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San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

2010

Environmental law

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Law

An Environmental Competition Statute, David M. Driesen Jan 2010

An Environmental Competition Statute, David M. Driesen

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The next generation of environmental law should use economic incentives to creatively stimulate innovation in environmental technology. This Article proposes an environmental competition statute as a means of stimulating movement toward a more sustainable future. Such a statute would authorize those who achieve low emissions to collect the cost of achieving low emissions plus a premium from competitors with higher emissions.

This Article briefly explains the value of using this mechanism. It then canvasses the problems with the first and second generation of environmental law that an environmental competition statute can help us overcome. A detailed description of an environmental …


The Effects Of Brazilian Agricultural Property Policies And International Pressures On The Soybean Industry: Incentives For Amazon Deforestation And How It May Be Reduced, Tyler E. Hazen Jan 2010

The Effects Of Brazilian Agricultural Property Policies And International Pressures On The Soybean Industry: Incentives For Amazon Deforestation And How It May Be Reduced, Tyler E. Hazen

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article begins in Part II with an overview of the Amazonian environment and the rise of soybeans as a lucrative export product. Part III discusses how Brazilian property law and land use culture has facilitated transformation of land for cultivation and ultimately, deforestation. Part IV discusses international reaction to Brazil’s sovereignty over the Amazon, including European import practices such as protectionism, desire for hormone-free products, as well as market incentives for soy raised on land that was not deforested. Finally, Part V offers solutions for working within the current system, aggressively supporting the policies against deforestation while respecting the …


Looking Back To Move Forward: Revisiting The Btu In Evaluating Current Policy Alternatives, Walter Wang Jan 2010

Looking Back To Move Forward: Revisiting The Btu In Evaluating Current Policy Alternatives, Walter Wang

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

To evaluate the current policy alternatives, it is necessary to take a step back and revisit the Btu tax proposed by the Clinton Administration. Although seventeen years have passed since the Btu tax was proposed, and the U.S. is at war in theaters that are much different from those in which it was involved during the Clinton Administration, the landscape of the climate change debate has not changed dramatically. The lessons learned from the policies espoused by the Btu tax proposal may be critical in determining how to best approach climate change legislation today.


Enforcing Cap-And-Trade: A Tale Of Two Programs, Lesley K. Mcallister Jan 2010

Enforcing Cap-And-Trade: A Tale Of Two Programs, Lesley K. Mcallister

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article uses the histories of the ARP and RECLAIM to show that even when monitoring and enforcement provisions for cap-and-trade programs are designed in a similar way, the resulting enforcement systems and enforcement outcomes may be very different. Part I of the Article tells the enforcement story of the ARP. It appears to be a story of regulatory efficiency and success. Part II tells the enforcement story of RECLAIM. While not a failure, RECLAIM enforcement seems to have been full of difficulties that necessitated large amounts of administrative time and resources. This part presents the results of an empirical …


Climate Change Law In And Over Time, Richard J. Lazarus Jan 2010

Climate Change Law In And Over Time, Richard J. Lazarus

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The critical lesson for climate change legislation is that the pending lawmaking moment must include the enactment of provisions specifically designed to maintain the legislation’s ability to achieve its long-term objectives over the longer term. For climate change legislation to be successful, the new legal framework must simultaneously be flexible in certain respects and steadfast in others. Flexibility is necessary to allow for the modification of legal requirements over time in light of new information. Steadfastness or “stickiness” is important to maintain the stability of a law’s requirements over time. The need for both is particularly great for climate change …


Adapting To Climate Change With Law That Bends Without Breaking, Holly Doremus Jan 2010

Adapting To Climate Change With Law That Bends Without Breaking, Holly Doremus

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

Climate change, the key environmental challenge of this century, is a tough problem for law in many ways. The topic of this panel, instrument choice, highlights a particularly difficult, important, and under-recognized aspect of the climate change challenge: the difficulty of devising a system of environmental law that combines the flexibility necessary to deal with a changing world with the rigidity and accountability essential to hold us to the difficult task of environmental protection.


Federal Greenhouse Gas Control Options From An Enforcement Perspective, Scott Schang, Teresa Chan Jan 2010

Federal Greenhouse Gas Control Options From An Enforcement Perspective, Scott Schang, Teresa Chan

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

As part of the University of San Diego Law School’s Second Annual Climate and Energy Law Symposium, we decided to review the enforcement provisions of the main federal greenhouse gas control options, with a view to drawing lessons from that review that could inform policy choices and program design. Our review suggests that there are relative strengths and weaknesses, as well important tradeoffs to be made, in the enforcement provisions of each of the leading candidate programs. Our review further suggests that some revisions should be made to these provisions to help ensure that the greenhouse gas control programs meet …