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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Rise And Fall Of Clean Air Act Climate Policy, Nathan Richardson
The Rise And Fall Of Clean Air Act Climate Policy, Nathan Richardson
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
The Clean Air Act has proven to be one of the most successful and durable statutes in American law. After the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, there was great hope that the Act could be brought to bear on climate change, the most pressing current environmental challenge of our time. Massachusetts was fêted as the most important environmental case ever decided, and, upon it, the Environmental Protection Agency under President Obama built a sweeping program of greenhouse gas regulations, aimed first at emissions from road vehicles, and later at fossil fuel power plants. It was the most …
Implementing Nepa In The Age Of Climate Change, Jayni Foley Hein, Natalie Jacewicz
Implementing Nepa In The Age Of Climate Change, Jayni Foley Hein, Natalie Jacewicz
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
The national government has a crucial role to play in combating climate change, yet federal projects continue to constitute a major source of United States greenhouse gas emissions. Under the National Environmental Policy Act, agencies must consider the environmental impacts of major federal actions before they can move forward. But agencies frequently downplay or ignore the climate change impacts of their projects in NEPA analyses, citing a slew of technical difficulties and uncertainties. This Article analyzes a suite of the most common analytical failures on the part of agencies with respect to climate change: failure to account for a project’s …
The Dormant Commerce Clause And State Clean Energy Legislation, Kevin Todd
The Dormant Commerce Clause And State Clean Energy Legislation, Kevin Todd
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
This Note analyzes recent litigation concerning the constitutionality of state renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) and similar environmental legislation designed to promote clean energy. It begins with a discussion of the current state of both federal and state responses to climate change. From there, it analyzes several legal challenges to state RPSs and other climate-related laws that focus on potential violations of the dormant Commerce Clause. It concludes with a brief exploration of how these cases fit the history and purpose of the dormant Commerce Clause. The Note argues that a narrow view of the doctrine is consistent with the purpose …