Law Commons^™

A Perfect Storm: Mercury And The Bush Administration, Part Ii, Rena I. Steinzor, Lisa Heinzerling

Rena I. Steinzor

The Environmental Protection Agency's recent proposal to regulate mercury emissions from power plants, and its final rule on mercury emissions from chlor-alkali facilities, suffer from serious scientific, legal, economic, and distributional flaws. The first installment in this series examined the strong scientific basis for regulating mercury emissions and critiqued the agency's decisions from a legal perspective. This second (and final) installment finds that EPA's decisions also fail from the perspectives of economics and environmental justice. EPA and the Office of Management and Budget's economic analysis of the proposal to regulate mercury from power plants was shoddy and one-sided. EPA and …

Oversight Hearing On The Federal Superfund Program's Activities To Protect Public Health, Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

A Perfect Storm: Mercury And The Bush Administration, Rena Steinzor, Lisa Heinzerling

Rena I. Steinzor

In December 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a rule for mercury emissions from power plants and issued a final rule for mercury emissions from chlor-alkali facilities. Regarding power plants, EPA had previously found that mercury posed the most serious threat among the hazardous air pollutants emitted by power plants, and also that regulation of mercury from power plants was appropriate and necessary under section 112 of the Clean Air Act, which requires stringent technology-based regulation for hazardous air pollutants. Despite section 112's clear rejection of emissions trading as a compliance option, EPA has proposed to allow commercial trading …

Testimony Before The U.S. House Of Representatives, Committee On Science And Technology, Subcommittee On Investigations And Oversight. 111th Congress, 1st Session (2009)., Rena I. Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

Agenda: World Energy Justice Conference And Appropriate Technology Arcade, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law

World Energy Justice Conference (October 23-24)

The 2009 CEES Energy Justice Conference took place at the University of Colorado Law School on October 23rd and 24th, 2009. It featured 11 sessions, more than 40 speakers, and attracted over 200 attendees. The Conference brought together leading international and U.S. decision-makers in politics, engineering, public health, law, business, economics, and innovators in the sciences to explore how best to address the critical needs of the energy-oppressed poor (EOP) through long-term interdisciplinary action, information sharing, and deployment of appropriate sustainable energy technologies (ASETs).

The Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy (CJIELP) at the University of Colorado Law …

Slides: Rapanos And The Courts: Navigating Through The Fog, Jim Murphy

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Jim Murphy, Wetlands and Water Resources Counsel, National Wildlife Federation, VT

25 slides

No Reason To Wait: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through The Clean Air Act, William Snape

Newsletters & Other Publications

In the United States, the legal and policy response to global warming has always lagged far behind the urgency of the problem as articulated by scientists and borne out in the real world. In the past five years, this mismatch has reached frightening proportions, with Arctic sea ice and glaciers rapidly retreating, rising and acidifying seas, stronger storms, more frequent and intense droughts and heat waves, looming species extinction and the climate related-deaths of 300,000 people each year. Leading scientists warn that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have likely already exceeded safe levels and must therefore be reduced in the next …

Testimony Before The U.S. House Of Representatives, Committee On Science And Technology, Subcommittee On Investigations And Oversight. 111th Congress, 1st Session (2009)., Rena I. Steinzor

Congressional Testimony

No abstract provided.

Untested Waters: The Rise Of Hydraulic Fracturing In Oil And Gas Production And The Need To Revisit Regulation, Hannah J. Wiseman

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Standing And Future Generations: Does Massachusetts V. Epa Open Standing For Generations To Come?, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Many issues, especially potential environmental catastrophes caused by climate change, affect not just the living, but also future generations. The bias in our political system against addressing the interests of future generations poses serious obstacles in solving long-term environmental problems such as global warming. Because future generations cannot vote, unelected federal judges are more suited to protect their interests than the political branches.

An important question is whether anyone has standing to sue on behalf of future generations in the federal courts. The Supreme Court's Article III standing test requires plaintiffs to demonstrate that they have personally suffered an injury …

First Annual Climate And Energy Law Symposium: Federal Preemption Or State Prerogative: California In The Face Of National Climate Policy: An Introduction, Richard J. Lazarus

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The University of San Diego School of Law's decision to create a new scholarly law journal dedicated to climate and energy issues could hardly come at a better time. ...
... The resulting debate and discussion, reflected in the following papers that the speakers produced, should be required reading for those lawmakers both in Washington, DC and in state capitals such as Sacramento, as they craft federal and state laws that seek to address this "most pressing environmental challenge."

Epa's Endangerment Finding For Greenhouse Gases And The Potential Duty To Adopt National Ambient Air Quality Standards To Address Global Climate Change, Patricia Ross Mccubbin

Patricia Ross McCubbin

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) recently announced its intention to make a finding under the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gases from new cars and light trucks endanger the public health and welfare by contributing to global climate change. That proposed endangerment finding and the vehicle emission standards that will follow are highly controversial, with industry representatives vigorously challenging EPA’s scientific conclusions. Of even greater controversy, however, is the possibility that issuance of the final endangerment finding will obligate EPA and the states to regulate greenhouse gases from nearly every sector of the economy with “national …

Saving Lives Through Administrative Law And Economics: A Response, Shi-Ling Hsu

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Resolving The Climate Wars, Alan D. Hecht

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The International Court Of Justice’S Treatment Of “Sustainable Development”And Implications For Argentina V. Uruguay, Lauren Trevisan

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

New York Climate Change Report Card: Improvement Needed For More Effective Leadership And Overall Coordination With Local Government, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

New York ranks eight out of the 50 states in terms of carbon emissions. While the State government is just beginning to enact meaningful programs and incentives to encourage municipal policies and actions that will reduce the impact of local decisions on our carbon footprint, a number of local governments across the State have already been at work developing and adopting "greening" strategies, policies and regulations. While the New York State Bar Association has released for comment a report of its Task Force on Global Warming which documents an impressive two-dozen current state-level laws and programs on climate change, the …