Law Commons^™

Invasive Species And Climate Change, Invasive Species Advisory Committee

National Invasive Species Council

ISSUE

Climate change interacts with and can often amplify the negative impacts of invasive species. These interactions are not fully appreciated or understood. They can result in threats to critical ecosystem functions on which our food system and other essential provisions and services depend as well as increase threats to human health. The Invasive Species Advisory Committee to the National Invasive Species Council recognizes the Administration’s commitment to dealing proactively with global climate change. However, unless we recognize and act on the impact of climate change and its interaction with ecosystems and invasive species, we will fall further behind in …

Agriculture's Fate Under Climate Change: Economic And Environmental Imperatives For Action, John N. Moore, Van Bruggen

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Farming, ranching, and other agricultural activities are in a relatively unique position amongst all human-caused sources of global warming. Unlike fossil fueled power plants and vehicles, for example, agriculture will suffer direct economic losses from the impacts of global warming on its products, such as through reduced crop yields. Also unlike other causes of global warming, agriculture can both mitigate global warming and increase revenue through a range of different practices, such as carbon sequestration and investments in carbon-friendly renewable energy. This article explains how global warming affects agriculture, especially in the Midwest and Great Plains, and how agriculture contributes …

The Legal-Political Barriers To Ramping Up To Hydro, Dan Tarlock

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Hydroelectric energy is the oldest major source of non-carbon, renewable energy and is the only conventional renewable resource in the current energy mix. Increased hydro capacity would seem to be a key element of any United States energy policy designed to promote the greater use of renewable resources. However, for several decades hydro has been perceived as a mature, fully developed technology. This article argues that any effort to stimulate substantial new hydro capacity will face a series of environmental legal and policy constraints. Efforts to adapt to global climate change will further complicate efforts to increase hydro electric generation. …

The Right Issue, The Wrong Branch: Arguments Against Adjudicating Climate Change Nuisance Claims, Matthew Edwin Miller

Michigan Law Review

Climate change is probably today's greatest global environmental threat, posing dire ecological, economic, and humanitarian consequences. In the absence of a comprehensive regulatory scheme to address the problem, some aggrieved Americans have sought relief from climate-related injuries by suing significant emitters of greenhouse gases under a public nuisance theory. Federal district courts have dismissed four such claims, with each court relying at least in part on the political question doctrine of nonjusticiability. However, one circuit court of appeals has reversed to date, finding that the common law cognizes such claims and that the judiciary is competent and compelled to adjudicate …

Nepa In The Hot Seat: A Proposal For An Office Of Environmental Analysis, Aliza M. Cohen

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Judicial deference under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) can be problematic. It is a well-established rule of administrative law that courts will grant a high degree of deference to agency decisions. They do this out of respect for agency expertise and policy judgment. This deference is applied to NEPA lawsuits without acknowledging the special pressures that agencies face while assessing the environmental impacts of their own projects. Though there is a strong argument that these pressures undermine the reasons for deferential review, neither the statute nor the courts have provided plaintiffs with adequate means to remedy this problem. Agency …

Kyoto's So-Called "Fatal Flaws": A Potential Springboard For Domestic Greenhouse Gas Regulation, Denee A. Diluigi

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment discusses the United States' capability to initiate a new domestic program to confront climate change in the wake of the current political stance on environmental issues. Additionally, this Comment proposes a program premised on market-based incentives that will serve as a compromise between industry and the environment to ensure that the United States takes affirmative action to reduce and limit domestic GHG emissions. Section II of this comment discusses the various factors that contribute to the scientific phenomenon of global warming. It also addresses the scientific community's divergent positions with respect to the causes of global warming and …

Ratification Resisted: Understanding America's Response To The Convention On Biological Diversity, 1989-2002, Robert F. Blomquist

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Article undertakes a broad, synoptic evaluation of America's complex response to the Convention. It paints an intricate picture of American legal and policy initiatives, on multiple levels, for enhanced domestic and international protection of biodiversity juxtaposed with concomitant legal and policy footdragging. Part I limns, in bold lines, the basic structure of the matter: initially it provides a brief overview of the genesis and contents of the CBD; then,' it sketches a chronological synopsis of America's formal and informal response to the CBD. Part II adds some detailed brushwork: it attempts to deepen understanding of the various tensions, concerns, …

U.S. Climate Change Policy Under G.W. Bush, Armin Rosencranz

Golden Gate University Law Review

In this short article, I review the development of U.S. climate change and energy policy under President George W. Bush, describe various executive branch initiatives to address the issue of global climate change, and assess the prospects for progressive U.S. action to address climate change over the remainder of the Bush Presidency. This is a short article because the repudiation of Kyoto speaks for itself and the domestic initiatives that could arguably influence greenhouse gas abatement seem extraordinarily modest in scope and cost.

U.S. Climate Change Policy Under President Clinton: A Look Back, Amy Royden

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article describes the evolution of the Clinton Administration's policy on climate change and point to factors that influenced its deliberations. It focuses on the U.S. positions in international negotiations, international reaction to these positions, and domestic policies and politics that influenced these positions. More detailed analyses of certain issues - such as full descriptions of all the climate change-related activities undertaken by the federal government, both abroad and at home - are beyond the scope of this article.

Consensus Among Many Voices: Articulating The European Union's Position On Climate Change, Nuno S. Lacasta, Suraje Dessai, Eva Powroslo

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article attempts to provide an overview of key policy elements of the European Union's climate policy since the adoption of the UNFCCC in 1992. Section II discusses the main features of the EU as an actor vis-a-vis its Member States and the international community at large. Section III identifies the key actors at play in the EU context; Section IV analyzes the EU's track record on domestic policies and measures. Section V, in turn, debates selected key topics in the international climate change negotiations from a EU perspective. Finally, section VI debates the prospects of continued international EU leadership …

International Greenhouse Gas Offsets Under The Clean Air Act, Nathan D. Richardson

Faculty Publications

Offsets, and in particular international offsets, have been advanced as an important tool in climate policy, capable of significantly reducing the costs of emissions reductions. As attention turns to the existing CAA as a potential vehicle for general reduction of GHG emissions, an important question is whether regulation under the statute is compatible with international offsets. Certain regulatory programs under the CAA are likely candidates for GHG regulation, but many of them are legally incompatible with international offsets. Those programs that might permit use of international offsets have other problems that make them unpopular choices for GHG regulation. To the …

Greenhouse Gas Regulation And Border Tax Adjustments: The Carrot And The Stick, M. Benjamin Eichenberg

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

Global climate change due to the emission of anthropogenic, or manmade, greenhouse gases (GHGs) has the most widely dispersed costs of any transboundary environmental problem that the international community has yet faced. In other words, it is a global public problem and thus provides few incentives for unilateral or individual mitigation. This makes finding solutions difficult because international coalitions must face the problem of free-riders who benefit from reduced GHG concentrations at zero cost—those who make the economically rational decision to let others reduce atmospheric GHG concentrations while they continue to build GHG-intensive economies. Three of the primary complaints raised …

Marine Bioinvasions And Climate Change, James T. Carlton, Sandra C. Lindstrom, Celia M. Smith, Jennifer E. Smith

National Invasive Species Council

BACKGROUND

Invasive species are second only to habitat destruction as the greatest cause of species endangerment and global biodiversity loss. Invasive species can cause severe and permanent damage to the ecosystems they invade. Consequences of invasion include competition with or predation upon native species, hybridization, carrying or supporting harmful pathogens and parasites that may affect wildlife and human health, disturbing ecosystem function through alteration of food webs and nutrient recycling rates, acting as ecosystem engineers and altering habitat structure, and degradation of the aesthetic quality of our natural resources. In many cases we may not fully know the native animals …

Global Warming Advocacy Science: A Cross Examination, Jason S. Johnston

All Faculty Scholarship

Legal scholarship has come to accept as true the various pronouncements of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other scientists who have been active in the movement for greenhouse gas (ghg) emission reductions to combat global warming. The only criticism that legal scholars have had of the story told by this group of activist scientists – what may be called the climate establishment – is that it is too conservative in not paying enough attention to possible catastrophic harm from potentially very high temperature increases. This paper departs from such faith in the climate establishment by comparing the …

The Implications Of Climate Change Litigation For International Environmental Law-Making, David B. Hunter

David B. Hunter

Climate advocates are increasingly raising specific climate change concerns before domestic courts, human rights tribunals, international commissions and other national and international decisionmaking bodies. Win or lose, these litigation strategies are significantly changing and enhancing the public dialogue around climate change. This article discusses the awareness-building impacts of climate litigation as well as related impacts such strategies may have on the development of climate law and policy. The article argues that litigation's focus on specific victims facing immediate threats from climate change has increased the political will to address climate change both internationally and nationally. It has also shifted the …

Legal Theory And The Anthropocene Challenge: The Implications Of Law, Science, And Policy For Weapons Of Mass Destruction And Climate Change: The Expanding The Constraining Boundaries Of Legal Space And Time And The Challenge Of The Anthropocene, Winston P. Nagan, Judit K. Otvos

UF Law Faculty Publications

The idea of legal theory as a self-conscious theory for inquiry about law has opened up the framework of observation and participation. It has heightened social responsibility in ways that have been creative and receptive to analogies and metaphors from the developments in modern science. This paper explores some of these dominant borrowed metaphors. It further emphasizes the importance of the wide range of concerns in law technically, as well as the law’s capacity to manage and manipulate space and time implicating such issues as weapons of mass destruction, rights of indigenous people, deforestation, and climate change. By giving the …

Carbon Down Under - Lessons From Australia: Two Recommendations For Clarifying Subsurface Property Rights To Facilitate Onshore Geologic Carbon Sequestration In The United States, Tracy J. Logan

San Diego International Law Journal

This Comment’s analysis requires a few necessary assumptions. First, the feasibility of large-scale deployment of geologic CCS technology for the purposes of permanently storing CO2 is assumed. Second, the establishment of a regulatory framework with incentives to mitigate or offset GHGs is assumed. Third, the carbon-capture technology retrofitting of point-source emitters is assumed. And finally, the existence of infrastructure to transport supercritical CO2 to a storage site is assumed. This Comment contains five parts: Part I provides an introduction and overview to contextualize the need for CCS; Part II details the technology of GS; Part III is an overview of …

Slides: Costs And Benefits Of Oil Shale Development, James T. Bartis

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

Presenter: James T. Bartis, Senior Policy Researcher, Rand Corporation

21 slides

Agenda: The Promise And Peril Of Oil Shale Development, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

The largest known oil shale deposits in the world are in the Green River Formation, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Fully one-half of the world’s oil shale lies within 150 miles of Grand Junction, Colorado, and about 80% of these reserves are on federal land. Estimates of recoverable reserves in the Green River Formation range from 500 billion to 1.53 trillion barrels. At present consumption rates, this is enough oil to satisfy 100% of U.S. demand for well over 100 years.

Development of oil shale could cause significant impacts on the Colorado Plateau. It would provide for …

Slides: The Peril Of Energy Usage, Mike Tupper

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

Presenter: Mike Tupper, Executive Vice President, Composite Technology Development, Inc.

9 slides

Slides: Oil Shale Water Needs, State Water Planning And The Colorado River Compact, Daniel R. Birch

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

Presenter: Daniel R. Birch, Deputy General Manager & Chief Engineer, Colorado River District

17 slides

Slides: The Elusive Bonanza, Randy Udall

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

Presenter: Randy Udall, Co-founder, Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA

62 slides

Framing Water Policy In A Carbon Affected And Carbon Constrained Environment, Robert H. Abrams, Noah D. Hall

Journal Publications

Climate change driven by greenhouse gas emissions is substantially altering water availability while increasing water demand. Shifts in domestic energy policy and production, while needed to confront the challenge of climate change, may further stress the nation's water resources. These changes and new demands will be most severe in regions that are already experiencing water stresses and conflicts. This article examines the extent of the changes in water supply and demand by assessing how water conflicts will be addressed in the four overarching water use categories: water for population security, water for ecological security, water for energy security, and water …

Public Nuisance Suits For The Climate Justice Movement: The Right Thing And The Right Time, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

The climate justice movement seeks to provide relief to vulnerable communities that have been disproportionately affected by climate change impacts. Public nuisance litigation for climate change impacts is a new and growing field that could provide the legal and policy underpinnings to help secure a viable foundation for climate justice in the United States and internationally. By securing victories in the court system, these suits may succeed where the domestic environmental justice movement failed in seeking to merge environmental protection and human rights concerns into an actionable legal theory. This Article first examines the nature and scope of the climate …

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 …

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.

Redd, White, And Blue: Is Proposed U.S. Climate Legislation Adequate To Promote A Global Carbon Credits System For Avoided Deforestation In A Post-Kyoto Regime?, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) has emerged as an important albeit controversial, component of negotiations for a new international climate change regime to succeed the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012 Not permitted under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, REDD involves paying developing countries to protect their tropical forests as a climate change mitigation strategy REDD gained widespread attention by 2005 and took center stage in the months preceding the negotiation of the Copenhagen Accord in December 2009. After more than a decade of nonparticipation in international climate change compliance efforts, the United States has signed …

A Green Solution To Climate Change: The Hybrid Approach To Crediting Reductions In Tropical Deforestation, Randall S. Abate, Todd A. Wright

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Multiscalar Governance And Climate Change: Reflections On The Role Of States And Cities At Copenhagen, Hari M. Osofsky

Maryland Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Success Or Failure?, Richard L. Ottinger

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Copenhagen Climate Conference and its Copenhagen Accord have generally been billed by the press as having been a failure. I think this is a very unfortunate mischaracterisation. The conference was a failure only in not achieving binding commitments to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels sufficiently to meet the requirements identified by the some 3,000 leading global scientists of the UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to avoid disastrous consequences – such as sea-level rise leading to massive migration, food disruption, water shortages, tropical disease migration, biodiversity destruction, etc. But the conference didn’t expect that this could …