally, the company or other entity that wishes to market …

Manatees In Hot Water: How The Florida Manatee Became Dependent On Power Plant Warm Water Outfalls, Michaela Morris

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

Each winter in Florida, thousands of manatees gather in the warm water outflows of power plants. These refuges play a crucial role for the Florida manatee: when ocean temperatures drop, manatees shelter at these artificial sources to survive. But in recent years, thousands of manatees wintering at the Florida Power & Light Company’s Cape Canaveral Clean Energy Center have died. The reason? Seagrass beds––a primary food source for manatees––are vanishing, killed off by pollution from agricultural, industrial, and residential sources.

This Article documents the historical, political, and regulatory conditions that led to manatees’ reliance on power plants. First, the political …

The Behavioral Effects Of Corporate Ghg Emissions Disclosures, Cynthia Hanawalt, Andy Fitch

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

In recent years, roughly 30 nations have implemented regulatory regimes that mandate some type of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disclosure from corporations. As GHG emissions disclosure regimes continue to take hold, several key questions arise: will they prompt meaningful and sustained reductions, or will they merely serve to document corporations’ unabated emissions? And if these regimes do lead to lasting emissions reductions, precisely what causes the changes in companies’ behavior? These questions are particularly relevant as climate advocates grapple with the merits of disclosure as a tool for real emissions impact, and as policymakers refine disclosure requirements to best fit …