Environmental Law Commons^™

Responsible Environmental Behavior, Energy Conservation, And Compact Fluorescent Bulbs: You Can Lead A Horse To Water, But Can You Make It Drink?, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Despite professing to care about the environment and supporting environmental causes, individuals behave in environmentally irresponsible ways like driving when they can take public transportation, littering, or disposing of toxic materials in unsound ways. This is the author's fourth exploration of how to encourage individuals to stop behaving irresponsibly about the environment they allege to care deeply about. The prior three articles all explored how the norm of environmental protection could be enlisted in this effort; this article applies those theoretical conclusions to the very practical task of getting people to switch the type of light bulb they use.

To …

Civic Republicanism Provides Theoretical Support For Making Individuals More Environmentally Responsible, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The genesis for this essay is the recognition that individual behavior is contributing in a significant way to the remaining environmental problems we have. For a variety of reasons, ranging from the difficulty of trying to identify and then regulate all of these individual sources to the political backlash that might result if such regulation was tried, efforts to control that behavior have either failed or not been tried. The phenomenon of individuals as irresponsible environmental actors seems counter-intuitive given the durability of the environmental protection norm and polls that consistently show that people contribute to environmental causes, are willing …

Climate Change Litigation: Opening The Door To The International Court Of Justice, Andrew L. Strauss

School of Law Faculty Publications

In March 2003, I wrote an article for the Environmental Law Reporter surveying potential international judicial forums where victims of global warming could bring lawsuits. In the ensuing six years, numerous lawsuits have been brought in the United States and in other countries, and environmentalists can now celebrate their first significant victory. In April 2007, based upon its finding that greenhouse gases are pollutants under Section 202(a)(1) of the U.S. Clean Air Act, the Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA held that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases.

Though we are still in …

V.1, 2009 Mastead

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

No abstract provided.

State Greenhouse Gas Regulation, Federal Climate Change Legislation, And The Preemption Sword, William W. Buzbee

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article starts in Part II by reviewing the basic anticipated design elements of federal climate legislation, then it reviews the substantial regulatory failure risks inherent in such climate change legislation. It then turns in Part III to analysis of preemption choices. The Article follows in Part IV by examining preemption jurisprudence, especially the growing risk of broad preemptive reads of federal law, and demonstrating how statutory uncertainties regarding preemption could result in subsequent interpretations substantially expanding the law's preemptive impact. ... Furthermore, as discussed in Part V, overlap and interaction of concurrent federal, state, and local climate change laws …

First Annual Climate And Energy Law Symposium: Federal Preemption Or State Prerogative: California In The Face Of National Climate Policy: An Introduction, Richard J. Lazarus

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The University of San Diego School of Law's decision to create a new scholarly law journal dedicated to climate and energy issues could hardly come at a better time. ...
... The resulting debate and discussion, reflected in the following papers that the speakers produced, should be required reading for those lawmakers both in Washington, DC and in state capitals such as Sacramento, as they craft federal and state laws that seek to address this "most pressing environmental challenge."

Climate Adaptation And Federalism: Mapping The Issues, Daniel F. Farber

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

There is a vigorous debate about the appropriate roles of the state and federal governments in reducing greenhouse gases and mitigating climate change. ...
...
This Article is a first step in mapping this new terrain. Part I provides a short introduction to climate adaptation. The United States will face significant climate impacts in the next few decades, and governmental responses will be required. Part II discusses the role of the federal government in setting adaptation standards, while Part III analyzes the appropriateness of state versus federal funding for adaptation. States are likely to play the leading role in funding …

Table Of Contents, Colorado Journal Of International Environmental Law And Policy

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Green Helmets: Eco-Intervention In The Twenty-First Century, Linda A. Malone

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Colorado Journal Of International Environmental Law And Policy

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Andy Nuñez: His Life, Career, & Contributions, Bridgette Burbank, Jerold Widdison

Water Matters!

For years and years, reaching back well before his time in the Legislature, Rep. Nuñez has been a strong advocate not only for the state’s people but for its land and water resources.

The Bapcoa's Restriction On Attorney-Client Speech In The Fifth And Eighth Circuits: Worth Saving Or Destroying Comment., Sara Berkeley

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

On Capturing The Possible Significance Of Institutional Design And Ethos, Peter L. Strauss

Faculty Scholarship

At a recent conference, a new judge from one of the federal courts of appeal – for the United States, the front line in judicial control of administrative action-made a plea to the lawyers in attendance. Please, he urged, in briefing and arguing cases reviewing agency actions, help us judges to understand their broader contexts. So often, he complained, the briefs and arguments are limited to the particular small issues of the case. We get little sense of the broad context in which it arises – the agency responsibilities in their largest sense, the institutional issues that may be at …

Symposium Introduction, Peter C. Marshall, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The last ten years have been the warmest on record. During 2007, Arctic sea ice dropped to the lowest levels since measurements began in 1979. Valuable natural resources in the Arctic, including gas and oil, are becoming more accessible to exploitation. The Northwest Passage--a highly desirable shipping route connecting Europe and Asia--is increasingly navigable during the summers. These changes have highlighted new and unresolved legal issues as the nations bordering the Arctic vie for control of these new waters and the resources that lie beneath them.

In February 2009, the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law invited some of the most …

Public Access To Spatial Data On Private-Land Conservation, Jessica Owley, Amy Wilson Morris, Adena R. Rissman

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Idea Of Pollution, John Copeland Nagle

Journal Articles

Pollution is the primary target of environmental law. During the past forty years, hundreds of federal and state statutes, administrative regulations, and international treaties have established multiple approaches to addressing pollution of the air, water, and land. Yet the law still struggles to identify precisely what constitutes pollution, how much of it is tolerable, and what we should do about it.

But environmental pollution is hardly the only type of pollution. Historically, the idea of pollution referred to a host of effects upon human environments. This remains evident in contemporary anthropological literature, which studies the pollution beliefs of cultures throughout …

The Effectiveness Of Biodiversity Law, John Copeland Nagle

Journal Articles

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has generated a heated debate between those who believe that the law has succeeded and those who believe that the law has failed. The resolution to that debate depends upon whether the law’s stated purposes or some other criteria provide the basis for judging a law’s effectiveness. Meanwhile, since the enactment of the ESA in 1973, biodiversity protection has received growing attention in the nations of southeastern Asia. So far, the law has been much less effective in protecting Asian biodiversity from habitat loss, commercial exploitation, and other threats, yet southeastern Asia’s biodiversity law has …

Collision Course - Science, Law, And Regulation In The Emerging Science Of Low Dose Toxicity, Jody A. Roberts

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Tomorrow Today - Cellulosic Ethanol: How It's Done, Who's Getting It Done, And It's Environmental Impact, Vincent Barbera

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Tire Jockey Service, Inc. V. Commonwealth: If A Used Tired Falls Into Pennsylvania And No One Is There To Regulate It, Will The Courts Make A Sound, Michael D. Beck

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Eco-Terrorism And Piracy On The High Seas: Japanese Whaling And The Rights Of Private Groups To Enforce International Conservation Law In Neutral Waters, Joseph Elliott Roeschke

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Raising Environmental Justice Claims Through The Law Of Public Nuisance, Mandy Garrells

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

The No Longer Silent Problem: Confronting Noise Pollution In The 21st Century, Alexander Gillespie

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Rhode Island's Childhood Lead Poisoning Crisis Remains Painted Thickly On The Wall After State V. Lead Industries Association, Jenna Berman

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Oil Over Troubled Waters: Exxon Shipping Co. V. Baker And The Supreme Court's Determination Of Punitive Damages In Maritime Law, Tanya Paula De Sousa

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Digging For Gold: The Ninth Circuit Catches The U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers With Its Finger Up The Epa's Nose In Southeast Alaska Conservation Council V. U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers, Jeffrey Shiffman

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Why Waste Water? A Bifurcated Proposal For Managing, Utilizing, And Profiting From Coalbed Methane Discharged Water, Samuel S. Bacon

University of Colorado Law Review

The Coalbed Methane ("CBM") industry is booming throughout the Rocky Mountain West, creating a relatively clean energy alternative, much needed jobs in the region, and a deluge of water pumped from the ground in connection with CBM capture. In order to free the valuable natural gas, companies must first pump out substantial quantities of subsurface water holding the pressurized gas in place. This water varies in quality, from perfectly useful, potable water to poor-quality water with the potential to destroy the surrounding environment. Correspondingly, disposal of the pumped water varies from simply releasing it into streams surrounding the CBM pads …

Policy, Urban Form, And Tools For Measuring And Managing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The North American Problem, Nicole Miller, Duncan Cavens, Patrick Condon, Ronald Kellett

University of Colorado Law Review

The scale of intervention required to reduce and adapt to the effects of climate change will require action at all levels of government and society. International accords and some federal and state governments are beginning to address greenhouse gas reduction targets, but it is at the local level that most decisions about urban form are made. Yet, urban planners and local decision makers generally lack the tools and means needed to make informed choices about the climate change implications of local growth and redevelopment decisions or to measure the effects of their decisions. While a wide spectrum of tools currently …

New York Climate Change Report Card: Improvement Needed For More Effective Leadership And Overall Coordination With Local Government, Patricia E. Salkin

University of Colorado Law Review

Climate change has rapidly become a focal point of international environmental policy debate as countries seek to develop and implement strategies to address the critical need to slow the pace of global warming. In the United States, the failure of the federal government to muster the political will necessary to deal with the challenges on a national level has placed the onus on state and local governments to assume a leadership role. As laboratories of innovation, state and local governments continue to experiment with a wide range of policies and initiatives designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote the use …

Who Controls The Northwest Passage?, Michael Byers, Suzanne Lalonde

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

From Martin Frobisher in 1576 to John Franklin in 1845, generations of European explorers searched for a navigable route through the Arctic islands to Asia. Their greatest challenge was sea-ice, which has almost always filled the straits, even in summer. Climate change, however, is fundamentally altering the sea-ice conditions: In September 2007, the Northwest Passage was ice-free for the first time in recorded history. This Article reviews the consequences of this development, particularly in terms of the security and environmental risks that would result from international shipping along North America's longest coast. It analyzes the differing positions of Canada and …