Law Commons^™

The Federal Coal Leasing Program As An Actionable Subsidy Under International Trade Law, Jackson Erpenbach

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is often criticized for standing in the way of responses to climate change. Restrictions on domestic renewable energy subsidies under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement) have drawn particular disfavor. But critics overlook the role that the SCM Agreement can play in similarly disciplining domestic fossil fuel subsidies. This Note demonstrates that potential role by focusing on one prominent fossil fuel subsidy in the United States: The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) coal leasing program on federal lands. The program is an actionable subsidy under the SCM Agreement because it provides coal …

Assessing The Climate Impacts Of U.S. Trade Agreements, Matthew C. Porterfield, Kevin P. Gallagher, Judith Claire Schachter

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Meeting the ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement will require the United States and other major greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters to integrate climate change considerations into all relevant areas of economic policy. The United States, however, has conspicuously failed to do so with regard to international trade negotiations. International trade agreements tend to increase GHG emissions due to the economic effects of trade liberalization, including increases in the scale of economic activity and changes in the composition of the affected economies. Trade agreements can also affect climate change in less quantifiable but potentially more significant ways by restricting the ability …

Brexit And The Wto: What Happens Next, Andrea Xu

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

In the summer of 2016, the United Kingdom (the “UK”) announced its decision to leave the European Union (the “EU”). This decision, more commonly known as “Brexit,” subsequently stirred British politics, which included Theresa May replacing David Cameron as Prime Minister. Brexit created a unique situation in European and global politics, and instigated a discussion among politicians, academics, economists, and the likes about how the UK will leave the EU and Brexit’s implications in the UK, Europe, and the world as a whole.

This Note analyzes one specific aspect of Brexit: the administrative procedures the UK must undergo to establish …

Why International Catch Shares Won't Save Ocean Biodiversity, Holly Doremus

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Skepticism about the efficacy and efficiency of regulatory approaches has produced a wave of enthusiasm for market-based strategies for dealing with environmental conflicts. In the fisheries context, the most prominent of these strategies is the use of “catch shares,” which assign specific proportions of the total allowable catch to individuals who are then free to trade them with others. Catch shares are now in wide use domestically within many nations, and there are increasing calls for implementation of internationally tradable catch shares. Based on a review of theory, empirical evidence, and two contexts in which catch shares have been proposed, …