Law Commons^™

Whether you agree with government intervention, or with the specific form of gov- ernment intervention applied, it is a fact that government becomes involved in environ- mental issues because, to date, we have failed to fully inter- nalize the costs of our actions toward the environment in our market systems. So this is why government becomes involved in the first place, to correct existing and recurring market failures. Knowing this important fact helps us better understand, and judge, envi- ronmental laws and policies.

Our climate is changing. And the trend of this climate change shows the earth is, on average, getting warmer. We in New England emerged from a very cold winter in 2014 making it hard for us to see (and thus believe) the earth is getting warmer. But this is the trick of cli- mate change: The pattern of overall warming is hard to see on a day-to-day basis. We tend to judge our climate through experiencing our local weather patterns: When the weather is cold like it has been in our region over the past winter, it is hard for …

This article explores how the identification and account- ing of ecosystem services can aid coastal management policies, particularly as management looks to a future that includes the impacts of climate change. At the core of making better deci- sions is an understanding of the value of ecosystem services. The economic context of ecosystem services is explored in order to outline what may be considered a complete account- ing of costs. Once contextualized, ecosystem services will then be applied to current coastal management issues associ- ated with sea level rise. In particular, policy-relevant questions about mitigating and adapting to sea level …