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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Carbon-Neutral Individual, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Anne C. Steinemann
The Carbon-Neutral Individual, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Anne C. Steinemann
Michael Vandenbergh
Reducing the risk of catastrophic climate change will require leveling off greenhouse gas emissions over the short term and reducing emissions by an estimated 60-80% over the long term. To achieve these reductions, we argue that policymakers and regulators should focus not only on factories and other industrial sources of emissions but also on individuals. We construct a model that demonstrates that individuals contribute roughly one-third of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. This one-third share accounts for roughly 8% of the world's total, more than the total emissions of any other country except China, and more than several …
The New Wal-Mart Effect: The Role Of Private Contracting In Global Governance, Michael P. Vandenbergh
The New Wal-Mart Effect: The Role Of Private Contracting In Global Governance, Michael P. Vandenbergh
Michael Vandenbergh
No abstract provided.
From Smokestack To Suv: The Individual As Regulated Entity In The New Era Of Environmental Law, Michael P. Vandenbergh
From Smokestack To Suv: The Individual As Regulated Entity In The New Era Of Environmental Law, Michael P. Vandenbergh
Michael Vandenbergh
A debate between advocates of command and control regulation and advocates of economic incentives has dominated environmental legal scholarship over the last three decades. Both sides in the debate implicitly embrace the premise that regulatory measures should be directed almost exclusively at large industrial polluters. This Article asserts that for many pollutants the premise is no longer supportable, and that much of the focus of regulation in the future should turn to individuals and households. Examining a wide range of empirical data, the Article presents the first profile of individual behavior as a source of pollution. The profile demonstrates that …
Climate Change: The China Problem, Michael P. Vandenbergh
Climate Change: The China Problem, Michael P. Vandenbergh
Michael Vandenbergh
The central problem confronting climate change scholars and policymakers is how to create incentives for China and the United States to make prompt, large emissions reductions. China recently surpassed the United States as the largest greenhouse gas emitter, and its projected future emissions far outstrip those of any other nation. Although the United States has been the largest emitter for years, China's emissions have enabled critics in the United States to argue that domestic reductions will be ineffective and will transfer jobs to China. These two aspects of the China Problem, Chinese emissions and their influence on the political process …
Climate Change: The Equity Problem, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Brooke A. Ackerly
Climate Change: The Equity Problem, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Brooke A. Ackerly
Michael Vandenbergh
A substantial proportion of the United States population is at or below the poverty level, yet many of the greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures proposed or adopted to date will increase the costs of energy, motor vehicles, and other consumer goods. This essay suggests that although scholarship and policymaking to date have focused on the disproportionate impact of these increased costs on the low-income population, the costs will have two important additional effects. First, the anticipated costs will generate political opposition from social justice groups, reducing the likelihood that aggressive measures will be adopted. Second, to the extent aggressive measures …
Climate Change Governance: Boundaries And Leakage, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Mark A. Cohen
Climate Change Governance: Boundaries And Leakage, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Mark A. Cohen
Michael Vandenbergh
This article provides a critical missing piece to the global climate change governance puzzle: how to create incentives for the major developing countries to reduce carbon emissions. The major developing countries are projected to account for 80% of the global emissions growth over the next several decades, and substantial reductions in the risk of catastrophic climate change will not be possible without a change in this emissions path. Yet the global climate governance measures proposed to date have not succeeded and may be locking in disincentives as carbon-intensive production shifts from developed to developing countries. A multi-pronged governance approach will …
Droughts, Floods, And Wildfires: Paleo Perspectives On Diaster Law In The Anthropocene, Ryan Stoa
Droughts, Floods, And Wildfires: Paleo Perspectives On Diaster Law In The Anthropocene, Ryan Stoa
Ryan B. Stoa
Humanity's impact on the earth has become so pronounced that momentum is building toward adopting a new term for the modem geological age-the "Anthropocene." The term signifies that human activity has reached a scale that it is now a planetary force capable of shaping ecosystems and natural processes. And yet, anthropocentric natural resources management and environmental lawmaking in the United States reveal a lack of control in managing natural systems and fostering resilience to extreme events. These systems do not easily conform to the whims of reactionary environmental policies. Droughts, floods, and wildfires, in particular are often conceptualized as unforeseeable …