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Articles 241 - 270 of 281
Full-Text Articles in Environmental Law
"Green" Product Procurement Policy In The European Union: Treatment Of Lifecycle Carbon Analysis And Environmental Ppm Restrictions, Shawna Ganley
"Green" Product Procurement Policy In The European Union: Treatment Of Lifecycle Carbon Analysis And Environmental Ppm Restrictions, Shawna Ganley
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
With approximately 19% of the EU’s GDP going to government purchases, “green procurement” policies could potentially have a sizable impact on carbon emissions, and moreover could bolster the larger consumer market for sustainable goods. This white paper reviews current EC policy in this area, focusing particularly on the way in which the EC treats lifecycle analysis and non-product related “process and production methods” (PPMs), criteria that relate to the way in which the product was produced rather than to the physical properties of the final product. The paper also addresses some of the factors that may have stymied better uptake …
Envisioning Resilient Electrical Infrastructure: A Policy Framework For Incorporating Future Climate Change Into Electricity Sector Planning, Sam C.A. Nierop
Envisioning Resilient Electrical Infrastructure: A Policy Framework For Incorporating Future Climate Change Into Electricity Sector Planning, Sam C.A. Nierop
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Climate change needs to be incorporated in future designs of the electricity sector. This paper argues for a policy framework in which utilities take the lead by performing an electrical climate change impact assessment that evaluates to what extent utilities’ electrical assets are vulnerable to future climate change. Based on this assessment, electrical climate change adaptation plans should be formulated by the utility in cooperation with utility regulators, municipalities and supralocal governments. A collaborative process is essential, because adaptation measures need to be tailored to the regional circumstances and many types of adaptation measures require governmental approval. In order for …
Compilation Of International Authorities Supporting Specific Measures To Combat Climate Change, Fiona Kinniburgh
Compilation Of International Authorities Supporting Specific Measures To Combat Climate Change, Fiona Kinniburgh
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
This document is a compilation of international authorities that endorse or require various specific measures to combat climate change. The document comprises a non-exhaustive compilation of extracts from various international agreements, environmental treaties and resolutions / declarations of international organizations, as well as reports from several respected international bodies. While the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and decisions of the Conference of the Parties contain the most authoritative and directly applicable obligations regarding climate change, other international conventions, declarations, agreements and charters also give legal support for some of these specific measures.
Nepa And Downstream Greenhouse Gas Emissions Of U.S. Coal Exports, Elizabeth Sheargold, Smita Walavalkar
Nepa And Downstream Greenhouse Gas Emissions Of U.S. Coal Exports, Elizabeth Sheargold, Smita Walavalkar
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
As U.S. coal exports increase and new infrastructure is proposed to improve access to markets in Asia, controversy has arisen regarding the scope of environmental review that should be carried out by government. In particular, there is significant disagreement as to whether the end-use of exported coal and the emissions generated by its combustion fall within the scope of environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). This paper considers this issue, examining the requirements of NEPA and its implementing regulations, as well as current practice by Federal agencies.
Red China Going Green: The Emergence And Current Development Of Carbon Emissions Trading In The World's Largest Carbon Emitter, Xiaotang Wang
Red China Going Green: The Emergence And Current Development Of Carbon Emissions Trading In The World's Largest Carbon Emitter, Xiaotang Wang
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
This paper focuses on one of China’s efforts to engage with climate change—the establishment and development of carbon emissions trading schemes (ETSs) in the country. Section II examines the shift from command and control approaches to market mechanisms in China’s climate policy over the past two decades, which primed the domestic scene for the emergence of carbon emissions trading. Section III studies the seven regional ETS pilots due to launch later this year, the success or failure of which will to a large extent determine the future of carbon markets in not only China, but most likely the rest of …
Fracking And Federalism Choice, Michael Burger
Fracking And Federalism Choice, Michael Burger
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
In response to David B. Spence's "Federalism, Regulatory Lags, and the Political Economy of Energy Production," I offer a set of constructive challenges to his article. In Part I, I argue that fracking’s federalism-choice question has already been answered, and that but for the outdated and underjustified exemptions mentioned above, fracking is already under the jurisdiction of federal regulators. In Part II, I conduct an alternative federalism-choice analysis that adds to Professor Spence’s analysis in three ways. First, I balance his analysis by examining rationales commonly used to justify decentralization, rather than federalization, of environmental law. Second, I argue that …
The (Re)Federalization Of Fracking Regulation, Michael Burger
The (Re)Federalization Of Fracking Regulation, Michael Burger
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
The purpose of this Article is to defend environmental law's federalism choices from the insinuation that they do not match fracking's environmental impacts and to demonstrate that fracking does indeed belong under the umbrella of federal law. The Article proceeds in four Parts. Part I establishes the federalism-choice analysis framework and applies it to both state and federal regulation of fracking. Part II buttresses the conclusion that federal regulation of potential impacts on underground drinking-water supplies is appropriate through a fresh and extensive examination of the statutory scheme and legislative history of SDWA. Part III offers further support for federal …
Consideration Of Climate Change In Federal Eiss, 2009-2011, Patrick Woolsey
Consideration Of Climate Change In Federal Eiss, 2009-2011, Patrick Woolsey
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
In recent years, climate change has become an increasingly prominent subject of discussion in EISs. A comparison of agency approaches to EIS scope and methodology shows widely varying treatment of climate change impacts. Agencies differ in the methods used to calculate emissions and assess their significance. In addition, the types of indirect impacts addressed and the extent to which the impacts of climate change on the project are included vary.
State Dynamism, Federal Constraints: Possible Constitutional Hurdles To Cross-Border Cap-And-Trade, Shelley Welton
State Dynamism, Federal Constraints: Possible Constitutional Hurdles To Cross-Border Cap-And-Trade, Shelley Welton
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
This article explores the constitutional viability of expanding domestic, state-run cap-and-trade programs to include Canadian provinces. It examines four constitutional doctrines that might be used to challenge these cross-border collaborations: preemption, the dormant foreign affairs power, the Compact Clause, and the dormant foreign Commerce Clause. Ultimately, it makes the case that while these doctrines are flexible enough that they could be interpreted to prohibit cross-border cap-and-trade, courts would be wise to let these novel and commendable state initiatives proceed.
Legal Issues In Regulating Imports In State And Regional Cap And Trade Programs, Erin Parlar, Michael Babakitis, Shelley Welton
Legal Issues In Regulating Imports In State And Regional Cap And Trade Programs, Erin Parlar, Michael Babakitis, Shelley Welton
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Regulating leakage presents potential legal challenges: in our federal governmental structure, states are limited by the Constitution in the extent to which they can regulate activities occurring beyond their own borders, and may be preempted by federal statutes from regulating certain interstate activities altogether. This paper analyzes the legal hurdles that RGGI may face should it choose to address emissions leakage through regulating imported electricity. It focuses on two legal issues in particular, which are generally thought to be the most likely arguments raised against imports regulations: (1) whether imports regulations violate the dormant Commerce Clause (DCC) of the Constitution; …
Analysis Of California, Washington, And New York Insurer Climate Risk Surveys For The 2011 Reporting Year, Irene Shulman
Analysis Of California, Washington, And New York Insurer Climate Risk Surveys For The 2011 Reporting Year, Irene Shulman
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Climate change has the potential to affect the availability and affordability of insurance across most major insurance categories. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) adopted the Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey in 2009, and in February 2012, California, Washington, and New York administered the survey to insurance companies that write in excess of $300 million in premiums annually. This working paper summarizes and analyzes the survey responses that were submitted to California, Washington, and New York in 2012 for the 2011 reporting year. The working paper found that the majority of the 400 survey responses indicated that climate change …
Encouraging Energy Efficiency Through Nepa Comments, Adam Reidel
Encouraging Energy Efficiency Through Nepa Comments, Adam Reidel
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Environmental impact statements (EISs) should analyze the potential for energy efficiency to reduce the adverse impacts of new projects, to make the projects smaller, or to provide more benign alternatives. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its state counterparts require EISs for major actions, and provide numerous opportunities for public participation in the EIS process. These opportunities can be used to press for greater consideration, and perhaps adoption, of energy efficiency measures. This paper serves as a guide to commenting on and challenging EISs on the basis of insufficient consideration of the issues of energy efficiency and conservation. It …
Public Utilities Commissions & Energy Efficiency: A Handbook Of Legal And Regulatory Tools For Commissioners & Advocates, Shelley Welton, Chen Xu, Brian Troxler, Chao Huang, Andrew Kirchner, Krista Yacovone, Maria Hristova
Public Utilities Commissions & Energy Efficiency: A Handbook Of Legal And Regulatory Tools For Commissioners & Advocates, Shelley Welton, Chen Xu, Brian Troxler, Chao Huang, Andrew Kirchner, Krista Yacovone, Maria Hristova
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
This handbook examines the range of legal and regulatory tools that state PUCs have to promote energy efficiency. It draws from a broad and deep body of literature on the topic, an examination of relevant state laws and regulations, and interviews with experts in the private and public sectors. The handbook may prove useful in those states that are more advanced in their energy efficiency policies by illuminating potential refinements or alternative design options in areas that prove to be sticking points. It is intended primarily, however, as a resource for those in states that are not yet as advanced …
Bundling Solutions For Financing Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit Projects In Residential And Commercial Buildings, Michael Kerstetter
Bundling Solutions For Financing Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit Projects In Residential And Commercial Buildings, Michael Kerstetter
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of overall national energy consumption and renewed investment in energy efficiency (EE) projects and measures in that sector, in particular, could potentially save consumers and the U.S. economy billions of dollars, create jobs and significantly reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. Accordingly, a comprehensive and well crafted economy-wide EE solution should include programs for the upgrading or retrofitting of existing residential and commercial structures. Although there is already investment in these types of projects, significant potential still remains for further investment. The subjects discussed in this paper could serve as a useful starting point …
Livestock And Climate Change – Annotated Bibliography, Julia Christian, Andrew Kirchner, Derek Nelson, Jessica A. Wentz
Livestock And Climate Change – Annotated Bibliography, Julia Christian, Andrew Kirchner, Derek Nelson, Jessica A. Wentz
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Over the past two decades, efforts to address climate change have primarily focused on reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel combustion. The potential contribution of livestock production to climate change has been largely overlooked. Recent scholarship suggests that activities related to livestock production constitute a significant proportion of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although estimates of livestock’s contribution to our overall GHG emissions range broadly – from 18% to 51% – there is no question that this impact warrants serious consideration from policy makers.
Assisted Migration: A Viable Conservation Strategy To Preserve The Biodiversity Of Threatened Island Nations?, Jessica A. Wentz
Assisted Migration: A Viable Conservation Strategy To Preserve The Biodiversity Of Threatened Island Nations?, Jessica A. Wentz
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Anthropogenic climate change poses a substantial threat to biodiversity. The IPCC estimates that 20-30% of species will face an increased risk of extinction if the average global temperature rises more than 1.5 to 2.5 degrees Celsius. Additional scientific studies indicate that 15-37% of species may become extinct by 2050 due to global warming, based on current emissions trajectories. Domestic and international strategies to manage this threat have traditionally focused on conservation and mitigation. In the last few years, however, policy makers have recognized that near-term climate impacts are inevitable and thus adaptation strategies are required to protect both humans and …
Domestic Mitigation Of Black Carbon From Diesel Emissions, Hannah Chang
Domestic Mitigation Of Black Carbon From Diesel Emissions, Hannah Chang
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Black carbon, a component of soot and particulate matter, competes closely with methane as the largest anthropogenic contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. Regulation of black carbon has been identified as an affordable, politically feasible, fast-action means to mitigate the warming temperatures caused by climate change. With an emphasis on domestic mitigation, this Article examines how emissions are controlled under the CAA and what EPA, states, and municipalities can do to mitigate black carbon emissions further.
Legal Implications For The U.S. In Transferring Ccs Technology To China, Amy Ward
Legal Implications For The U.S. In Transferring Ccs Technology To China, Amy Ward
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
This paper addresses the legal and related political and economic implications for U.S. public and private sector investors, and U.S. CCS technological proprietors, in participating in CCS demonstration projects in China through the provision of investment and technology transfers.
Carbon Offshoring: The Legal And Regulatory Framework For Coal Exports, Daniel M. Firger, Robert Denicola, Katherine English, Daniel Raichel, Ross Wolfarth, Kennan Zhong
Carbon Offshoring: The Legal And Regulatory Framework For Coal Exports, Daniel M. Firger, Robert Denicola, Katherine English, Daniel Raichel, Ross Wolfarth, Kennan Zhong
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
This report examines the legal and regulatory framework for U.S. coal exports, focusing in particular on the significant improvements in railroad and port infrastructure that will be necessary in order to boost the volume of overseas coal shipments to the degree anticipated by recent industry projections. While existing railroads and ports have the capacity to handle current coal export volumes, much more infrastructure will be needed to meet surging foreign demand. A wide variety of new construction projects are under consideration to expand capacity and relieve congestion. These range from double-tracking existing Class I railroad rights of way to dredging …
Teaching Intrapersonal Intelligence As A Lawyering Skill: Introducing Values Systems Into The Environmental Law Syllabus, Michael Burger
Teaching Intrapersonal Intelligence As A Lawyering Skill: Introducing Values Systems Into The Environmental Law Syllabus, Michael Burger
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
The ranges and types of problems with traditional law school curricula, pedagogies, and learning cultures are well-rehearsed, and have been framed, narrated, and analyzed in a number of prominent venues, along with suggested improvements and proposals for systemic reform. This Essay addresses one aspect of the ongoing and pervasive critique: the need to develop in law students the diverse intellectual competencies that the practice of law requires. Working within the framework of Professor Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, I argue that intrapersonal intelligence and the self-reflexive analytic process it invokes are important tools in the practicing lawyer’s toolbox, and …
Measurement, Reporting & Verification Of Chinese Mitigation Commitments, Quiyan Zhao
Measurement, Reporting & Verification Of Chinese Mitigation Commitments, Quiyan Zhao
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
This paper discusses China's new transparency pledge – MRV as it relates to Chinese mitigation commitments – as laid out in the non-legal binding agreement reached at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on December 18. 2009. Specifically, this paper compares China’s position on MRV with relevant mechanisms and requirements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, the Bali Action Plan, and the Copenhagen Accord. Furthermore, this paper seeks to answer several questions pertinent to the progress and challenges of China’s MRV regime: Are China’s GHGs emissions measured continuously? Are there review …
Memorandum On China’S Measures For Addressing Sea Level Change, Zhang Zhongmin
Memorandum On China’S Measures For Addressing Sea Level Change, Zhang Zhongmin
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
This paper describes the current state of China’s recognition of sea level rise in the context of global climate change. The author analyzes official state documents addressing sea level rise, including the annual China Sea Level Communiqué, and compares them with local government initiatives and perspectives from non-governmental sources such as academia, NGOs and the general public. The paper concludes that, while China has taken many commendable steps towards addressing sea level rise, there are still considerable obstacles to be overcome. Finally, the author recommends that local governmental and non-governmental actors play a larger and better defined role. The author …
Shopping For State Constitutions: Unequal Gift Clauses As Obstacles To Optimal State Encouragement Of Carbon Sequestration, Nicholas Houpt
Shopping For State Constitutions: Unequal Gift Clauses As Obstacles To Optimal State Encouragement Of Carbon Sequestration, Nicholas Houpt
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Carbon capture and sequestration technology (CCS) could drastically reduce CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants, thereby mitigating climate change. CCS, however, faces a difficult barrier to market entry: liability for the technology’s many long-term risks. States would like to alleviate this long-term liability problem to capture CCS’s social benefits. Some state constitutions, however, have provisions called “gift clauses” that prohibit giving aid to private parties. This Note argues that some state constitutions’ gift clauses prevent indemnification of private CCS developers. As this Note’s fifty state survey shows, other state constitutions allow indemnification. This asymmetry in constitutionally-allowed financial encouragement results in …
Preemption And Alteration Of Epa And State Authority To Regulate Greenhouse Gases In The Kerry-Lieberman Bill, Bradford Mccormick, Hannah Chang
Preemption And Alteration Of Epa And State Authority To Regulate Greenhouse Gases In The Kerry-Lieberman Bill, Bradford Mccormick, Hannah Chang
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
The recently-released discussion draft of the Kerry-Lieberman bill (KL), officially titled the American Power Act, contains numerous provisions that affect the role of states in addressing climate change as well as the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Preemption has been the subject of intense debate and speculation since the passage of the Waxman-Markey climate bill (WM) in June 2009, and commentators have questioned whether KL’s preemption measures would (and should) have the effect of “a scalpel or a sledgehammer” on existing state and EPA authority. The following paper contributes to the discussion by summarizing …
Epa's Impending Greenhouse Gas Regulations: Digging Through The Morass Of Litigation, Gregory E. Wannier
Epa's Impending Greenhouse Gas Regulations: Digging Through The Morass Of Litigation, Gregory E. Wannier
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
As the U.S. Congress has failed to pass meaningful climate legislation, the EPA has initiated a series of regulations under the Clean Air Act designed to recognize greenhouse gases as endangering human health and welfare, and set greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicle fleets and for major stationary sources. Unsurprisingly these efforts have been challenged in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. This paper discusses both the substantive and procedural issues surrounding the cases, all of which merit attention: in the absence of viable climate legislation these decisions will have important bearing on the extent to which the United States …
"It's Not Easy Being Green": Local Initiatives, Preemption Problems, And The Market Participant Exception, Michael Burger
"It's Not Easy Being Green": Local Initiatives, Preemption Problems, And The Market Participant Exception, Michael Burger
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
This Article considers whether the market participant exception should be interpreted to exempt local climate change and sustainability initiatives from the "ceilings" imposed by existing environmental laws and pending federal climate change legislation. In the decades-long absence of federal action on climate change, local governments – along with the states – positioned themselves at the forefront of climate change and sustainability planning. In fact, state and local actions account for most of the nation's greenhouse gas reduction efforts to date. Yet, front-running localities are being limited by a preemption doctrine that fails to account for both the motives behind their …
Colorado’S Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act: Encouraging Conversion Of Coal Plants To Natural Gas, Jonathan Talamini
Colorado’S Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act: Encouraging Conversion Of Coal Plants To Natural Gas, Jonathan Talamini
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
The State of Colorado's recently-enacted Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act (CACJA) requires utilities to create plans that reduce NOx emissions by 70% at a specified portion of their coal-fired electricity generation facilities by the end of 2017. It allows utilities to use many different methods to achieve those reductions, but encourages and incentivizes the replacement of coal-based generation with natural gas. Utilities must seek approval for their plans from state agencies and must work closely with those agencies in designing the plans. This paper discusses the legal, political, and economic context for CACJA, and highlights the bill's advantages and disadvantages as …
The Epa’S Proposed Transport Rule: Implications For Climate Change Regulation, Jessica A. Wentz
The Epa’S Proposed Transport Rule: Implications For Climate Change Regulation, Jessica A. Wentz
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
On July 6, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a Clean Air Act rulemaking to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from power plants in the eastern United States. If it survives legal scrutiny, the rule will impose a hybrid cap-and-trade program with state-specific SO2 and NOx emission budgets and limited interstate trading. This paper discusses the rule's requirements, how it compares to its predecessor (the Clean Air Interstate Act), the projected impact on air quality and public health, and implications for future climate change policy.
Municipal Green Building Ordinances In The U.S., Marne Sussman
Municipal Green Building Ordinances In The U.S., Marne Sussman
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Numerous municipalities in the U.S. have created green building ordinances over the past few years. These ordinances are cataloged and examined in the municipal green building ordinance spreadsheets on the website of the Center for Climate Change Law. To better understand the decisions that need to be made in developing a model green building ordinance, this paper discusses the different choices made by the municipalities that developed the ordinances identified in the spreadsheets and notes areas of consensus among municipalities.
Cap-And-Trade Under The Clean Air Act?: Rethinking Section 115, Hannah Chang
Cap-And-Trade Under The Clean Air Act?: Rethinking Section 115, Hannah Chang
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Section 115 of the Clean Air Act, addressing international air pollution, is widely-dismissed as a viable avenue for mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) because of a misplaced assumption that National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) must be established for GHGs before Section 115 authority can be exercised for GHGs. This paper explores the statutory language and legislative history of Section 115 to refute this conventional view, and argues that Section 115 can play a role in facilitating the establishment of a cap-and-trade program for GHGs without the establishment of NAAQS for GHGs.