Environmental Law Commons^™

From The Greenhouse To The Poorhouse: Carbon Emissions Control And The Rules Of Legislative Joinder, David A. Super

Faculty Scholarship

Pending legislation to address carbon emissions would include large subsidies for existing emitters. These subsidies make little sense economically or politically. Worse, they divert resources needed to address two crucial issues that the proposed legislation largely ignores: the impact of raising carbon costs on low-income people and the massive structural federal deficit. A carbon tax or cap-and-trade system would increase costs substantially not only for transportation but for food and housing. With poverty rising even before the current economic downturn, these price increases’ consequences could be dire. The structural deficit will require deflationary tax increases or spending cuts. Combining carbon …

Regulatory Blowout: How Regulatory Failures Made The Bp Disaster Possible, And How The System Can Be Fixed To Avoid A Recurrence, Alyson Flournoy, William Andreen, Rebecca Bratspies, Holly Doremus, Victor Flatt, Robert Glicksman, Joel Mintz, Daniel Rohlf, Amy Sinden, Rena I. Steinzor, Joseph Tomain, Sandra Zellmer, James Goodwin

Faculty Scholarship

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is destined to take its place as one of the greatest environmental disasters in the history of the United States, or for that matter, of the entire planet. Like so many other disasters on that list, it was entirely preventable.

BP must shoulder its share of the blame, of course. Similarly, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) – since reorganized and rebranded – has come under much deserved criticism for its failure to rein in BP’s avaricious approach to drilling even where it was unable to respond to a worst-case scenario in …

Corrective Lenses For Iris: Additional Reforms To Improve Epa's Integrated Risk Information System, Rena I. Steinzor, Wendy E. Wagner, Lena Pons, Matthew Shudtz

Faculty Scholarship

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is the most important toxicological database in the world. Not only is it the single most comprehensive database of human health information about toxic substances, it also serves as a gateway to regulation, as well as to a range of public and private sector efforts to protect against toxic substances. IRIS “profiles” of individual substances include a number of scientific assessments of the substance’s toxicity to humans by various means of exposure – by inhalation, contact with the skin, and so on. Federal regulators rely on the assessments to do …

Strategies For Promoting Green Energy Innovation, Deployment, & Technology Transfer, Robert V. Percival

Faculty Scholarship

This paper surveys various strategies for promoting the development and deployment of green energy technologies.

Bike Club, Charlie Friedman, Liz Shaner, Greg Simmons, Dan Stringer

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

The film “Bike Club” that extols the environmental virtues of biking to school or work won a Special Judge’s Award in the school’s “Golden Tree” awards for having the best end credits. The film was produced by Charlie Friedman, Liz Shaner, Greg Simmons, and Dan Stringer.

Environmental Awareness, Adam Sharpe, Blake Baron

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

The film "Environmental Awareness" quizzed law students about a variety of environmental issues, demonstrating that their knowledge of current events often is laughably deficient.

Environmental Injustice, Nancy Lineman, Elsa Clausen Michels, Holly Devaser

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

A film about the Cherry Hill neighborhood of Baltimore and the environmental problems facing that community.

Produced by Nancy Lineman, Elsa Clausen Michels and Holly Devaser, the film won “Golden Trees” awards for Best Picture, Most Educational Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Narration.

Red Rocks, Tom Grillo, John Sipple, Ethan Weitzman

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

This film explores the background and issues surrounding Senate bill 799 - A bill to designate as wilderness certain Federal portions of the red rock canyons of the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin Deserts in the State of Utah for the benefit of present and future generations of people in the United States.

Rats Are Rotten, Irene Hantman, Katie O’Malley, Jessica Rozali

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

The film "Rats Are Rotten” explores pest control techniques in Baltimore.

Scrap Tires, Jacquin Milhouse, Terri Morse

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

This film discusses the problem of how to dispose of used tires.

Somebody Call 911: Windmills Are Killing Our Birds, Jessica Raba, Bryan Ebert

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

The film "Somebody Call 911: Windmills Are Killing Our Birds” examines the impact of wind power on birds.

Just A Reminder, Paul Huntington

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

A musical exploration of the challenges of being a law student. Original music by Paul Huntington.

Six Stages In The History Of Environmental Law, Nat Keller, Sasha Millard, Emily Rohm

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

The film “Six Stages in the History of Environmental Law” won the University of Maryland School of Law's “Golden Tree” award for Best Use of Special Effects. Nat Keller, Sasha Millard, and Emily Rohm used moving stick figures against a backdrop of historic photos to illustrate the history of environmental law as described in Professor Percival’s casebook.

Baltimore Urban Gardening, April Morton, Betty Franky, Emily Fisher, Erin Doran, Heather Sites

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

The student film “Baltimore Urban Gardening” highlights the benefits of creating spaces for and using locally grown produce.

Believe, Taggart Hutchinson, Shauna Stringham, Beth Grasso, Will Tilburg

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

The student created film “Believe,” a parody of the notion of clean coal, won the “Golden Tree” for Best Use of Humor. Produced by Taggart Hutchinson, Shauna Stringham, Beth Grasso and Will Tilburg, the film featured Tagg showering with coal-based soap, using a coal lightbulb, and cooking with coal.

The Evolution Of Natural Resources Law And Policy, Lawrence J. Macdonnell, Sarah F. Bates

Books, Reports, and Studies

This digital resource contains only an abstract, cover image and table of contents information from the published book.

Print copy of book is available in the University of Colorado’s Wise Law Library: http://lawpac.colorado.edu/record=b444104~S0

Contents: Introduction / Bruce Babbitt -- PART I : REFLECTIONS ON NATURAL RESOURCES LAW AND POLICY: Historical evolution and future of natural resources law and policy / Sally Fairfax, Helen M. Ingram, Leigh Raymond -- Ethical perspectives on resources law and policy : global warming and our common future / Sarah Krakoff -- Why care about the polar bear? : economic analysis of natural resources law and …

The Roberts Court And The Environment, Stephen M. Johnson

Articles

During the October 2008 Term, the Supreme Court decided five cases that raised issues of environmental law and the environment was the loser in each case. While it may be difficult to characterize the decisions of the Roberts Court, generally, as “pro-environment” or “antienvironment,” a couple themes consistently appear in the Court’s decisions. First, in most of the environmental cases, the Court has adopted a position advocated or defended by a federal, state or local government when governmental interests are at issue. Second, in all of the cases that implicate federalism concerns, the Court has rendered decisions that favor States’ …

Summers V. Earth Island Institute Rejects Probabilistic Standing, But A 'Realistic Threat' Of Harm Is A Better Standing Test, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In Summers v. Earth Island Institute, the Supreme Court recently rejected Justice Breyer’s dissenting opinion’s proposed test for organizational standing based upon the statistical probability that some of an organization’s members will likely be harmed in the near future by a defendant’s allegedly illegal actions. Implicitly, however, the Court had recognized some form of probabilistic standing in Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw, which found standing where plaintiffs avoid recreational activities because of “reasonable concerns” about future health injuries from pollution; Summers did not overrule Laidlaw. There is an inherent tension between the Summers and Laidlaw decisions. This Article applies …

A Fish Tale: A Small Fish, The Esa, And Our Shared Future, Dale Goble

Articles

The objective of the Endangered Species Act is to "recover" imperiled species and thus to render the Act's conservation tools unnecessary To achieve this goal, the drafters of the Act crafted a linear process that begins with an assessment of the threats facing the species and moves through the elimination of those threats to the recovery and delisting of the species. It has become increasingly apparent over the past decade that few species fit this model- most species face threats-altered habitats and competition with invasive species-that cannot be eliminated. These species are "conservation reliant" because they will require ongoing conservation …

'Have We All Gone Bats?' - The Strict Protection Of Wildlife Under The Habitats Directive And Tourism Development: Some Lessons From Ireland, Marc Mcdonald

Articles

This article explores the impact of the legal protection of bats under EU wildilfe legislation on tourism development in Ireland.

Branches, Sierra Nevada, Richard Hurlburt

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Using The Public Trust Doctrine To Ensure The National Forests Protect The Public From Climate Change, John Meyer

UC Law Environmental Journal

Logging is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Every unnecessary timber sale by the Forest Service contributes to our climate change crisis. While President Barack Obama has stated his intention to have science guide the decision-making process, he recently allocated half a billion dollars for logging projects under a statutory framework that lacks scientific grounding. After an introduction, the article will look at the Healthy Forests Restoration Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - a framework that encourages the Forest Service to continue polluting our atmosphere. Part III will look at the historical …

Little Bird, Niki Baker

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Revisiting The Lyons Den: Summers V. Earth Island Institute's Misuse Of Lyons's Realistic Threat Of Harm Standing Test, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In Summers v. Earth Island Institute, 129 S. Ct. 1142 (2009), the majority and dissenting opinions disagreed about how to apply the “realistic threat” test set forth in Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95, 107 (1983)). According to Justice Scalia’s majority opinion in Summers, the plaintiff organizations did not have standing to obtain injunctive relief because they failed to prove that their members were likely in the near future to hike on government land on which the Forest Service conducted allegedly illegal sales of timber without public notice and comment and that the facts alleged by …

Conservation-Reliant Species And The Future Of Conservation, Dale Goble

Articles

Species threatened with extinction are the focus of mounting conservation concerns throughout the world. Thirty-seven years after passage of the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1973, we conclude that the Act’s underlying assumption—that once the recovery goals for a species are met it will no longer require continuing management—is false. Even when management actions succeed in achieving biological recovery goals, maintenance of viable populations of many species will require continuing, species-specific intervention. Such species are “conservation reliant.” To assess the scope of this problem, we reviewed all recovery plans for species listed as endangered or threatened under the Act. Our …

Lamplugh Glacier, Deborah P. Furth

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Kick The Habit: A Un Guide To Climate Neutrality, United Nations

AALL Legal Website of the Month

Kick the Habit, is written by experts from many disciplines and various countries, with leading research organizations involved in preparing and reviewing the publication. It presents solutions, from reducing consumption and increasing energy efficiency to offsetting emissions via carbon trading schemes, for individuals, businesses, cities and countries plus other groups that have similar characteristics such as NGO and intergovernmental organizations. The book contains case studies, illustrations, maps and graphics and serves also as reference publication.

Cleaning Up The Mess: The Economic, Environmental, And Cultural Impact Of U.S. Military Base Closures On Surrounding Communities, Elizabeth M. Myers

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

Today, many military bases have become financial burdens on the federal government, as the military’s needs and systems have changed drastically since the end of the Cold War. The federal government has discovered it can save a significant amount of money by shutting down unnecessary installations and shifting the work to ongoing bases. The federal government can also make money by selling the land of former military bases to surrounding communities or private companies.

The Decision From The Court Of First Instance That Destroyed The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, Trevor E. Carson

Global Business & Development Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Coal And Coalbed Methane Development In The Flathead—An International Water Dispute, Allan Ingelson, Lincoln Mitchell, Sean Assie

Global Business & Development Law Journal

No abstract provided.