Environmental Law Commons^™

Cultural Solipsism, Cultural Lenses, Universal Principles, And Animal Advocacy, Thomas G. Kelch

Pace Environmental Law Review

Given the potpourri of human cultures and the need to take a global view of animal rights advocacy, how can animal rights advocates most efficiently and successfully advocate for animals? This article will address this issue.

First, I will describe and analyze views of the human/animal relationship from five example cultural traditions: Western culture, represented generally by Europe and North America, Indian culture, Chinese culture, South African culture, and Islamic culture, exemplified primarily here by Turkey. It is not asserted here that any of these cultures or countries are homogenous; they are not. Although Western culture is primarily constructed on …

Foreword, David N. Cassuto

Pace Environmental Law Review

The overlap between animal law and environmental law arises because the two disciplines are fundamentally linked. One cannot talk about the environment without also discussing the nonhuman sentient beings that populate it. Indeed, as I shall discuss shortly, one of the most vexing issues for me— as a scholar working in both fields—involves my ongoing attempt to address the historical tension between the two disciplines. This volume of the Pace Environmental Law Review (PELR) marks an important step on the path toward resolving those tensions and moving environmental law forward. That path will not always be smooth, nor will it …

Storm King Revisited: A View From The Mountaintop, Albert K. Butzel

Pace Environmental Law Review

This article and the underlying factual information were first presented at Pace University School of Law on April 15, 2010 as the Sixteenth Annual Lloyd K. Garrison Lecture on Environmental Law.

Mr. Butzel tells the story of the Storm King case, and gives his impression of where environmental litigation stands up today measured against the promise of the Storm King decision.

Inside Epa: A Former Insider’S Reflections On The Relationship Between The Obama Epa And The Obama White House, Lisa Heinzerling

Pace Environmental Law Review

This essay is an expanded version of remarks delivered on March 12, 2013, as the Lloyd K. Garrison Lecture on Environmental Law at Pace Law School.

This essay discusses the relationship between the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House. It focuses specifically on the role that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, within the Office of Management and Budget, plays in reviewing the EPA’s regulatory output.

Maritime Emissions Taxation: An Alternative To The Eu Emissions Trading Scheme?, Jon M. Truby

Pace Environmental Law Review

Focusing on the EU’s alternative proposal of an emissions tax, this article analyzes the possibility for the imposition by an EU Member State of a targeted environmental tax to reduce maritime emissions. It considers how such a tax can be imposed in a manner that will not be detrimental to commercial interests and can instigate the desired impact. Importantly, it focuses upon providing a greater incentive for the maritime industry to invest in the most efficient shipping fleet to reduce emissions. It concludes by comparing whether such a perceived maritime emissions tax could be more advantageous than including maritime emissions …

Compensation For Environmental Damage In China: Theory And Practice, Michael G. Faure, Liu Jing

Pace Environmental Law Review

This article is organized as follows: following the introduction in Part I, Part II focuses on the role of liability rules in compensation for environmental harm, then Part III focuses on insurance, and Part IV discusses the specific case of marine oil pollution. For each topic, we will first describe theoretical possibilities for providing compensation, and then examine the role these mechanisms play in practice. Part V offers a few concluding remarks, and provides an economic analysis and policy recommendations.

Environmental Controversies “Between Two Or More States”, Robert D. Cheren

Pace Environmental Law Review

The United States Supreme Court plays a unique and important role in resolving environmental controversies that arise among the several states states and in enforcing environmental compacts formed by states with the assent of Congress.

The powers of Congress and the states to unilaterally resolve environmental controversies between states are constitutionally limited. But there are two plenary constitutional mechanisms for resolving environmental controversies among the states: (1) litigation under the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over controversies between two or more states; and (2) negotiation of compacts between states with Congressional assent that are enforceable against states by Acts …

Assessing Environmental Governance Of The Hudson River Valley: Application Of An Ippep Model, Wang Xi, Albert K. Butzel, Richard L. Ottinger, Nicholas A. Robinson, John Louis Parker, Taryn L. Rucinski, Marla E. Wieder, Radina R. Valova, Wang Pianpian

Pace Environmental Law Review

The process of obtaining effective implementation of environmental laws is a process of “environmental governance.” Law, including environmental law and other fields of law related to environmental law, is essential to frame, facilitate, and foster the major parties to correctly play their roles.

This thesis has been articulated through a Model of Interactions of Parties in the Process of Environmental Protection (IPPEP Model), which has been developed by Professor Wang Xi of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in the context of the People’s Republic of China. The IPPEP Model is a tool for observing and accessing environmental governance at work. It …

Nonhuman Rights To Personhood, Steven M. Wise

Pace Environmental Law Review

2012 Dyson Distinguished Lecture, delivered April 26, 2012 at Pace Law School. Introduction by Prof. David N. Cassuto. Video available here.

Response To New York’S Proposed Solar Renewable Energy Market: Lessons Learned From Other States’ Srec Markets And Recommendations In Moving Forward, Joe Naroditsky

Pace Environmental Law Review

Response to comment by Jesse Glickstein.

New York’S Proposed Solar Renewable Energy Market: Lessons Learned From Other States’ Srec Markets And Recommendations In Moving Forward, Jesse Glickstein

Pace Environmental Law Review

This paper presents analysis of eight states that currently have operating solar renewable energy credit markets as part of their state’s renewable portfolio system, in order to make recommendations as to how the New York legislature should amend the pending legislation based on lessons learned from those other states. In Part II, the different SREC markets that have been implemented in different states throughout the United States are examined. In Part III, the different issues that varying SREC markets have encountered will be discussed, and several possible explanations as to the causes of these issues are presented. In Part IV, …

The Chinese Legal Tradition As A Cultural Constraint On The Westernization Of Chinese Environmental Law And Policy: Toward A Chinese Environmental Law And Policy Regime With More Chinese Characteristics, Paul A. Barresi

Pace Environmental Law Review

This Article argues that the Chinese legal tradition is essentially a Confucian legal tradition, and that its Confucian attributes significantly constrain the effectiveness of the Western-style environmental laws enacted by the PRC in recent decades. Part I explores the emergence of a Confucian legal tradition in China and its impact on Chinese legal culture before the founding of the PRC. Part II highlights some of the impacts of this tradition on the Chinese legal system during the same period. Part III makes a case for the endurance of the Confucian essence of this legal tradition in the PRC itself, and …

A Mindful Environmental Jurisprudence?: Speculations On The Application Of Gandhi’S Thought To Mcwc V. Nestlé, Nehal A. Patel, Lauren Vella

Pace Environmental Law Review

We attempt to engage modern legal reasoning with Gandhi’s thought. We hope to speculate on what jurisprudence would look like if it were more mindful of the concepts central to Gandhi’s thought. By using Gandhi as an intellectual anchor, we hope to take a step toward creating a more “mindful jurisprudence” that implicitly incorporates into its reasoning the needs of environmental stewardship, disempowered populations, and the poverty-stricken. Because Gandhi’s thought has been discussed at length in environmental justice campaigns, we begin this effort by examining the relationship between environmental law and Gandhi’s thought. Given Gandhi’s commentaries on exploitative and oppressive …

The Liberal Limits Of Environmental Law: A Green Legal Critique, Michael M'Gonigle, Louise Takeda

Pace Environmental Law Review

The field of environmental law embodies a deep contradiction—it is a product of the state, yet the state is the primary agent of development. This contradiction infuses state-supported resource regimes (energy, forestry, agriculture, water use) that have long been agents of environmental erosion while they have remained resistant to progressive reform. It also underpins the theoretical framework for proposed reforms today, ecological modernization. The result is that environmental law extends, rather than resolves, society’s underlying environmental “problematic.” This can now be seen in institutional responses to climate change and the “green economy.” To address this situation, the authors apply a …

Only One Mekong: Developing Transboundary Eia Procedures Of Mekong River Basin, Jian Ke, Qi Gao

Pace Environmental Law Review

China shares borders with fourteen countries and has many international rivers. In most cases, China is an upstream state. Over the past years, increasing international disputes concerning international rivers have occurred between China and other riparian states, such as China’s dam construction on the upper Mekong River and the Songhua River pollution accident. In particular, with the ongoing dam construction on the upstream of Mekong in China, its potential environmental impact on the other Mekong countries is highly profiled. At the time of writing, five dams are already completed and two are in the final stage of construction or getting …

Problems For Pale Male: An Analysis Of The U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service’S Nest Destruction Policy, Brent Plater, Nicole Lopez-Hagan, Laura Horton

Pace Environmental Law Review

During the 2004 holiday season, Pale Male, New York City’s celebrated and world-renowned red-tailed hawk, had his nest deliberately destroyed. The nest was approximately 400-pounds and was built over several years. Almost immediately, this act of destruction was met with popular uproar among his many fans throughout the world. This tragic story could easily have been avoided if the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) had correctly carried out its duties under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). What happened to Pale Male years ago is still a possibility today because the Service’s policy remains the same. This article …

The Legal Profession’S Critical Role In Systems-Level Bioenergy Decision-Making, Jody M. Endres

Pace Environmental Law Review

Law as a discipline thus must seek greater prominence in the raging debates on the efficacy of modeling as a bioenergy policy driver. To ultimately determine law’s proper role, Part II of my article first assesses the universe of key economic and lifecycle models used in current bioenergy policy initiatives, as well as the models deployed in general environmental decision-making that could affect the siting and operation of biomass cropping and bioenergy facilities. Part III then dissects these models to uncover the multiple ways in which law can improve models both structurally and procedurally to achieve greater accuracy. The conclusion …

International Deployment Of Microbial Pest Control Agents: Falling Between The Cracks Of The Convention On Biological Diversity And The Cartagena Biosafety Protocol?, Guy R. Knudsen

Pace Environmental Law Review

This paper considers one tangled web of conflicting developments. It involves the popular desire to replace chemical pesticides with more “natural” biological control strategies, plus a slowly emerging awareness of a less benign side to microbial pest control agents, based on their potential invasiveness and sometimes striking similarities to agents of bioterrorism and biological warfare. This desire, however, is overshadowed by concerns about the environmental release of genetically engineered organisms. I argue that as some of the concerns about ecological diversity, as captured by the Convention on Biodiversity, were channeled into the subsequent Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention …

Carbon Tax With Reinvestment Trumps Cap-And-Trade, Stephen Sewalk

Pace Environmental Law Review

Part I of this paper reviews the current opinion surrounding carbon tax proposals as they appear in the literature. Part II will provide an overview of the current cap-and-trade proposals. Part III will introduce a carbon tax with reinvestment. Part IV of this article reviews the leading proposals arguing that a carbon tax is superior to cap-and-trade. And finally, for Part V explains why a carbon tax with reinvestment trumps cap-and-trade.

Harmony With Nature And Genetically Modified Seeds: A Contradictory Concept In The United States And Brazil?, Heather Leibowitz

Pace Environmental Law Review

Looking at the differing regulatory frameworks for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the United States and Brazil, this Article will help demonstrate how a lack of scientifically objective standards has allowed regulatory agencies to circumvent environmentally protective and sustainable policies. Additionally, this analysis will help illuminate what corrective steps can be taken.

No Laws In Nanoland: How To Reverse The Trend? The French Example, Nadia Kaddour

Pace Environmental Law Review

This paper will first present an introduction to nanotechnology and its potential environmental, health, and safety (EHS) issues. It will then briefly review the current United States’ situation with regard to nanotechnology regulation before examining the new French regulation on engineered nanomaterial substances, which is a good first step toward a nano-specific legal framework.

Big Things In Small Packages: Evaluating The City Of Berkeley’S Nanotechnology Ordinance Effectiveness As A Model Of Targeted Transparency, Drew Lerer

Pace Environmental Law Review

The purpose of this article is threefold. First, a practical ideal model of a nanotechnology disclosure policy is developed based on relevant literature. Second, the City of Berkeley’s Engineered Nanoparticle Disclosure Ordinance (BENDO) is assessed using the practical ideal type characteristics. Finally, recommendations to improve the BENDO are presented based on the assessment.

The Case For An Information-Forcing Regulatory Definition Of “Nanomaterials”, David A. Dana

Pace Environmental Law Review

This Article reviews regulatory attempts to define nanomaterials to date, including the European Commission’s definition. It then sets forth and explains why agencies should adopt what I am calling an information-forcing definition of nanomaterials. Nanomaterials implicate the same informational problem as many other substances or practices that are the subject of political and legal debate: that is, we (the public) know enough to know that there are some risks but not enough to specify and assess those risks. We know risks are posed by some kinds of small-scale materials in some contexts, but not enough is known to define the …

Searching For The Nano-Needle In A Green Haystack: Researching The Environmental, Health, And Safety Ramifications Of Nanotechnology, Taryn L. Rucinski

Pace Environmental Law Review

This Article will attempt to serve as a primer by demystifying the process of how to efficiently locate resources discussing the environmental health and safety (EHS) impacts of nanotechnology in the United States (U.S.). Part I of this Article begins with an examination of basic strategies for conducting research in the EHS nanotech field. Part II focuses on traditional legal resources such as texts, treatises, encyclopedias, as well as law review and journal articles. Part III examines such non-legal resources as reports, scientific studies, internet sites and other current awareness services. This last section is followed by a brief conclusion.

Environmental Law Confronts The New Industrial Revolution, Leslie Carothers

Pace Environmental Law Review

This issue of the Pace Environmental Law Review presents a set of articles to shed new light on those questions in the case of the products of nanotechnology. For comparison, the issue also includes an article on the regulation of genetically modified organisms in agriculture in the United States and Brazil, an early effort to govern the risks of a major new technology.

Unanswered Questions From The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: A Review Of Compensated Cases Of Vaccine-Induced Brain Injury, Mary Holland, Louis Conte, Robert Krakow, Lisa Colin

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

2010 Judges' Edition Memorandum, Hana C. Heineken

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

2010 Moot Court Problem, Jeffrey G. Miller, Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, Sean T. Dixon

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

An End To Grazing Lease Litigation: An Examination Of Alternative Dispute Resolution Schemes That Could Resolve The Overgrazing Dispute On State And Federally Owned Rangelands In The Western United States, Jamie Pool

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

2009 Judges' Edition Memorandum, Taryn L. Rucinski

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.