Environmental Law Commons^™

Legal Shifts And Judicial Inconsistencies In Strict Liability After The Omnibus Law: A Critical Analysis Of Indonesian Environmental Law For Responsible Mining And Esg Compliance, Nurul Listiyani, Khenza Atthaya Namira Yulianto

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

The legal significance of strict liability in mining arises from the sector’s capacity to generate technically complex, diffuse, and long-latency environmental harm that is difficult to address through fault-based litigation alone. This study aims to evaluate how the post-Omnibus Law reformulation of Article 88 of Law No. 32 of 2009 has affected the doctrinal autonomy, judicial consistency, and practical enforcement of strict liability in Indonesian environmental law. The research used normative doctrinal legal research including statutory, case-law, conceptual, comparative, and evaluative analyses. The data cover the 2009–2025 period and consist of two core statutory formulations of Article 88, the Job …

Machine Learning For Predictive Energy And Emissions Modeling Of Vehicles And Power Grids In The United States, S M Tanvir Faysal Alam Chowdhoury

Dissertations

The environmental benefits of electric vehicle (EV) adoption depend on more than replacing internal combustion engine vehicles with electric powertrains. EV adoption reshapes electricity demand, interacts with regional generation mixes, and influences travel behavior and congestion, creating a coupled transportation-energy system in which vehicle and power-plant emissions must be evaluated together. This dissertation develops machine-learning frameworks for predicting energy consumption and emissions from vehicles and power grids under rising EV adoption. The first component forecasts grid emissions from EV charging. Using simulation data from NREL's Cambium database, a Prophet-based time-series framework predicts carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane emission rates …

From Maps To Meadows: Ecologically Literate Zoning And The Regeneration Of Wildlife Habitats, Jonathan Rosenbloom

Cleveland State Law Review

For more than a century, zoning has shaped the American landscape, often at the expense of wildlife and ecosystems. Rooted in legal doctrines that treated animals as property and nature as a raw material, zoning codes have fragmented habitats, erased migration corridors, and accelerated biodiversity loss. At the same time, federal protections are narrowing, leaving critical gaps in environmental governance. This Article argues that local governments possess both the authority and the obligation to respond. By embedding ecological principles into zoning—through conservation districts, wildlife corridor protections, wetland buffers, pollinator protections, dark skies, wildlife fencing, habitat restoration, and others—municipalities can transform …

Shaping Egypt’S Transition To Sustainable Electric Transport: Current Policies And Future Directions, Noha A. Ragab

Theses and Dissertations

Egypt has enacted policies to promote the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in order to reduce their overall carbon footprint. However, the pace of transition remains limited, so the research aims to answer the following question: “How do current policies shape Egypt’s transition towards sustainable electric transport, and what additional measures can support this transition?" The study employs a qualitative analysis methodology, based on diffusion of innovation theory and conceptual framework, to analyze current policies in Egypt and identify challenges and gaps in their implementation. It also analyzes responses from 23 interviews with experts in the field, manufacturers, dealers, EV …

Shrinking Sovereignty: By Land, Sea, And…Air?, Cynthia R. Harris

Pace Environmental Law Review

Atlantis was a mythical State destroyed by the gods as an object lesson to humanity. The complete destruction of a State, as a political entity, does have precedent in historical reality. The complete and permanent loss of a State’s physical territory, however, is a problem humanity has never faced—until now. Today, climate change-driven sea level rise is bringing the future sovereign status of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in question. A growing body of legal scholarship argues for maintaining these States’ maritime jurisdictions but has not yet extended the question skyward to SIDS’ jurisdiction over airspace.

This Article addresses that …

Non-Reformist Reforms In Environmentalism: Legal Theory And Praxis, Nicholas F. Stump

Pace Environmental Law Review

This Article explores how non-reformist reforms—as opposed to traditional environmental law—are required for ecologically transformative futures. Traditional environmental law is a critically flawed regime due to its embeddedness in our current ecological political economy, which functionally requires perpetual accumulation and growth. However, this accumulation- and growth-based paradigm is incompatible with the material realities of our planetary boundaries. This paradigm has thus engendered our current era of profound ecological crisis (i.e., as associated with notions of the Anthropocene).

Non-reformist reforms are an alternative framework that can help drive transformations of our ecological political economy vis-à-vis building and operationalizing people power from …

Comparative Environmental Jurisprudence: A Multi-Country Analysis Of Rights Of Nature Applications, Lillian C. Johns

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

This thesis examines three distinct cases, Ecuador, the United States, and India, in their conceptualization and implementation of the Rights of Nature and environmental jurisprudence. Although the Rights of Nature have gained global traction as a response to accelerating ecological degradation and as a potential legal mechanism for addressing it, issues with implementation and enforcement consistently arise. The outcomes in each case are largely shaped by institutional design, political context, and legal cultures. Ecuador’s constitutional recognition of the Rights of Nature, the United States multilevel recognition, and India’s judicial assertions of ecological personhood represents divergent pathways for articulating environmental rights. …

The Supreme Court And Climate Law: A Qualitative Analysis, Tanner Blackington

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper seeks to explore the Supreme Court’s understanding of climate justice and its evolution over time. I begin with an explanation of the context on climate law, climate change, and the Supreme Court as an institution. I situate the study in the literature on judicial restraint, institutional barriers, and the powers of the Supreme Court as focal points. Then, drawing on a sample of 20 Supreme Court opinions issued between 2007 and 2025, I offer an empirical analysis which reveals the Supreme Court’s feelings of confinement within the boundaries of federalism and balancing power with the Legislative and Executive …

The Legacy Of Lead: Lead Exposure's Harmful Effects And Its Concentration In Poc Communities, Layla Sophronia Barber

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis examines the disproportionate burden of lead exposure carried by low income, POC communities. The systemic nature of this problem is a symptom of a longstanding legacy of environmental injustice in the United States. Decades of federal neglect are reflected in the higher statistics of lead exposure and poisoning in predominantly black communities. While it is understood that lead exposure poses a serious threat to physical health and early cognitive development, there is a discouraging lack of urgency to remove the toxin from non-wealthy communities. The material covered by this thesis aims to identify and correct the discriminatory social …

Trawling For Clues: Examining Nefmc Herring Amendment 8, Christopher Santoro

Honors Scholar Theses

In 2007, almost twenty years ago, the Magnuson-Stevens Act changed the landscape of fisheries management in the US. Through the establishment of Fisheries Management Councils (FMCs), it paved the way for top-down management approaches that helped the government combat nationwide declines or collapses in fish stocks. Among the myriad responsibilities of the FMCs was the expectation that amendments to existing fisheries management plans would be a necessity to adapt to modern circumstances. This thesis focuses on New England Fisheries Management Council's (NEFMC's) Herring Amendment 8 (A8). This amendment, passed in 2021, attempts to lay the groundwork for sustainable management of …

The Energy And Environmental Footprint Of Ai, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Ethan I. Thorpe, Jonathan M. Gilligan

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to create major economic and social benefits, but also to rapidly escalate electricity demand and its associated environmental impacts. Information availability has been a cornerstone of environmental law for half a century, and this Article argues that providing information to individual, corporate, and other users about the electricity demand and environmental impacts of AI can reduce those impacts without delaying development of the technology. Little is known about how different large language models (LLMs) compare on these metrics, though. To address whether users have access to the information necessary to address this shortcoming, the …

The Human Rights Fulcrum: Using Environmental Rights As Leverage For Change, Rebecca Bratspies

Pace International Law Review

“Give me a lever long enough and a firm place on which to stand and I will move the earth." That is how Archimedes famously described the power of levers and the possibility they create for moving something that otherwise seems immovable. His point was that with the use of distance, a fulcrum, and a lever, nothing is really immovable. This same characterization has been applied to human rights law, and its attempts to disrupt patterns of structural dispossession, discrimination and oppression that bedevil human society. Indeed, the metaphor that human rights are a lever for change is relatively common …

Navigating Radical Indeterminacy In The Struggle For A Global Collective Consciousness: The Question Of Eco-Justice And Law Or Universalize The Pluriverse: A Manifesto, More Or Less, Omar Auf

Theses and Dissertations

The processes of interpretation, communication, and re-interpretation leads to the emergence of an approximated collective consciousness, for which it may be struggled and contested by hegemonic. The dominant forces of this contest, capitalism and nationalism, lead to an interdivided world: one that possesses the tools to empathize with each other but is instead leading people to keep their heads down and focus on surviving their own contexts, perceived as existing within different historical times on the same timeline. This leads to legal and justice systems that fail their claim to universality and/or impartiality. Incorporating an ecological lens to justice within …

Fighting The Black Snake: The Dapl And The Case For Indigenous Environmental Stewardship, Kenny Moll

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis analyzes the current scope of environmental injustice on Native lands in the U.S. Specifically it examines The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and its impacts on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota. Western colonialism and capitalism have dominated North American ecosystems since their forcible introduction hundreds of years ago, causing the commodification of natural resources and leading to injustices such as that of the “Black Snake.” However, the story of The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s resistance will be analyzed through the framework of Indigenous philosophy and environmental justice. Chapter 1 analyzes the implementation of the DAPL and …

Land Use And Sovereignty Along The Catawba River, Thomas C. Brugh, Lucile C. Rencher

Student Scholarship

This document-based case study explains how land-use change along the Catawba River Corridor (Lancaster and York Counties, South Carolina) has been produced through the interaction of property rights (dominium) and rule-setting authority (imperium), showing why sovereignty continues to shape development even after land disputes appear “settled.” Through analyzing legal records (Treaty of Nation Ford, the 1959 Catawba Division of Assets Act, the 1986 Supreme Court timing decision, and the 1993 Settlement Act), planning documents, parcel records, and field observations, we trace how shifting jurisdiction and title certainty structured what kinds of land uses were possible and when. We argue that …

When Words Flow Like Water: How The Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement Failed To Prevent Hydrogeologic Harm In Minnesota, Carly Gutzmann

Journal of Earth and Life Science

For the aquifers of Minnesota, the environmental impact statement (EIS) was a promise of protection that never left the page. An environmental impact statement is meant to be an aid in the decision making process in order to ensure that projects consider potential environmental harms that may occur. However, they are often used instead as another regulatory box to check, rather than as active considerations when planning. As such, a project plan can be flawed from the start—if project developers only consider environmental impacts after they have already put considerable time, effort, and funding into their project as-is, they may …

Taking Off The “Blindfold”: Exploring Montana’S Public Trust Doctrine And The Right To A Clean And Healthful Environment After Held V. Montana, Lizzy Gazeley

Lewis & Clark Law Review

As global average temperatures continue to rise, the threat of climate change looms closer. To evade climate catastrophe, greenhouse gas emissions will need to be substantially reduced. Despite climate change’s imminent risks, in the United States, both the federal government and states remain resistant to transitioning away from fossil fuel energy sources. To combat this government inaction, some litigants have turned to an ancient doctrine. The public trust doctrine provides that sovereigns must protect natural resources from substantial impairment to ensure the public’s right to use those resources.

In Held v. Montana, youth plaintiffs alleged that the State of Montana …

The Evolution Of California Wildfire Governance Through State Bills, Regulations, And Executive Actions, Cassandra Dawn Blevins

History and Political Science | Senior Theses

California faces an escalating wildfire crisis, driven by climate change, drought, and development in fire-prone areas. Despite decades of scientific research on wildfire behavior and risk reduction, catastrophic fires since 2017 raise a critical question: to what extent have California state laws and policies kept up with the intensifying wildfire crisis? Existing scholarship provides extensive insight into wildfire ecology, land-use planning, fuel management, and community resilience, yet it lacks a comprehensive evaluation of whether California’s legislative, regulatory, and executive actions have adapted in a coordinated and evidence-informed manner. In particular, the literature offers limited analysis of how state laws integrate …

Indigenous Land Seizure & Environmental Injustice: Impacts Of Settler Colonialism, Lydia Moorman

Journal of Earth and Life Science

The fields of conservation and environmentalism prioritize ecosystem health, yet both emerged from western frameworks that displaced and criminalized Indigenous land stewardship. The idealization of “pristine wilderness” narratives served to justify the removal of Indigenous peoples from their homelands and erased millennia of sustainable land stewardship that had maintained ecological balance long before western conservation existed. These narratives not only misrepresented Indigenous relationship with land but also constructed a false dichotomy between humans and nature that positioned Indigenous presence as a threat rather than a source of ecological knowledge. Simultaneously, anthropogenic expansion; such as pipelines, mining, railroads, and other extractive …

Powering The Machine, Draining The Planet: Whether U.S. Environmental Law Is Equipped To Regulate The Energy And Water Demands Of Ai Data Centers, Michael Marcu

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers have become one of the United States' fastest-growing and least-regulated sources of environmental stress. In 2024 alone, U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity more than the entire nation of Pakistan and consumed an estimated 17 billion gallons of water (IEA, 2025; Berkeley Lab, 2024). By 2030, electricity demand from these facilities is projected to reach 426 TWh, a 133% increase in six years (Pew Research Center, 2025). This paper examines whether the existing U.S. environmental regulatory framework put by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the …

Disaster Risk Management During Climate Emergencies In The Dominican Republic And Puerto Rico, Rosleny Ubinas

Dissertations and Theses

This paper analyzes the DRM approach as an effective framework in addressing climate emergencies across the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. These two Caribbean regions, with high hurricane exposure and differing response structures, are deeply shaped by their governments and affiliated international organizations. Disaster Risk Management is the systematic process of using laws, plans, institutions, and community networks to reduce vulnerability to hazards and coordinate effective response when disasters occur. It covers the full cycle, from prevention to reconstruction and rebuilding more resiliently. The Dominican Republic’s law-based intervention led to greater local-level community participation during disasters with its embedded volunteer …

State Climate Superfunds, Rachel Rothschild

Articles

The harmful effects of climate change have already arrived in cities and states across America, with disasters increasing markedly in recent years along with more gradual environmental changes like sea-level rise and drought. To protect populations and natural resources, significant funding will be necessary for preventative measures as well as disaster response.

At present, it is states and ordinary taxpayers who must shoulder the enormous costs and planning for climate adaptation. A number of state legislators, however, have recently proposed enacting new laws that would require the companies who have most profited from fossil fuel usage to assist in funding …

The Tech-Nuclear Renaissance: A New Critical Juncture For American Nuclear Energy Policy, Henry P. Otte

CMC Senior Theses

Nuclear energy has re-emerged as a central priority in American energy policy. This thesis examines the Trump administration’s efforts to support nuclear energy development and plant restarts, and asks whether today’s nuclear renaissance represents a critical juncture for nuclear energy policy. By analyzing American, French, and Swedish nuclear energy history, this thesis applies a three-variable analytical framework, state autonomy and administrative structure, political permeability, and crisis influence, to identify the institutional conditions necessary for durable policy change and evaluate the structural characteristics of this new environment. The central finding is that today’s push is distinct from prior attempts at expansion, …

The Road To Regulation: A Literature Review Of The Influences On The Updated Silica Standards, Skye M. Medcraft

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Silica is a hazardous compound that poses a risk to human health resulting from dust creating activities across various industries. Several agencies, including OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) and MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) have adopted regulatory oversight of silica exposure in the workplace. As more research has been conducted on silica exposure, the health effects are becoming better described, which has led to the creation and updating of exposure regulations to protect worker health. The objective of this literature study is to review the data presented to the Department of Labor and discuss how the factors that …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Wreck Removal : Assessing Nigeria’S Compliance With The Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention 2007, Richard Oritsejomayo Iyinbo

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

More Than Words: Using Land Use Rules To Fight Climate Destruction, Edward Sullivan

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

It is now unlikely that meaningful federal legislation on climate destruction will be advanced in a second Trump administration. If “no action” is the alternative for the federal government, it will be up to the states to develop measures to counteract this challenge. These measures — in response to a trend in Supreme Court rulings that restrict or deny federal environmental action without explicit congressional approval – could include, among other things, new air and water quality standards, fishing restrictions, and changes to water allocations in our rivers. Yet these potential changes may be themselves limited by federal actions that …

Assessing Justice In National Climate Policies: Indicators For Vulnerable Populations, Vagif Alizada

COP30

Throughout the last two decades, various researchers have continuously examined the way that climate justice principles are integrated within national climate policies, paying most attention to the extent of their impact on specifically vulnerable populations. Climate justice, encompassing distributive, procedural, recognition, and restorative dimensions, has become one of the central ideals when it comes to global climate governance. One of the major noticeable challenges faced in this field is the lack of standardised indicators to measure whether policies deliver equitable outcomes, making cross-country comparison and accountability difficult. However, despite increasing regulations and policy commitments, there is a major limitation on …

How Can Indigenous Peoples Be Meaningfully Integrated Into National Climate Decision Making Processes?, Shahd Wael

COP30

Indigenous people manage significant global terrestrial surface while simultaneously guarding around 80% of the world's biodiversity (With methodological uncertainty), despite only comprising a small fraction of the global population.Their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) supports essential climate solutions and helps in the adaptation and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. A significant depth of injustice, however, and security risk in the existing climate governance mechanisms is pronounced given that less than 1% of direct global climate finance is allocated to indigenous peoples. This policy paper argues that a transformational paradigm shift needs to take place for global climate action to be effective, …

Criminalising Ecocide For Climate Justice And Global Security, Norain El Gebely

COP30

The climate emergency is deepening and needs urgent attention involving radical, binding, and multilateral measures. Ecocide is the large-scale and deliberate destruction of ecosystems which undermines human security, destabilizes the fragile states and increases geopolitical tensions. It has been contended in this policy brief that ecocide needs to be internationally criminalized pursuant to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to place environmental destruction firmly within the scope of global peace and security. The proposals promote climate justice by prioritizing certain countries, which include Equatorial countries, industrializing high emission countries and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) through …