Law Commons^™

Climate Change Law: Mitigation And Adaptation, Richard Hildreth, David Hodas, Nicholas Robinson, James Speth

David R. Hodas

No abstract provided.

Greening The Grid And Climate Justice, Alice Kaswan

Alice Kaswan

This short symposium essay argues that the collateral environmental and economic justice benefits of greening the grid provide support for transformative climate policies that speed the development of fossil fuel alternatives. More broadly, policymakers should integrate climate justice considerations into the design of any new energy infrastructure in order to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of the profound transition ahead. While efforts to integrate climate justice could complicate climate and energy legislation, they would, on balance, further rather than hinder the political prospects for greening the grid. The essay concludes by encouraging an inclusive and participatory process for …

Agenda For A Sustainable America, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

No abstract provided.

An Agenda For Sustainable Communities, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

This article summarizes progress toward sustainable communities in the United States since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (or Earth Summit) in 1992. It shows the significant initiative that many communities have undertaken and identifies existing state and federal laws as impediments to achieving sustainability. This article also makes recommendations for further progress based on what we have already learned about how to achieve sustainable communities. They include not only more and strengthened sustainable community efforts, and broad state and federal legal support, but also deep engagement of all affected citizens. This article is based primarily on three …

Decentralizing Cap-And-Trade? The Question Of State Stringency, Alice Kaswan

Alice Kaswan

A cap-and-trade program is likely to be a centerpiece of federal climate change legislation. The presence of a national market does not, however, render irrelevant the states’ vital interest in the goals and operation of a national trading program. This Article addresses a first critical question about a state’s role in a federal system: whether federal legislation should allow states to be more stringent than the federal government and to achieve that stringency through controls on stationary sources. This Article reviews the compelling justifications for allowing states to be more stringent. It then assesses particular mechanisms for achieving state stringency …

Climate Change, Consumption, And Cities, Alice Kaswan

Alice Kaswan

In this article, Professor Kaswan argues that hoped-for greenhouse gas reductions cannot be achieved without reducing consumption. Given their control over land use and buildings, cities can play a key role in reducing consumption. She argues that, while existing federal proposals for a market-based approach could indirectly create incentives that would reduce emissions from transportation and buildings, the invisible hand of the market will not suffice. Nor can the federal government succeed alone. Local and regional governments could play a key practical and institutional role, and many have already initiated greenhouse gas reduction efforts.

Local governments are, however, unlikely to …