Environmental Law Commons^™

Achieving Energy Independence & Stopping Global Warming Through A New Energy Economy, John Edwards

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

State Efforts To Promote Renewable Energy: Tripping The Horse With The Cart?, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Christopher Cooper

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Seeking Protection: Recognition Of Environmentally Displaced Persons Under International Human Rights Law, Brooke Havard

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Images Of Expertise: Converging Discourses On The Use And Abuse Of Science In Massachusetts V. Epa, David S. Caudill

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Coalbed Methane: Crafting A Right To Sell From An Obligation To Vent, L. James Lyman

University of Colorado Law Review

Coalbed methane ("CBM") is a rapidly growing source of energy in the United States, particularly in the Intermountain West. Rather than being captured and utilized, however, much of the recoverable CBM is released into the atmosphere as coal mine methane ("CMM), a byproduct of coal mining. Allowing a federal coal operator to capture and sell or otherwise consume CMM would reduce greenhouse emissions, provide additional fuel for power generation, and avoid the waste of valuable natural resources. However, there is sparse guidance from the federal government regarding the right of federal coal operators to engage in CMM sale. What little …

Judging Treaties, Lakshman Guruswamy

Publications

No abstract provided.

Linking Global Warming To Inuit Human Rights, Marguerite E. Middaugh

San Diego International Law Journal

Under international law, the United States government has violated the Inuit's human rights by failing to take action against climate change. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights should find that the allegations of human rights violations by the Inuit are justified and rule in their favor. This Article first explores the impacts of climate change on the Inuit and each of the Inuit's basic human rights, which are implicated by the environmental changes. Next, the role and responsibility of the U.S. with respect to climate change is examined. This section discusses the current attitude and actions of the U.S. government, …

Agenda: Climate Change And The Future Of The American West: Exploring The Legal And Policy Dimensions, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

Sponsors: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; BP America; Holland & Hart; Patrick, Miller & Krope, P.C.; The Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Rocky Mountain Natural Resource Center of the National Wildlife Federation, Western Water Assessment.

Exploring the legal and political dimensions that climate change will bring to the American West will be the focus of the CU-Boulder Natural Resources Law Center's 27th Annual Summer Conference.

Titled "Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions," the conference will be held June 7-9 at the Fleming Law Building on the University of Colorado at …

Commonwealth Of Massachusetts V. Epa: Passing The Buck On Regulation Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Daniel Baylson

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Reflections On Air Capture: The Political Economy Of Active Intervention In The Global Environment; An Editorial Comment, Edward A. Parson

Articles

When global climate change came onto domestic and international policy agendas in the late 1980s, only two types of response were initially considered: reducing emissions by improving efficiencies or switching to lower or non-carbon energy sources; and adapting to the anticipated changes. Since that time the agenda of potential responses has been progressively expanded, principally by adding various ways to intervene in the global carbon cycle or the climate to break the connection between emissions of greenhouse gases and the resultant climate changes. Three types of these “intervening” responses are now, to varying degrees, present in policy debate: biological sequestration …

The Prototype Carbon Fund: A New Departure In International Trusts And Securities Law, Sophie Smyth

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Arnold Schwarzenegger And Our Common Future, Sarah Krakoff

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Green Development Movement: Smart Growth With A Green Label, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Options For Designing A Mandatory U.S. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program, Robert R. Nordhaus, Kyle W. Danish

ExpressO

The United States faces growing pressure – both from domestic and international sources – to adopt a mandatory greenhouse gas reduction program to address the risk of global climate change. If policy-makers decide to establish such a program, they could end up creating an environmental regulatory regime of potentially unprecedented scope and impacts. A domestic greenhouse gas program could break ground in other ways too. Many policy-makers are considering innovative market-based approaches to regulation, including a multi-billion dollar economy-wide “cap-and-trade” program. In this paper, we: (1) set forth criteria for evaluating program options; (2) analyze the leading design options and …

Anything Industry Wants: Environmental Policy Under Bush Ii, Patrick Parenteau

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Conference Summary: Water, Climate And Uncertainty: Implications For Western Water Law, Policy, And Management, Steve Bailey

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

7 pages.

"Steve Bailey, National Center for Atmospheric Research"

Agenda: Water, Climate And Uncertainty: Implications For Western Water Law, Policy, And Management, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, United States. National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration, National Center For Atmospheric Research (U.S.), Western Water Assessment (Program), University Of Colorado Boulder. Cooperative Institute For Research In Environmental Sciences, Hydrosphere Resource Consultants, Colorado Foundation For Water Education, Bp North America

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

The swollen creeks of Boulder, Colorado provided a fitting backdrop for the “Water, Climate and Uncertainty” conference at the Natural Resources Law Center of the University of Colorado in June 2003. Recognizing the importance of providing a forum for discussions between water managers, lawyers, policy makers, and scientists, Doug Kenney, the conference's organizer, assumed the responsibility of master of ceremonies, providing thoughtful transitions between speakers and sessions while throwing some humor into the mix. Under his direction, luminaries in the fields of science, law and policy engaged a wide range of issues related to the future of water management.

The …

Preparing For Climatic Change: The Water, Salmon, And Forests Of The Pacific Northwest, Philip W. Mote, Edward A. Parson, Alan F. Hamlet, William S. Keeton, Dennis Lettenmaier, Nathan Mantua, Edward L. Miles, David W. Peterson, David L. Peterson, Richard Slaughter, Amy K. Snover

Articles

The impacts of year-to-year and decade-to-decade climatic variations on some of the Pacific Northwest’s key natural resources can be quantified to estimate sensitivity to regional climatic changes expected as part of anthropogenic global climatic change. Warmer, drier years, often associated with El Niño events and/or the warm phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, tend to be associated with below-average snowpack, streamflow, and flood risk, below-average salmon survival, below-average forest growth, and above-average risk of forest fire. During the 20th century, the region experienced a warming of 0.8 ◦C. Using output from eight climate models, we project a further warming of …

Reconstructing Climate Policy: Beyond Kyoto, Jonathan B. Wiener, Richard B. Stewart

Faculty Scholarship

In their comprehensive analysis of the Kyoto Protocol and climate policy, Richard B. Stewart and Jonathan B. Wiener examine the current impasse in climate policy and the potential steps nations can take to reduce greenhouse gases. They summarize the current state of information regarding the extent of global warming that would be caused by increasing uncontrolled greenhouse gas emissions. They explain why participation by all major greenhouse gas-emitting countries is essential to curb future greenhouse gas emissions and also note the significant obstacles to obtaining such participation.

Stewart and Wiener argue it is in the national interest of the United …

Understanding Climatic Impacts, Vulnerabilities, And Adaptation In The United States: Building A Capacity For Assessment, Edward A. Parson, Robert W. Corell, Eric J. Barron, Virginia Burkett, Anthony Janetos, Linda Joyce, Thomas R. Karl, Michael C. Maccracken, Jerry Melillo, M. Granger Morgan, David S. Schimel, Thomas Wilbanks

Articles

Based on the experience of the U.S. National Assessment, we propose a program of research and analysis to advance capability for assessment of climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptation options. We identify specific priorities for scientific research on the responses of ecological and socioeconomic systems to climate and other stresses; for improvement in the climatic inputs to impact assessments; and for further development of assessment methods to improve their practical utility to decision-makers. Finally, we propose a new institutional model for assessment, based principally on regional efforts that integrate observations, research, data, applications, and assessment on climate and linked environmental-change issues. …

Waiting To Exhale?: Global Warming And Tax Policy, Roberta Mann

American University Law Review

This article explores the links between energy policy, tax policy and global warming. This article focuses on tax policy, because the emerging consensus among legal scholars favors economic incentives rather than command-and-control regulations for reaching environmental goals, and the Federal income tax has proved an effective delivery system for economic incentives.

After briefly discussing of the science of global warming and the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, the article reviews the impact of both existing tax law and current proposals for energy legislation on global warming, as well as potential international law consequences of failure to act …

Gore Wars, Alex Kozinski

Michigan Law Review

Unless you've been frozen in carbonite or are hopelessly gullible, it must have occurred to you at some point during the last three decades that environmental activists are exaggerating just a bit when they claim that, unless we dramatically change our way of life, we'll soon see the end of civilization as we know it. I'm not sure when these doomsday predictions got started - probably they go back to Malthus and beyond - but I first became aware of environmental Jeremiadism in college in the early 1970s, when tout-le-monde were reading a little book called The Limits to Growth. …

Prescriptive Treaties In Global Warming: Applying The Factors Leading To The Montreal Protocol, Jasmine Abdel-Khalik

Michigan Journal of International Law

In order to combat the ever-increasing problem of global warming, developing nations need technology that will limit emissions while allowing for economic growth. This paper will first examine the problem of global warming. In Part II, the paper will explore the reasons developing nations currently are unable to reduce their emissions. In Part III, the paper will look at the factors leading to the success of the Montreal Protocol and examine the global warming debate in light of these factors.

The Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, Arctic Council And Multilateral Environmental Initiatives: Tinkering While The Arctic Marine Environment Totters, David Vanderzwaag, Robert Huebert, Stacey Ferrara

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The Arctic marine environment is not pristine, as commonly imagined, but is facing numerous pressures,' the most serious arguably coming from outside the region. Melting of sea ice, linked to global warming, threatens the long-term survival of various species including polar bears and has potential to seriously disrupt ocean currents. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including pesticides, industrial compounds and combustion by-products, are transported via air and water currents from regions outside the Arctic and become concentrated in the fatty tissues of animals." The pollutants threaten not only the well being of wildlife but the health of northern residents heavily dependent …

Racing The Rising Tide: Legal Options For The Marshall Islands, J. Chris Larson

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note first describes the threat posed by accelerated sea-level rise. A review of scientific data shows that global warming causes ocean levels to rise and that RMI may need to be evacuated. The current diplomatic efforts to decrease global warming offer few assurances to RMI. In fact, the countries that have obligated themselves to reduce global warming are actually increasing emissions of gases that cause global warming.

Steel Industry Watch Out - The Kyoto Protocol Is Lurking, Heather A. Steinmiller

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Climate Change: The Next Dimension, Lakshman Guruswamy

Publications

No abstract provided.

Enforcing International Law: Implications For An Effective Global Warming Regime, David G. Victor

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Environmental Realpolitik: Joint Implementation And Climate Change, Thomas C. Heller

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Professor Heller's article discusses why there has been little

progress after the Rio Earth Summit in developing the Framework

Convention on Climate Change. He argues that, beyond the scientific

uncertainties about climate change and its economic impacts,

agreement on the legal structure of a comprehensive regime has been

hampered by institutional factors. These include: the political

discounting of damage to future populations, the diverse risks of

global warming in different regions, and the distrust in many nations

with market instruments, like taxes or tradable permits, that are

favored by many industrial nations dependent on fossil fuels.

Resolving these problems will …

Controlling The Environmental Consequences Of Power Development In The People's Republic Of China, Homer Sun

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note proposes a strategy to mitigate the environmental degradation resulting from China's power development. Part I introduces China's power industry - its excessive dependence on coal, its antiquated and inefficient infrastructure, its pollutive effects, and its projected expansion. Part II appraises the ways in which China's environmental laws, macroeconomic controls, and foreign investment restrictions influence the growth of power development and its corresponding effect on the environment. Part III assesses the role that governments, development banks, and international organizations can play in curbing the environmental impact of Chinese power projects. Considering the problems associated with current Chinese and international …