Environmental Law Commons^™

Waste And The Governance Of Private And Public Property, Tara K. Righetti, Joseph A. Schremmer

University of Colorado Law Review

Common law waste doctrine is often overlooked as antiquated and irrelevant. At best, waste doctrine is occasionally examined as a lens through which to evaluate evolutions in modern property theory. We argue here that waste doctrine is more than just a historical artifact. Rather, the principle embedded in waste doctrine underpins a great deal of property law generally, both common law and statutory, as well as the law governing oil and gas, water, and public trust resources. Seen for what it is, waste doctrine provides a fresh perspective on property, natural resources, and environmental law.

In this Article, we excavate …

Vulnerable Populations: Climate Change And Extreme Weather Threats Facing Urban Communities, Kara Consalo

Journal Publications

This article explores increasing extreme weather threats facing American cities due to global climate change, including hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and wildfires. After explanation of such threats, the paper delves into case studies of the response and resiliency measures being undertaken by three preeminent coastal American cities to prepare for weather disasters: New York, Miami, and San Francisco. The paper concludes by providing guidance and recommendations for urban policymakers seeking to develop resiliency measures in the face of long-term effects and short-term emergencies created by climate and weather extremes. Such recommendations include how to initiate and fund development of climate …

Clean Air Act Section 115: Is The Ipcc A 'Duly Constituted International Agency'?, Adam D. Orford

Scholarly Works

Does EPA’s receipt of the Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) trigger the agency’s duties under Clean Air Act § 115? The law requires EPA to take action to prevent or eliminate air pollution endangering the public health or welfare of foreign nationals under certain circumstances. If triggered, the argument goes, the law could justify, or compel, EPA’s imposition of nationwide greenhouse gas regulation to combat climate change. One way to justify this, or compel it, is to trigger EPA’s duties “upon receipt of reports, surveys or studies from any duly constituted international agency.” This article …

The Unfccc Regime At A Crossroads: Can You Trust Anyone Over 30?, Meinhard Doelle

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992 and it was opened for signature at Rio de Janeiro in June of that year. The 30th anniversary of its adoption offers an opportunity to reflect on more than a quarter of a century of UN climate diplomacy, and to consider the path ahead. This contribution takes a look back at the choices made that have led the regime to its current state. It then takes a look forward and considers the prospects of the regime meeting its ultimate aim of avoiding dangerous human interference with the climate …

Effective Integration Of Climate Change Into Impact Assessment: The Importance Of Meaningful Public Engagement, Meinhard Doelle, Adebayo Majekolagbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In this chapter, we consider the role of the public and the benefits of participatory approaches for the effective consideration of climate change in impact assessments in the light of three starting assumptions, which we refer to as ‘climate realities’. The first climate reality is the need for full decarbonization within the next 30 years. The second climate reality is that even a ‘well below 2 degrees’ world will result in fundamental changes to ecological and social systems that will require active management, and it is far from clear whether this well below 2 degrees goal will be met. The …

Comparing Russian And Canadian Climate Policy: Protecting Arctic Interests?, Meinhard Doelle, Roman Dremliuga

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The global human influence on the climate is growing at an alarming pace. This trend appears doomed to continue. Polar regions are feeling the effects first. This means that if the impacts of climate change serve to motivate effective policies, polar regions could be a good place to look for climate policy innovation. It is within this context that this article considers Arctic climate policy in Russia and Canada. The basic question posed is whether the unique and immediate threat climate change presents in the Arctic is reflected in progressive laws and policies with respect to four key areas: mitigation, …

Human Rights At The Ocean-Climate Nexus: Opening Doors For The Participation Of Indigenous Peoples, Children And Youth, And Gender Diversity, Unwana Udo, Tahnee Prior, Sara L. Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

No abstract provided.

Nature-Based Solutions To Sea Level Rise And Other Climate Change Impacts On : A Law And Policy Perspective, Meinhard Doelle, Tony George Puthucherril

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

There are several nature-based adaptation options available to coastal nations. In this paper, we offer a brief overview of these options and then focus on mangroves to consider how laws and policies can support nature-based solutions and thereby contribute to more effective overall adaptation efforts. We first outline the concept of adaptation and its variants, thereby setting the context for this study. We then briefly explore the science relating to nature-based adaptation. We analyze the international legal regime in place to protect mangrove ecosystems. Finally, we discuss the merits, the challenges, and strategies developed to surmount some of the challenges …

Vecinos Para El Bienestar De La Comunidad Costera V. Ferc, Malcolm M. Gilbert

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The D.C. Circuit Court remanded three Brownsville, TX LNG approval orders to FERC for failing to adequately explain conclusions around environmental justice and climate concerns. The Court ordered FERC to reevaluate whether the projects are in the public interest. The LNG terminals and pipeline will disproportionately impact low-income, minority communities, and substantial greenhouse gas emissions from production and export will contribute to anthropogenic climate change. This case note explores the role that environmental justice and climate change play in federal agency decision-making processes, analyzes the legal framework for the Court's decision, and discusses how the outcome of this litigation could …

A Legacy Of Slavery: The Citizen's Arrest Laws Of Georgia And South Carolina, Roger M. Stevens

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Law Disrupted By Covid-19, Katrina Fischer Kuh, Lissa Griffin, Rebecca Bratspies, Vanessa Casado Perez, Robin Kundis Craig, Keith Hirokawa, Sarah Krakoff, Jessica Owley, Melissa Powers, Shannon Roesler, Jonathan Rosenbloom, J.B. Ruhl, Erin Ryan, David Takacs

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

For over a year, the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about systemic racial injustice have highlighted the conflicts and opportunities currently faced by environmental law. Scientists uniformly predict that environmental degradation, notably climate change, will cause a rise in diseases, disproportionate suffering among communities already facing discrimination, and significant economic losses. In this Article, members of the Environmental Law Collaborative examine the legal system’s responses to these crises, with the goal of framing opportunities to reimagine environmental law. The Article is excerpted from their book Environmental Law, Disrupted, to be published by ELI Press later this year.

The Impact Of Climate Change On Virginia's Coastal Areas, Jonathan L. Goodall, Antonio Elias, Elizabeth Andrews, Christopher "Kit" Chope, John Cosgrove, Jason El Koubi, Jennifer Irish, Lewis L. Lawrence Iii, Robert W. Lazaro Jr., William H. Leighty, Mark W. Luckenbach, Elise Miller-Hooks, Ann C. Phillips, Henry Pollard V, Emily Steinhilber, Charles Feigenoff, Jennifer Sayegh

Faculty Publications

As part of HJ47/SJ47 (2020), the Virginia General Assembly directed the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) to study the “safety, quality of life, and economic consequences of weather and climate-related events on coastal areas in Virginia.” In pursuit of this goal, the commission was to “accept any scientific and technical assistance provided by the nonpartisan, volunteer Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (VASEM). VASEM convened an expert study board with representation from the Office of the Governor, planning district commissions in coastal Virginia, The Port of Virginia, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, state universities, private industry, and …

Advocating For The Future, John C. Dernbach, Irma S. Russell, Matthew Bogoshian

Faculty Works

Attorneys in our varied roles need to step up and address the climate crisis for the sake of every person and for the public good. All lawyers must be sustainability lawyers now. This article explains why; it also offers an illustrative set of suggestions on how to get started and what to do.

The Legal And Administrative Risks Of Climate Regulation, Jonathan Adler

Faculty Publications

Dramatic and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are necessary to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) at acceptable levels. Prioritizing federal environmental regulation as the primary means of achieving these goals may be a strategic mistake. Regulatory mandates, particularly if based upon existing statutory authority, will be vulnerable to legal attack, obstruction, and delay. Climate legislation can reduce the legal risks and accelerate the rate of policy implementation, but only on the margin. Adopting regulatory controls, sector-by-sector, technology-by-technology will be immensely resource intensive for the EPA and other federal agencies. Even with authorizing legislation, federal regulatory strategies may …

Esg And Climate Change Blind Spots: Turning The Corner On Sec Disclosure, Cynthia A. Williams, Donna M. Nagy

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article examines four areas in which the SEC, for more than a decade, resisted reform or impeded shareholders’ access to sought-after environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. These areas are: (1) the SEC’s refusal to act on several rulemaking petitions submitted during the years 2009 to 2018, which called for expanded ESG disclosure; (2) the SEC’s grudging promulgation of rules concerning social disclosures as required by Congress in the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010; (3) the SEC’s 2020 revisions to SEC Rule 14a-8, which make the submission of shareholder proposals more difficult, thereby thwarting investor efforts to raise ESG concerns; …

The Politicization And Polarization Of Climate Change, Williamson Grassle

CMC Senior Theses

In the mid to late 20th-century, climate change and other environmental issues were addressed on a bipartisan basis, with Republican politicians like President Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush supporting and advancing measures to combat climate change. However, since the 1990s, climate change has become increasingly polarized, with significant polarization in the last decade. This paper dives into the causes behind climate change's politicization and polarization and what the future holds for bipartisan agreement by analyzing peer-reviewed articles, campaign contributions, news stories, political archives, and past interviews with climate experts. The analysis finds that the polarization has been driven by …

Integrating Climate Change Into Environmental Impact Assessments: Key Design Elements, Meinhard Doelle

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This paper explores the integration of climate mitigation into the environmental impact assessment processes. The focus here is on the much neglected mitigation element (which is defined to include GHG emissions as well as impacts on natural sinks such as forests, soils, grasslands and oceans). To this end, the paper considers how to integrate the GHG emission and sinks impacts of projects at five critical stages of the assessment process: triggering, information gathering, analysis, the project decision, and post-approval follow-up.

Financing Our Future’S Health: Why The United States Must Establish Mandatory Climate-Related Financial Disclosure Requirements Aligned With The Tcfd Recommendations, Colin Myers

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Effects Of Fossil Fuel Supply Projects On Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Climate Change Under Nepa, Michael Burger, Jessica Wentz

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Despite the high certainty of our looming climate catastrophe, fossil fuel production and consumption, and the greenhouse gas emissions that result, are increasing. In the United States, fossil fuel production reached record levels in 2018, and oil and gas pipelines are being constructed at an unprecedented pace. The National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) provides the legal framework for the federal government to evaluate the climate impacts of these supply projects, such as leasing public lands and approving pipelines and export terminals. Yet, while federal agencies have begun to analyze how such projects impact climate change there are major inconsistencies in …

Climate Change Science And The Daubert Standard, Fred K. Morrison, Craig Manson, Matthew C. Wickersham

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Climate change science attempts to predict the future based on complex modeling of potential levels of CO2, other greenhouse gases, manmade conditions, and naturally occurring events. Even the most widely cited analysis of climate change studies expressly acknowledges the limitations on accurately predicting the effects of climate change on anything other than a macro basis.1 These studies acknowledge substantial uncertainty in the prediction of climate change and its effects on a regional level, much less on a local level.2 Recent lawsuits brought by the State of Rhode Island; the counties of King (Washington), Marin (California), and San Mateo (California); the …

Intended Injury: Transferred Intent And Reliance In Climate Change Fraud, Wes Henricksen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Third Age Of Oil And Gas Law, James Coleman

Indiana Law Journal

History’s biggest oil boom is happening right now, in the United States, ushering in the third age of oil and gas law. The first age of oil and gas law also began in the United States a century ago when landowners and oil companies developed the oil and gas lease. The lease made the modern oil and gas industry possible and soon spread as the model for development around the world. In the second age of oil and gas law, landowners and nations across the globe developed new legal agreements that improved upon the lease and won these resource owners …

Extraterritoriality In Common Law Climate Actions: Judicial Restraint Or Judicial Error?, Aaron B. Rudyan

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Land Use Strategies That Mitigate Climate Change, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article discusses techniques and strategies that municipal governments can employ to mitigate climate change, of which land use and municipal law lawyers should be aware.

Feeling The Heat: The Endangered Species Act And Climate Change, Andrew J. N. D. Coffey

Georgia State University Law Review

The following Note discusses the effects that some of these rule changes will have on the Endangered Species Act in the face of uncertain climate change and the science behind it. Part I examines the background of the Act, its current rules, climate change’s impact on the environment, and judicial deference to agency interpretations. Part II analyzes how the current rules further the goals of the Act, how the proposed changes to those rules will add to the confusion surrounding the Act’s standards, and the role climate change studies have in both of those implementations. Part III will propose a …

Climate Change Disobedience, Charles R. Disalvo

Law Faculty Scholarship

Among those who recognize climate change as an existential threat, some are willing to take dramatic action against it by committing civil disobedience. Activists, such as those taking part in the Extinction Rebellion in the United Kingdom, are willing to exchange their liberty for some putative good. There is no discussion in the disobedience literature of the discrete purposes of climate disobedience or the principles by which climate activists ought to be guided in seeking to fulfill those purposes. This Article takes on that task. After offering an overview of the purposes of civil disobedience, this Article isolates those purposes …

Greening The Old New Deal: Strengthening Rural Electric Cooperative Supports And Oversight To Combat Climate Change, Gabriel Pacyniak

Faculty Scholarship

New Deal cooperatives succeeded in electrifying rural America when for-profit utilities would not. Today, however, rural electric cooperatives are lagging behind when it comes to meeting the challenge of climate change. Cooperatives have collectively been slower to embrace the shift to low-carbon electricity than for-profit and municipal utilities and have served as a drag on state and federal clean energy and climate policies. This is partially because of the structural differences between cooperatives and other utilities, but also because of a weak and under-determined federal and state regulatory structure. A few cooperatives in Colorado and New Mexico are seeking to …

Toxic Floodwaters: Strengthening The Chemical Safety Regime In The Climate Change Era, Noah M. Sachs

Law Faculty Publications

Extreme flooding linked to climate change has caused toxic chemical spills across the United States, yet policymakers are not prioritizing industrial chemical safety in planning for climate change. Many scholars and industry executives have argued that existing private law mechanisms, such as insurance and tort-based deterrence, can adequately manage the risk of flood-induced chemical releases from industrial sites. But private law mechanisms have failed to prevent past incidents of mass contamination, and there is little evidence that tort law deters industrial firms from the practices that put communities at risk. In this Article, I engage in a comparative analysis of …

Are Transboundary Fisheries Management Arrangements In The Northwest Atlantic And North Pacific Seaworthy In A Changing Ocean?, Olga Koubrak, David Vanderzwaag

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Climate change is affecting physical and biological components and processes of marine ecosystems in many ways. Resulting changes in abundance and distribution of commercially valuable species are anticipated to create or exacerbate challenges for fisheries management across national boundaries by raising questions around catch allocation, membership in the management organizations, and forms of cooperation between the organizations. In this paper we assess eight transboundary fisheries arrangements in the Northwest Atlantic and North Pacific on their preparedness to respond to climate-change driven changes. For each arrangement a three-part analysis is provided. A general introduction to fisheries management responsibilities, including species and …

Introduction, Aldo Chircop, Floris Goerlandt, Claudio Aporta, Ronald Pelot

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This chapter introduces a multidisciplinary collection of chapters addressing various aspects of governance of Arctic shipping written by leading international scholars. It investigates how ocean changes and anthropogenic impacts affect our understanding of risk, policy, management and regulation for safe navigation, environment protection, conflict management between ocean uses, and protection of Indigenous peoples’ interests in Canadian Arctic waters. The book is divided in three parts, together providing a multi-faceted and interdisciplinary view on governance of Arctic shipping. The first part addresses conceptual and empirical aspects of risk governance, management, and assessment in the Canadian Arctic. The second part focuses on …