Law Commons^™

Ocean Acidification Through The Lens Of Ecological Theory, Brian Gaylord Et Al.

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Ocean acidification, chemical changes to the carbonate system of seawater, is emerging as a key environmental challenge accompanying global warming and other human-induced perturbations. Considerable research seeks to define the scope and character of potential outcomes from this phenomenon, but a crucial impediment persists. Ecological theory, despite its power and utility, has been only peripherally applied to the problem. Here we sketch in broad strokes several areas where fundamental principles of ecology have the capacity to generate insight into ocean acidification’s consequences. We focus on conceptual models that, when considered in the context of acidification, yield explicit predictions regarding a …

Federal Treaty And Trust Obligations, And Ocean Acidification, Robert T. Anderson

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Ocean acidification will have profound effects on the entire human population and natural resources that depend in any way upon Earth’s oceans and lakes. In turn, those effects will be even greater, and potentially catastrophic, for indigenous populations who rely on the seas for physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. While most research on carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere has focused on oceans and the resulting acidification, many believe that acidification levels also will also increase in the Great Lakes. Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes regions share reliance on marine and freshwater resources, and many …

Ocean Acidification: The Other Co2 Problem?, Scott C. Doney, Victoria J. Fabry, Richard A. Feely, Joan A. Kleypas

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), primarily from human fossil fuel combustion, reduces ocean pH and causes wholesale shifts in seawater carbonate chemistry. The process of ocean acidification is well documented in field data, and the rate will accelerate over this century unless future CO₂ emissions are curbed dramatically. Acidification alters seawater chemical speciation and biogeochemical cycles of many elements and compounds. One well-known effect is the lowering of calcium carbonate saturation states, which impacts shell-forming marine organisms from plankton to benthic molluscs, echinoderms, and corals. Many calcifying species exhibit reduced calcification and growth rates in laboratory experiments …

"Fed" Up With Acidification: "Trusting" The Federal Government To Protect The Tulalip Tribes' Access To Shellfish Beds, Jacqueline M. Bertelsen

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Part I of this paper discusses the threat ocean acidification poses to the Tulalip Tribes’ ability to practice and preserve its way of life. Part II examines the laws and legal structures, especially the Clean Water Act, that can simultaneously protect the Tulalip Tribes’ right to harvest shellfish at “usual and accustomed” shellfish beds and the health of Puget Sound’s waters as a whole. Finally, Part III proposes actions that can be taken at the state, tribal, and federal levels. First, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should develop criteria and water quality standards relevant to ocean acidification that can be …

Ocean Acidification: Legal And Policy Responses To Address Climate Change's Evil Twin, Eric V. Hull

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Much attention has been devoted to the problem of global climate change, but the effects of carbon dioxide on the world’s oceans has been largely underappreciated. Oceanic absorption of carbon dioxide is working fundamental changes on ocean chemistry, increasing the acidity of the oceans, and threatening the stability of the oceans’ ecosystems. The United States has responded to these emergent threats with a policy agenda heavily oriented toward data production, but light on action that might reverse the course of ocean acidification. This Article contends that this policy approach is ill-suited to the known risks of intensifying ocean acidification. The …

Ten Ways States Can Combat Ocean Acidification (And Why They Should), Ryan P. Kelly, Margaret R. Caldwell

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The ocean is becoming more acidic worldwide as a result of increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (“CO₂”) and other pollutants. This fundamental change is likely to have substantial ecological and economic consequences globally. In this Article, we provide a toolbox for understanding and addressing the drivers of ocean acidification. We begin with an overview of the relevant science, highlighting known causes of chemical change in the coastal ocean. Because of the difficulties associated with controlling diffuse atmospheric pollutants such as CO₂, we then focus on controlling smaller-scale agents of acidification, discussing ten legal and policy …

The Revival Of Climate Change Science In U.S. Courts, William H. Rodgers Jr., Andrea K. Rodgers

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Science never has been the obstacle to the recognition of climate change. Since Arhennius did his original calculations in 1896, the scientific world was quite aware of the prospect that industrial-age levels of carbon dioxide pollution would result in increasing global temperatures and acidification of the world’s oceans. The brilliant—and striking—graphical display that we know today as the Keeling Curve started in 1957, and year after year it records the relentless upward march of these atmospheric pollutant loadings. Through the years, necessarily, a vast number of scientific warnings, publications, findings, and predictions would be offered to the public at large, …

Ocean Acidification And The Unfccc: Finding Legal Clarity In The Twilight Zone, Ellycia R. Harrould-Kolieb

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Ocean acidification—the rise in ocean acidity due primarily to the absorption of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere—is often thought of as a consequence of climate change; however, it is a separate, albeit very closely related, problem. Despite their common driver, the processes and impacts of ocean acidification and climate change are distinct and it should not be assumed that policies intended to alleviate climate change will simultaneously benefit the oceans. Indeed, some proposed climate change policy interventions, such as geoengineering schemes or the reduction of non-CO₂ greenhouse gases, either do nothing to alleviate increasing ocean acidification …

Continuing To Lead: Washington State's Efforts To Address Ocean Acidification, Amanda M. Carr

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The world’s oceans have become approximately thirty percent more acidic since the Industrial Revolution and are currently acidifying at a rate ten times faster than anything the earth has experienced over the last fifty million years. Washington State is undertaking a groundbreaking effort to address ocean acidification, a global issue that has serious implications for the world’s oceans, marine ecosystems, and the individuals and communities that depend upon the services that they provide. These localized actions, in isolation, will be insufficient to effectively combat and adapt to the acidification of marine waters. While acknowledging this generally accepted premise, Washington has …

Using The Clean Water Act To Tackle Ocean Acidification: When Carbon Dioxide Pollutes The Oceans, Miyoko Sakashita

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Carbon dioxide is an invisible pollutant that threatens water quality and entire marine ecosystems. The oceans absorb carbon pollution from the atmosphere, which reacts with seawater causing it to become more acidic. Ocean acidification impairs the growth, survival and reproduction of marine animals, and if unabated will massively disrupt entire ecosystems. One of the most powerful tools that we have to combat ocean acidification is the Clean Water Act—a law that has successfully solved difficult water pollution problems for decades. This article will discuss how the Clean Water Act can be leveraged to address ocean acidification and to protect our …

Dealing With Ocean Acidification: The Problem, The Clean Water Act, And State And Regional Approaches, Robin Kundis Craig

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Ocean acidification is often referred to as climate change’s “evil twin.” As the global ocean continually absorbs much of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide produced through the burning of fossil fuels, its pH is dropping, causing a plethora of chemical, biological, and ecological impacts. These impacts immediately threaten local and regional fisheries and marine aquaculture; over the long term, they pose the risk of a global mass extinction event. As with climate change itself, the ultimate solution to ocean acidification is a worldwide reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. In the interim, however, environmental groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity …

Atmospheric Trust Litigation And The Constitutional Right To A Healthy Climate System: Judicial Recognition At Last, Mary Christina Wood, Charles W. Woodward Iv

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

This Article spotlights a recent Washington case, Foster v. Washington Department of Ecology, which breaks new judicial ground in forcing governments to control dangerous GHG emissions. The case is part of an urgent global litigation campaign known as Atmospheric Trust Litigation (ATL). The Article begins by summarizing the actions deemed necessary by scientists to avert climate catastrophe, and describes the ATL campaign that formed in response. Part II explains the public trust framework, which provides the legal foundation for this climate litigation. Part III examines the three stages of atmospheric trust cases and describes the litigation up until the …

Filling Holes In The Air: Why The Ninth Circuit In Pakootas V. Teck Cominco Should Decline To Open Up A New Hole In Coverage That Would Circumvent Cerla Arranger Liability For Sites Contaminated By Aerial Emissions, Frank Cioffi

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

In order to frame the legal controversy, Part II of this comment provides background information on the relevant provisions of CERCLA, RCRA, and the Clean Air Act, and presents a brief summary of the physical and legal history of the Teck Cominco smelter and the Upper Columbia River site. Part III of this comment analyzes the controversy by examining the statutes themselves, as well as recent developments in the case law regarding arranger liability. While the statutes and the case law establish liability on their own, Part III also looks to the legislative history and finds confirmation that Congress intended …

Arctic Law & Policy Year In Review: 2015, Arctice Law & Policy Institute, University Of Washington

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Filling Holes In The Air: Why The Ninth Circuit In Pakootas V. Teck Cominco Should Decline To Open Up A New Hole In Coverage That Would Circumvent Cerla Arranger Liability For Sites Contaminated By Aerial Emissions, Frank Cioffi

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

In order to frame the legal controversy, Part II of this comment provides background information on the relevant provisions of CERCLA, RCRA, and the Clean Air Act, and presents a brief summary of the physical and legal history of the Teck Cominco smelter and the Upper Columbia River site. Part III of this comment analyzes the controversy by examining the statutes themselves, as well as recent developments in the case law regarding arranger liability. While the statutes and the case law establish liability on their own, Part III also looks to the legislative history and finds confirmation that Congress intended …

Contents, Anon

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Arctic Law & Policy Year In Review: 2015, Arctice Law & Policy Institute, University Of Washington

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Our Corrosive Oceans: Exploring Regulatory Responses And A Possible Role For Tribes, Weston R. Lemay

Washington Law Review

The world’s oceans act as a carbon sink, absorbing roughly twenty-five percent of humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions. As a result, ocean acidity has increased sixty percent since the beginning of the industrial era. Acidification is a burgeoning ocean health crisis—present levels of acidity already threaten species of oyster, plankton, and salmon. Disturbingly, the capacity of the American legal system to respond is unclear: the complexity of climate change-related harms typically precludes a remedy at common law. With respect to mitigating near-shore acidification, this Comment argues that a regulatory strategy utilizing the Clean Water Act’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) regime …

Federal Treaty And Trust Obligations, And Ocean Acidification, Robert T. Anderson

Articles

Ocean acidification will have profound effects on the entire human population and natural resources that depend in any way upon Earth’s oceans and lakes. In turn, those effects will be even greater, and potentially catastrophic, for indigenous populations who rely on the seas for physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. While most research on carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere has focused on oceans and the resulting acidification, many believe that acidification levels also will also increase in the Great Lakes. Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes regions share reliance on marine and freshwater resources, and many …

The Revival Of Climate Change Science In U.S. Courts, William H. Rodgers, Jr., Andrea K. Rodgers

Articles

Science never has been the obstacle to the recognition of climate change. Since Arhennius did his original calculations in 1896, the scientific world was quite aware of the prospect that industrial-age levels of carbon dioxide pollution would result in increasing global temperatures and acidification of the world’s oceans. The brilliant—and striking—graphical display that we know today as the Keeling Curve started in 1957, and year after year it records the relentless upward march of these atmospheric pollutant loadings.

Through the years, necessarily, a vast number of scientific warnings, publications, findings, and predictions would be offered to the public at large, …