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Articles 1 - 18 of 18
Full-Text Articles in Law
When Government Intrudes: Regulating Individual Behaviors That Harm The Environment, Katrina Fischer Kuh
When Government Intrudes: Regulating Individual Behaviors That Harm The Environment, Katrina Fischer Kuh
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Emerging environmental problems and technologies, coupled with the existence of mature regulatory regimes governing most industrial sources of pollution, reveal with new clarity the harms that individual behaviors can inflict on the environment. Changing how individuals impact the environment through their daily behaviors, however, requires a reorientation of environmental law and policy and a balancing of government prerogatives with individual liberty. A growing body of legal scholarship recognizes the environmental significance of individual behaviors, critiques the failure of law and policy to capture harms traceable to individuals, and suggests and evaluates strategies for capturing individual harms going forward. In this …
Personal Environmental Information: The Promise And Perils Of The Emerging Capacity To Identify Individual Environmental Harms, Katrina Fischer Kuh
Personal Environmental Information: The Promise And Perils Of The Emerging Capacity To Identify Individual Environmental Harms, Katrina Fischer Kuh
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article begins from the premise that successful regulation of environmentally significant individual behaviors could achieve meaningful environmental benefits and argues that (1) technology is increasingly making information about individual environmental behaviors and associated harms more accessible; (2) better information about environmentally significant individual behaviors could substantially enhance fledgling efforts to regulate those behaviors; and (3) use of technology-enabled personal environmental information in support of regulation will require the resolution of myriad privacy concerns. The Article seeks to generate and inform a discussion about the appropriate balance between access to personal environmental information and privacy by identifying how regulation can …
Managing Climate Change Through Biological Sequestration: Open Space Law Redux, John R. Nolon
Managing Climate Change Through Biological Sequestration: Open Space Law Redux, John R. Nolon
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Climate change management involves strategies that mitigate its causes and adapt human communities to its consequences. This article describes a legal strategy that does both: a national biological sequestration policy. This policy will increase the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that biological sequestration currently removes from the atmosphere and will enable human settlements to adapt to the harsh effects of a changing climate, while realizing a number of other objectives that preserved open space preservation achieves. The article sketches the influences of international and national climate change law, which largely ignore the benefits of biological sequestration on privately owned land …
Land Use For Energy Conservation And Sustainable Development: A New Path Toward Climate Change Mitigation, John R. Nolon
Land Use For Energy Conservation And Sustainable Development: A New Path Toward Climate Change Mitigation, John R. Nolon
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Land use tools and techniques have impressive potential to reduce energy consumption, improve the economy, and mitigate climate change. This article explores the little understood influence of local land use decision-making on energy conservation and sustainable development and how it can mitigate climate change if properly assisted by the federal and state governments. The construction and use of buildings combined with extensive vehicular travel throughout the nation’s human settlements consume large amounts of energy, and much of that consumption is highly inefficient. By enforcing and enhancing energy codes, encouraging the use of combined heat and power and district energy systems, …
Reflecting On Measured Deliberations, Nicholas A. Robinson
Reflecting On Measured Deliberations, Nicholas A. Robinson
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
“Environmental law is essential for the protection of natural resources and ecosystems and reflects our best hope for the future of our planet”. This declaration, made by participants at the Rio+20 World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability, reflects the maturing of environmental law around the world. Usually implicitly, but often explicitly, the deliberations at Rio+20 in June 2012 addressed the dual needs for more effective implementation of existing environmental norms and enacting further laws to stem global degradation of the environment. Rio+20 recommended that, in the autumn of 2012, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) act …
Reliable Science: Overcoming Public Doubts In The Climate Change Debate, Michelle S. Simon
Reliable Science: Overcoming Public Doubts In The Climate Change Debate, Michelle S. Simon
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article will consider the case for instituting a domestic agency that would evaluate the findings from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments to improve the credibility and legitimacy of those claims and conclusions for multiple purposes. The proposed agency would consider the robustness of an assessment's conclusions by construing the evidence through the lens of Daubert rather than Frye. Part I will outline the public debate about climate science-what the debate is about and why it exists. Part II will examine the current role of the IPCC-what it is and why it has not been successful in legitimating …
The Constitutionality Of Citizen Suit Provisions In Federal Environmental Statutes, Jeffrey G. Miller
The Constitutionality Of Citizen Suit Provisions In Federal Environmental Statutes, Jeffrey G. Miller
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The Supreme Court’s decisions under the pollution control statutes administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reach startlingly anti-environmental results, but they are explained more by the Court’s overwhelming hostility toward the private enforcement of statutes, rather than an anti-environmental bias. Adding insult to injury, in one of the rare victories for private environmental plaintiffs in those decisions, Justice Kennedy queried whether citizen suits intrude on the President’s Article II executive power and violate the separation of power principles. While other Justices have raised the same concern, Justice Kennedy’s invitation is particularly significant because he is a swing vote in …
The Rio+20 Process: Forward Movement For The Environment?, Ann Powers
The Rio+20 Process: Forward Movement For The Environment?, Ann Powers
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This commentary summarizes the events at the recent UN Conference on Sustainable Development, commonly referred to as Rio+20, noting both the role of official national delegations and the diversity of non-state parties that were involved in a variety of venues at and around Rio+20. It sketches the background of sustainable development efforts, maps the road from the original 1992 Rio Earth Summit to the 20th anniversary gathering, and comments on the Conference’s outcomes and their implications for international law and legal institutions. In answer to the much debated question of whether the Rio+20 was a success or a failure, or …
Arctic Justice: Addressing Persistent Organic Pollutants, Elizabeth Burleson
Arctic Justice: Addressing Persistent Organic Pollutants, Elizabeth Burleson
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article recommends enhanced governance of persistent organic pollutants through incentives to develop environmentally sound, climate friendly technologies as well as caution in developing the Arctic. It highlights the toxicity challenges presented by POPs to Arctic people and ecosystems.
Reflections On Oceans And Sids, Ann Powers
Reflections On Oceans And Sids, Ann Powers
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
A great deal has already been written about the UN Conference on Sustainable Development and its outcome document, “The Future We Want”. Much of the commentary has been critical of both the process and the document. To understand the process and the final result, it may be useful to look at how one or two issues advanced over the course of the negotiations. Both ocean advocates and representatives of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) seemed relatively satisfied with the results of the conference, and a look at those interlinked matters is interesting.
Sea-Level Rise And Its Impact On Vulnerable States: Four Examples, Ann Powers
Sea-Level Rise And Its Impact On Vulnerable States: Four Examples, Ann Powers
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article first examines the physical, cultural, and economic backgrounds of four vulnerable states—Tuvalu, Seychelles, Maldives, and Bangladesh—and discusses the extent to which each might be affected by sea-level rise. It then considers, in turn, the legal implications of the current rules on maritime delimitation under UNCLOS for the states, along with their efforts to adapt to sea-level rise.
The Evolution Of The Brazilian Regulation Of Ethanol And Possible Lessons For The United States, David N. Cassuto
The Evolution Of The Brazilian Regulation Of Ethanol And Possible Lessons For The United States, David N. Cassuto
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The oil shocks of the 1970s propelled the search for alternative fuel sources by oil-dependent countries. The United States and Brazil–then the two largest producers and consumers of ethanol in the world – focused intensely on biofuels as a substitute for oil, while other countries – such as Japan and European Union members – focused more on nuclear energy and other methods of power generation. However, from the 1980s onward, climate change emerged as a significant concern. This new focus on climate change revived the discussion about the need for alternative energy sources. In addition, during the 2000s, oil prices …
Regulatory Takings And Property Rights Confront Sea Level Rise: How Do They Roll?, John R. Nolon
Regulatory Takings And Property Rights Confront Sea Level Rise: How Do They Roll?, John R. Nolon
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Under the Beach and Shore Preservation Act, the State of Florida is authorized to conduct extraordinarily expensive beach renourishment projects to restore damaged coastal properties. The statute advances the State’s interest in repairing the damage to the coastal ecosystem and economy caused by hurricanes, high winds, and storm surges. The effect of a renourishment project conducted under the statute is to fix the legal boundary of the littoral property owner at an Erosion Control Line. Plaintiffs in Walton County v. Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. claimed that the statute took their common law property rights to their boundary, which would, …
Hydrofracking: Disturbances Both Geological And Political: Who Decides?, John R. Nolon
Hydrofracking: Disturbances Both Geological And Political: Who Decides?, John R. Nolon
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
There is much controversy about the mining of shale gas through a process known as hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) in the Marcellus Shale formation, one of the largest shale gas areas in the world. A debate is raging about its economic benefits and environmental impacts as the New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) considers what standards to require when it issues permits to drillers. New York State law gives permitting authority to DEC and calls into question the historical home rule authority of localities to control the location and land use impacts of gas wells, through comprehensive planning, zoning, …
Climate Change, Political Truth, And The Marketplace Of Ideas, Karl S. Coplan
Climate Change, Political Truth, And The Marketplace Of Ideas, Karl S. Coplan
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
In a recent interview in Time magazine, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson commented on congressional efforts to undo her greenhouse gas endangerment finding under Clean Air Act section 202: “I don't think that history will forget the first time that politicians made a law to overrule scientists.” Proponents of aggressive action to control greenhouse gases are frustrated that the international scientific consensus that disruptive climate change is highly probable and caused by anthropogenic emissions has not prevailed in the political marketplace of ideas in the United States. This truth-seeking, open marketplace of ideas is not just a recognized foundational principle in …
Hot, Crowded, And Legal: A Look At Industrial Agriculture In The United States And Brazil, David N. Cassuto
Hot, Crowded, And Legal: A Look At Industrial Agriculture In The United States And Brazil, David N. Cassuto
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Over the last sixty years, industrial agriculture has expanded in the United States and throughout the world, including in Brazil. Any benefit this expansion has brought comes at significant environmental and social costs. Industrial agriculture is a leading contributor to global climate change, air and water pollution, deforestation, and dangers in the workplace. This Article discusses the impact of industrial animal agriculture in the U.S. and Brazil. It also examines the laws pertaining to industrial agriculture in both countries and provides a comparative analysis of the two legal regimes. Finally, this Article concludes with the observation that although the price …
Cooperative Federalism And Hydraulic Fracturing: A Human Right To A Clean Environment, Elizabeth Burleson
Cooperative Federalism And Hydraulic Fracturing: A Human Right To A Clean Environment, Elizabeth Burleson
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
United States natural gas production is likely to stunt the direction and intensity of renewable energy by up to two decades according to a MIT study. Gas will not provide a “’bridge’ to a low-carbon future if it erodes efforts to prepare a landing at the other end of the bridge.” Unconventional natural gas extraction need not become a “transition” to a new addiction. This article analyzes how cooperative federalism and inclusive decision-making can provide legitimacy and transparency when balancing property rights versus police powers to regulate natural gas production.
Climate Change And Cercla Remedies: Adaptation Strategies For Contaminated Sediment Sites, Katrina Fischer Kuh
Climate Change And Cercla Remedies: Adaptation Strategies For Contaminated Sediment Sites, Katrina Fischer Kuh
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article considers climate change questions in the context of a particular type of contaminated site--sites with contaminated sediments subject to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Although climate change may impact a variety of waste sites in different ways, even those without sediment contamination, this article focuses on sediment sites so as to frame a more manageable inquiry susceptible to in-depth treatment. The following section, Part II, identifies the vulnerability of contaminated sediment sites to climate change. The section describes sediment contamination, regulatory approaches to remediating contaminated sediments, and how climate change may impact sediment remedies. …