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Articles 1 - 25 of 25
Full-Text Articles in Law
Legal Asynchrony: Constitutional “Bridges” Inverting Elemental U.S. Technology, Steven Ferrey
Legal Asynchrony: Constitutional “Bridges” Inverting Elemental U.S. Technology, Steven Ferrey
University of Colorado Law Review
The 2022 Biden Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) and the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”), together providing for an unprecedented $1.7 trillion in spending, were enacted to construct a sustainable legal U.S. exit ramp from what the Secretary-General of the United Nations recently described as a “highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” This Article analyzes a critical legal missing link in these Acts that is now causing the U.S. economy to do the opposite of its intended climate change mitigation, given: • A necessary eight-fold increase in current renewable electric power, requiring adding the …
Lumpy Social Goods In Energy Decarbonization: Why We Need More Than Just Markets For The Clean Energy Transition, Daniel E. Walters
Lumpy Social Goods In Energy Decarbonization: Why We Need More Than Just Markets For The Clean Energy Transition, Daniel E. Walters
University of Colorado Law Review
To avoid the worst consequences of global climate change, the United States must achieve daunting targets for decarbonizing its electric power sector on a very short timescale. Policy experts largely agree that achieving these goals will require massive investment in new infrastructure to facilitate the deep integration of renewable fuels into the electric grid, including a new national high-voltage electric transmission network and grid-scale electricity storage, such as batteries. However, spurring investment in these needed infrastructures has proven to be challenging, despite numerous attempts by regulators and policymakers to clear a path for market-driven investment. Unchecked, this problem threatens to …
Contingent Delisting, Justin R. Pidot
Contingent Delisting, Justin R. Pidot
University of Colorado Law Review
No abstract provided.
Ecosystem Services And Federal Public Lands: A Quiet Revolution In Natural Resources Management, J.B. Ruhl, James Salzman
Ecosystem Services And Federal Public Lands: A Quiet Revolution In Natural Resources Management, J.B. Ruhl, James Salzman
University of Colorado Law Review
The major federal public land management agencies (the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Park Service, Fish & Wildlife Service, and Department of Defense) have increasingly adopted a language that did not exist twentyfive years ago-the language of ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the range of benefits that ecological resources provide to humans, from water purification and pollination to carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat. The scientific discipline advancing the ecosystem services framework arose in the mid-1990s and quickly became a central strategy for fusing ecology and economics research. Despite its ascendance in research communities, the recognition and conservation of ecosystem …
Compact Compliance As A Beneficial Use: Increasing The Viability Of An Interstate Water Bank Program In The Colorado River Basin, Emily Halvorsen
Compact Compliance As A Beneficial Use: Increasing The Viability Of An Interstate Water Bank Program In The Colorado River Basin, Emily Halvorsen
University of Colorado Law Review
There is a looming problem facing the Colorado River Basin: an increasing likelihood of a compact call on the Upper Basin due to projected climate change and population growth stresses on the Colorado River. To address this problem, water resource managers and natural resource management organizations throughout the Upper Basin have proposed a leading approach of an interstate water bank program. There are three main shortfalls to this though, which do not make the program a viable approach in addressing the problem: (1) legal uncertainty regarding individual water rights; (2) concerns regarding speculation; and (3) lack of incentives for state …
The Story Of Kleppe V. New Mexico: The Sagebrush Rebellion As Un-Cooperative Federalism, Robert L. Fischman, Jeremiah I. Williamson
The Story Of Kleppe V. New Mexico: The Sagebrush Rebellion As Un-Cooperative Federalism, Robert L. Fischman, Jeremiah I. Williamson
University of Colorado Law Review
federal power advancing national conservation objectives collided with traditional, local economic interests on public lands in the 1970s. This Article connects that history with current approaches to natural resources federalism. New Mexico challenged the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which diminished both state jurisdiction and rancher influence over public rangelands. In response, the Supreme Court resoundingly approved federal authority to reprioritize uses of the public resources, including wildlife, and spurred a lasting backlash in the West. Further legislation passed in the wake of Kleppe transformed this unrest into a political movement, the Sagebrush Rebellion. Though Kleppe failed to undermine …
Patience Is An Economic Virtue: Real Options, Natural Resources, And Offshore Oil, Michael A. Livermore
Patience Is An Economic Virtue: Real Options, Natural Resources, And Offshore Oil, Michael A. Livermore
University of Colorado Law Review
The financial concept of real options has important consequences in areas of environmental and natural resources law where irreversible decisions are made in the face of uncertainty. This article argues that consideration of real options is necessary to maximize economic returns from nonrenewable natural resource extraction, using offshore oil drilling as a case study. Because decisions over drilling are often framed as a now-or-never choice, the option to wait (or the "real option" value) is improperly treated in administrative processes that determine whether, when, and how offshore oil resources will be tapped. The value associated with the option to delay …
Remarks Of The Honorable Timothy E. Wirth: Symposium In Honor Of David H. Getches, Timothy E. Wirth
Remarks Of The Honorable Timothy E. Wirth: Symposium In Honor Of David H. Getches, Timothy E. Wirth
University of Colorado Law Review
No abstract provided.
Hero For The People, Hero For The Land And Water: Reflections On The Enduring Contributions Of David Getches, Charles Wilkinson
Hero For The People, Hero For The Land And Water: Reflections On The Enduring Contributions Of David Getches, Charles Wilkinson
University of Colorado Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Problem Of Environmental Monitoring, Eric Biber
The Problem Of Environmental Monitoring, Eric Biber
University of Colorado Law Review
Environmental law depends on the regular collection of accurate information about the state of the natural environment ("ambient monitoring") in order to assess the effectiveness of current regulatory and management policies and to develop new reforms. Despite the central role that ambient monitoring plays in environmental law and policy, the scholarly literature has almost ignored the question of whether and how effective ambient monitoring will take place-even though there is ample evidence that our current ambient monitoring data have extensive gaps and significant flaws. Moreover, the importance of ambient monitoring will only increase in the future with the shift to …
Siting Transmission Lines In A Changed Milieu: Evolving Notions Of The "Public Interest" In Balancing State And Regional Considerations, Ashley C. Brown, Jim Rossi
Siting Transmission Lines In A Changed Milieu: Evolving Notions Of The "Public Interest" In Balancing State And Regional Considerations, Ashley C. Brown, Jim Rossi
University of Colorado Law Review
This Article discusses how state public utility law presents a barrier to the siting of new high-voltage transmission lines to serve renewable resources, and how states can approach the law's evolution in order to preserve a role for state regulators in a new energy economy in which renewable energy will play a significant role. The traditional approach to determining the "public interest" in siting transmission lines is well on its way to obsolescence. Two developments over the past fifteen years have begun to challenge this paradigm. First, policies at the federal level and in many states have encouraged increased competition …
Constitutional Contours For The Design And Implementation Of Multistate Renewable Energy Programs And Projects, Robin Kundis Craig
Constitutional Contours For The Design And Implementation Of Multistate Renewable Energy Programs And Projects, Robin Kundis Craig
University of Colorado Law Review
States are increasingly considering multistate efforts to promote the production, sale, and use of renewable energy. For example, in August 2009, policymakers and stakeholders gathered to consider joint renewable energy (specifically, wind energy) transmission projects among Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. This Article explores a number of constitutional issues that multistate efforts to encourage, market, transmit, or distribute renewable energy could raise. It reflects the reality that for energy, as for many other issues, multistate creativity in establishing new governance regimes or in implementing interstate projects often creates constitutional ambiguities. Many of these ambiguities center on the constitutional status-private …
Multistate Decision Making For Renewable Energy And Transmission: An Overview, David E. Hurlbut
Multistate Decision Making For Renewable Energy And Transmission: An Overview, David E. Hurlbut
University of Colorado Law Review
No abstract provided.
Trust And The Green Consumer: The Fight For Accountability In Renewable Energy Credits, Kelly Crandall
Trust And The Green Consumer: The Fight For Accountability In Renewable Energy Credits, Kelly Crandall
University of Colorado Law Review
Renewable energy credits ("RECs")--commodities representing a megawatt-hour of renewable electricity but tradable separately from the electricity itself-developed to encourage renewable energy investment and to allow individuals and corporations without direct access to renewable energy to subsidize its construction. RECs can be sold voluntarily or applied to state-imposed renewable energy purchase obligations. These state mandates, known as renewable portfolio standards, have contributed dramatically to the demand for RECs. Yet, despite their popularity, RECs are regulated inconsistently: neither federal nor state consumer protection law fully mitigates the opportunities they create for deceptive advertising. This Comment critiques the existing regulatory scheme (or lack …
Adapting To Post-Oil Futures: Community Action, The Urban Sustainability Retrofit, And The Writings Of James Howard Kunstler, Brian Muller
Adapting To Post-Oil Futures: Community Action, The Urban Sustainability Retrofit, And The Writings Of James Howard Kunstler, Brian Muller
University of Colorado Law Review
James Howard Kunstler has written prolifically about the problems of sustainability and livability in the modern American city. This Essay discusses Kunstler's view of adaptation and compares it to the various efforts underway in cities across the United States to address problems of climate change and resource depletion, which I generally term the urban "sustainability retrofit." Kunstler describes an adaptive path that is brutal, driven by resource scarcity, social collapse, and environmental disaster. Although Kunstler presents an extreme view, this Essay argues that his books are important because they demand that readers reflect about the conditions under which sustainable and …
Modern Lights, Sara C. Bronin
Modern Lights, Sara C. Bronin
University of Colorado Law Review
This Article functions as a companion to a piece, Solar Rights, concurrently published in the Boston University Law Review.1 In that piece, the author analyzed the absence of a coherent legal framework for the treatment of solar rightsthe rights to access and harness the rays of the sun. The growing popularity of, and need for, solar collector technology and other solar uses calls for reform. Answering the call for reform in Solar Rights, this Article proposes a framework within which a solar rights regime might be developed. First, as a baseline, any regime must recognize the natural characteristics of sunlight. …
The Frontier Of Eminent Domain, Alexandra B. Klass
The Frontier Of Eminent Domain, Alexandra B. Klass
University of Colorado Law Review
The Supreme Court's 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London brought the issues of takings and public use into the national spotlight. A groundswell of opposition to government- initiated "economic development takings" led to eminent domain reform legislation in over forty states. Many people are surprised to learn, however, that another type of economic development taking is alive and well in many western states that are rich in natural resources. In those states, oil, gas, and mining companies have the power of eminent domain under state constitutions or state statutes to take private property to develop coal, oil, …
The Fight To Save Red Lady: Does The 1872 Mining Law Impliedly Preclude Review Of Patent Protest Determinations, Michelle Albert
The Fight To Save Red Lady: Does The 1872 Mining Law Impliedly Preclude Review Of Patent Protest Determinations, Michelle Albert
University of Colorado Law Review
For over thirty years, residents and the local government of Crested Butte, Colorado have been fighting to keep a molybdenum mine out of their backyard. In 2004, the High Country Citizens Alliance, the town of Crested Butte, and the Board of County Commissioners filed an administrative protest challenging several applications to patent mineral land on nearby Mt. Emmons. The Bureau of Land Management denied their protest and issued nine mineral patents. The issuance of these patents increased the likelihood of a molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons. The unsuccessful protestors appealed the BLM's decision in federal district court. In High Country …
What Is Natural Resources Law?, Robert L. Fischman
What Is Natural Resources Law?, Robert L. Fischman
University of Colorado Law Review
No abstract provided.
After Gonzales V. Raich: Is The Endangered Species Act Constitutional Under The Commerce Clause, Bradford C. Mank
After Gonzales V. Raich: Is The Endangered Species Act Constitutional Under The Commerce Clause, Bradford C. Mank
University of Colorado Law Review
In both its 1995 decision United States v. Lopez and in its 2000 decision United States v. Morrison, the Supreme Court had adopted a narrow economic interpretation of congressional authority to regulate intrastate activities under the Commerce Clause. In four separate cases, three circuit courts (the District of Columbia, Fourth, and Fifth Circuits) struggled with deciding whether Congress may still protect endangered and threatened species that have little commercial value under the Commerce Clause after Lopez and Morrison. In each case, the court concluded that Congress did have the authority to protect endangered species under the Commerce Clause, including small …
Keeping An Eye On The Golden Snitch: Implications Of The Interdisciplinary Approach In The Fourth Generation Of Natural Resources Law Casebooks, Sarah Krakoff
University of Colorado Law Review
No abstract provided.
From Martz To The Twenty-First Century: A Half- Century Of Natural Resources Law Casebooks And Pedagogy, Michael C. Blumm, David H. Becker
From Martz To The Twenty-First Century: A Half- Century Of Natural Resources Law Casebooks And Pedagogy, Michael C. Blumm, David H. Becker
University of Colorado Law Review
Clyde Martz published the first natural resources law casebook in 1951, combining the previously discrete subjects of water law, mining law, and oil and gas law. Martz relied almost exclusively on case excerpts and emphasized the creation of private rights in natural resources. Over the nexthalf century, through several generations of casebooks, the natural resources course developed in response to the rise of the environmental movement and a series of energy crises. This article traces the evolution of the natural resources law casebooks from Martz's pioneering effort through several generations of texts to a new generation of casebooks that has …
E-Mail To Rebecca, Dale D. Goble
E-Mail To Rebecca, Dale D. Goble
University of Colorado Law Review
H.L.A. Hart is probably the most important legal theorist in the modern English-speaking world. The intriguing subtitle of Nicola Lacey's intimate biography, "The Nightmare and the Noble Dream, " echoes the name of Hart's 1997 Georgia Law Review paper, in which he identifies two warring, equally inadequate, visions of law in American jurisprudence: the "nightmare" of complete indeterminacy and unbridled judicial discretion and the "noble dream " of a closed, deterministic legal system of judicial restraint. Lacey implies that Hart's life itself was both a nightmare and a noble dream. This book review expands on Lacey's work and suggests how …
The Roadless Rule That Never Was: Why Roadless Areas Should Be Protected Through National Forest Planning Instead Ofagency Rulemaking, Heather S. Ferdriksen
The Roadless Rule That Never Was: Why Roadless Areas Should Be Protected Through National Forest Planning Instead Ofagency Rulemaking, Heather S. Ferdriksen
University of Colorado Law Review
The 2001 Roadless Rule would have barred construction of new roads on 58.5 million acres of national forest land. Within months of its inception, however, a barrage of legal challenges and reversal of policy under the Bush Administration precluded its implementation. Regardless of its ecological merits, the backlash against the Roadless Rule suggests that agency rulemaking may not be the best way to achieve roadless area protection. This comment argues that the traditional process, forest planning under the National Forest Management Act of 1976 ("NFMA "), offers a preferable alternative to agency rulemaking in this context. It also offers recommended …
Property Clause For The Twenty-First Century, John D. Leshy
Property Clause For The Twenty-First Century, John D. Leshy
University of Colorado Law Review
No abstract provided.