Law Commons^™

The New Nuisance: An Antidote To Wetland Loss, Sprawl, And Global Warming, Christine A. Klein

UF Law Faculty Publications

Marking the fifteenth anniversary of Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council -- the modern U.S. Supreme Court's seminal regulatory takings decision -- this Article surveys Lucas's impact upon regulations that restrict wetland filling, sprawling development, and the emission of greenhouse gases. The Lucas Court set forth a new categorical rule of governmental liability for regulations that prohibit all economically beneficial use of land, but also established a new defense that draws upon the states' common law of nuisance and property. Unexpectedly, that defense has taken on a life of its own -- forming what this Article calls the new …

Saving Special Places: Trends And Challenges With Protecting Public Lands [Outline], Robert B. Keiter

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

7 pages.

Includes bibliographical references

"Robert B. Keiter, Wallace Stegner Professor of Law, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law"

Slides: Summary: Sources Of Stress And The Changing Context Of Natural Resources Law And Policy In The New West, William R. Travis

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Presenter: Dr. William R. Travis, Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder

43 slides

The Growing Influence Of Tort And Property Law On Natural Resources Law: Case Studies Of Coal Bed Methane Development And Geologic Carbon Sequestration, Alexandra B. Klass

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

19 pages.

"Alexandra B. Klass, Associate Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School"

Symposium Examines Implications Of Global Warming For Toxins Containment At Bay Area Landfills, Unknown

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Global Warming: Zoning May Be An Antidote To Climate Change, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Through the use of transit oriented development (TOD) several New York municipalities have transformed into more sustainable communities by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Contrary to popular belief, these municipalities proved that reduction of emissions is possible while still expanding economic growth. This article highlights several success stories in a variety of community landscapes beginning with a look at urban redevelopment in Yonkers, White Plains, and New Rochelle, New York, and then transitions to suburban success stories in Orangetown, and several municipalities along the Bear Mountain Parkway.

Action On Global Warming: Making Room For Tribal Governments In The New Kind Of Wedge Issue, Dean B. Suagee

The Climate of Environmental Justice: Taking Stock (March 16-17)

Presenter: Dean B. Suagee, Of Counsel, Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker LLP, Washington, D.C.

1 page.

Climate Changes And The Poorest Nations: Further Reflections On Global Inequality, Ruth Gordon

The Climate of Environmental Justice: Taking Stock (March 16-17)

Presenter: Ruth Gordon, Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law

3 pages.

Overview: Intersection Of Climate Security With Energy Production And Consumption, Vickie Patton

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Impacts Of Global Warming: The Need For Cooperation & Leadership An Overview Of This Issue , Jeff Bingaman

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Existing Legal Mechanism To Address Oceanic Impacts From Climate Change , Lucy Wiggins

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

States Tackle Global Warming, Dale Bryk

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Inter-American Commission On Human Rights To Hold Hearing After Rejecting Inuit Climate Change Petition, Jessica Gordon

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Global Climate Change Creates A New Carbon Business For U.S. Companies, Michael J. Zimmer

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Achieving Energy Independence & Stopping Global Warming Through A New Energy Economy, John Edwards

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

State Efforts To Promote Renewable Energy: Tripping The Horse With The Cart?, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Christopher Cooper

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative And California Assembly Bill 1493: Filling The American Greenhouse Gas Regulation Void, Michael H. Wall

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Allocating Responsibility For The Failure Of Global Warming Policies, Joni Hersch, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

A recent series of climate change lawsuits has sought to mimic the "regulation through litigation" approach of the claims brought by the states against cigarette manufacturers. What is distinctive about the cigarette cases relative to conventional tort claims is that they were not brought on behalf of individual smokers, but rather sought to recoup the Medicaid-related costs of smoking. A parallel climate change litigation approach seeks payments from public utilities, energy producers, and other parties responsible for greenhouse gas emissions to reflect the long-term societal damages that the plaintiffs claim will be caused by this pollution. While environmental litigation of …

Judging Treaties, Lakshman Guruswamy

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Big One, Edward A. Parson

Reviews

Richard Posner's Catastrophe: Risk and Response (Oxford University Press, 2004) examines four risks whose worst cases could end advanced human civilization or worse: asteroid impacts, a catastrophic chain reaction initiated in high-energy particle accelerators, global climate change, and bioterrorism. He argues that these all warrant more thought and response than they are receiving, and that they can usefully be assessed using a simple analytic framework based on cost-benefit analysis. This essay reviews knowledge of these risks and critically examines Posner's claims for a consistent analytic approach. While the conclusions that each risk merits more thought and effort appear persuasive, these …

Images Of Expertise: Converging Discourses On The Use And Abuse Of Science In Massachusetts V. Epa, David S. Caudill

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Seeking Protection: Recognition Of Environmentally Displaced Persons Under International Human Rights Law, Brooke Havard

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Second National Risk And Culture Study: Making Sense Of - And Making Progress In - The American Culture War Of Fact, Donald Braman, Dan M. Kahan, Paul Slovic, John Gastil, Geoffrey L. Cohen

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Cultural Cognition refers to the disposition to conform one's beliefs about societal risks to one's preferences for how society should be organized. Based on surveys and experiments involving some 5,000 Americans, the Second National Risk and Culture Study presents empirical evidence of the effect of this dynamic in generating conflict about global warming, school shootings, domestic terrorism, nanotechnology, and the mandatory vaccination of school-age girls against HPV, among other issues. The Study also presents evidence of risk-communication strategies that counteract cultural cognition. Because nuclear power affirms rather than threatens the identity of persons who hold individualist values, for example, proposing …

Massachusetts V. Epa: Breaking New Ground On Issues Other Than Global Warming, Amy J. Wildermuth, Kathryn A. Watts

Articles

In this essay, we consider the long-term legal significance of the Supreme Court's decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, concluding that the case is likely to have a significant impact on two doctrinal areas of the law: (1) the standing of states; and (2) the standard of review applied to denials of petitions for rulemaking. First, although we have some questions about the Court's reasoning, we are encouraged to see the beginning of a framework for evaluating state standing based on the interest of the state in the litigation. Second, with respect to judicial review of agency inaction in the rulemaking …

Global-Change Scenarios: Their Development And Use, Edward A. Parson, Virginia Burkett, Karen Fisher-Vanden, David Keith, Linda Mearns, Hugh Pitcher, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Mort Webster

Other Publications

This report examines the development and use of scenarios in global climate change applications. It considers scenarios of various types – including but not limited to emissions scenarios – and reviews how they have been developed, what uses they have served, what consistent challenges they have faced, what controversies they have raised, and how their development and use might be made more effective. The report is Synthesis & Assessment Product 2.1b of the US Climate Change Science Program. By synthesizing available literature and critically reviewing past experience, the report seeks to assist those who may be conducting, using, or commissioning …

Global Climate Change And The Risks To Coastal Areas From Hurricanes And Rising Sea Levels: The Costs Of Doing Nothing, Robert L. Glicksman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, attention has focused on a pair of threats to low-lying coastal areas. Scientists have begun a debate over the possible impact of global climate change on hurricane intensity. Some scientists take the position that recent increases in hurricane intensity in the North Atlantic are due, at least in part, to increases in sea surface temperatures caused by human-induced global climate change. Others believe that those increases are largely due to natural fluctuations in weather patterns such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. There is little debate over a second threat to coastal areas. The broad …

Coalbed Methane: Crafting A Right To Sell From An Obligation To Vent, L. James Lyman

University of Colorado Law Review

Coalbed methane ("CBM") is a rapidly growing source of energy in the United States, particularly in the Intermountain West. Rather than being captured and utilized, however, much of the recoverable CBM is released into the atmosphere as coal mine methane ("CMM), a byproduct of coal mining. Allowing a federal coal operator to capture and sell or otherwise consume CMM would reduce greenhouse emissions, provide additional fuel for power generation, and avoid the waste of valuable natural resources. However, there is sparse guidance from the federal government regarding the right of federal coal operators to engage in CMM sale. What little …

Climate Change And The Poorest Nations: Further Reflections On Global Inequality, Ruth Gordon

University of Colorado Law Review

This article considers climate change from the perspective of the Third World and more particularly from the vantage point of the poorest nations in the international system. It concludes that those nations that are the most geographically and economically vulnerable will also have the least impact on mechanisms to halt the progress of this impending disaster. Hence, climate change is examined as yet another chapter in Third World powerlessness. Despite the fact that low-income nations participate in international deliberations, they do so from an exceedingly weak position that puts them in the untenable position of being on the receiving end …

The Domestic Response To Global Climate Change: What Role For Federal, State, And Litigation Initiatives?, Alice Kaswan

Alice Kaswan

Although the United States is not a party to the Kyoto Protocol, a multitude of alternative domestic approaches to combat climate change have emerged at all levels of government. The article takes as given that climate change is a serious environmental problem that requires a legal response. Building on conference presentations at a USF symposium in March 2007, this article evaluates the most significant existing federal and state measures, including federal voluntary measures, California's vehicle emissions standards and global warming legislation, and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The article also addresses three litigation initiatives: Massachusetts v. EPA, Friends of the …

Ecosystem Subsidies Of Fossil Fuels, David R. Hodas

David R. Hodas

Ecosystems provide the invaluable service of collecting and storing solar energy as fossil fuels (e.g., coal, petroleum, and natural gas). These concentrated forms of energy were gifted to us by the sun and collected and stored for our use by ancient ecosystem services. However, our legal and economic systems fail to recognize the value of this ecosystem service that is embedded in fossil fuels. As a result, society uses fossil fuels as though they were free and inexhaustible. This market failure means that fossil fuels are being consumed more quickly than they can be replenished, which in turn has affected …