Environmental Law Commons^™

Inexorably Entangled Environmental And Knowledge Commons, Todd Aagaard, Brett M. Frischmann

Faculty Publications

For people to effectively share an environment, they usually also must effectively share knowledge about that environment. While seemingly obvious and intuitive, this insight is often overlooked in literature about governing resources as commons. Focusing on the knowledge commons associated with an environmental commons helps to illuminate a host of complex governance dilemmas. This chapter examines the interrelationship between environmental and knowledge commons, weaving together different strands of commons research and practice. Examples discussed include shared pastures, forests, road systems, computer servers, social media platforms, living rooms, and antimicrobial effectiveness/resistance.

The Legal Framework For Enhanced Rock Weathering In Minnesota, Ashwin Murthy, Korey Silverman-Roati, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This paper focuses on one form of carbon dioxide removal, terrestrial enhanced rock weathering, which involves spreading finely ground alkaline rocks over land. Scientists posit that the alkaline materials will bond with carbon dioxide in the air, sequestering it in mineral form, potentially for tens of thousands of years. Within the U.S., Minnesota is thought to be an ideal location for enhanced rock weathering, as it has pre-existing silicate rock reserves and quarrying infrastructure, and appropriate land. However, before enhanced rock weathering can be deployed at scale, further research is required to verify its effectiveness, co-benefits, and risks.

Currently in …

Ecocentric Environmental Justice: Why We Should Go There And How We Can Get There, Jillian R. Houle

Pace Environmental Law Review

Environmental justice is necessary. It forces us to grapple with the fact that environmental burdens and benefits have been disproportionately divvied up across arbitrary race- and income-based lines, asks “what are you going to do about it?”, and offers solutions and answers to the problems it identifies. Everyone benefits from environmental justice. At the same time, environmental protection is necessary. Not only does environmental protection, by definition, protect the biotic and abiotic components of the natural world, but it further serves to protect humans, who unequivocally rely on the natural environment to sustain their collective life. Everything – living and …

Regulation Of Sargassum Removal And Sinking In Florida, Ashwin Murthy, Korey Silverman-Roati, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Carbon dioxide removal is increasingly recognized as a necessary component of global climate mitigation efforts. One emerging method involves the deep-sea sinking of plant biomass to sequester carbon. Sargassum, a free-floating brown seaweed, has been identified as a promising candidate for this approach due to its natural buoyancy and decomposition process, which enables it to sink and potentially store carbon in the deep ocean. With sargassum blooms growing dramatically in the Atlantic since 2011 — posing ecological, economic, and public health risks when they wash ashore — there is growing interest in offshore removal and sinking as a climate solution. …

Clean Data: Recursion As Pollution In Environmental Ai, Joshua Fairfield

Scholarly Articles

If “data is the new oil,” then corruption in the data used to train artificial intelligence (AI) constitutes a new form of pollution. Environmental AI has traditionally been discussed in terms of its indirect effects on the environment—the irony of burning power, processor cycles, and heat to produce solutions to stop and heal environmental damage. But there is a deeper problem. When environmental AI suggests interventions, its outputs are written onto the landscape. If that landscape is then read as data to retrain AI, there is a risk of model collapse and catastrophic forgetting, as the snake devours its own …

Re-Imagining Tomorrow: A Technology, Innovation Law, And Ethics Symposium On Addictive Technology And Children, Margaret Chon

Seattle University Law Review

In this Foreword, Professor Margaret Chon introduces Seattle University's Technology, Innovation Law, and Ethics (TILE) program, the 2024 TILE Symposium, and Dr. Gaia Bernstein’s Unwired: Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies.

State Authority To Regulate Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement, Ashwin Murthy, Korey Silverman-Roati, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This paper provides a detailed examination of the regulatory landscape surrounding Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (“OAE”), a form of marine carbon dioxide removal (“CDR”) that seeks to mitigate climate change. The paper explores the domestic (U.S.) regulation of two of the most commonly discussed approaches to OAE: a mineral based approach and an electrolytic approach.

While no federal laws specifically mention OAE, the practice might be subject to various pollution control and other federal statutes and regulations. One key question is the extent to which federal law preempts state regulation of OAE. This paper aims to answer that question by reviewing …

The Materiality Of Esg Information: Why It May Matter, Joan Macleod Heminway

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Settler Colonialism And Ecosystem Change: How Ideology Has Shaped Minnesota’S Environments, Sarah E. Hobby

History Honors Projects

The formation of a uniquely American land ethic—defined by European political history and Christian biblical doctrine and forged through systems of dispossession—is central to the creation of environments within the United States today. Using Minnesota as a microcosm to understand how settler colonial interactions played out all across the United States, this paper analyzes connections between violent dispossession of Indigenous people and the degradation of environments. By understanding how Ojibwe and Dakota people think about and have shaped Minnesotan lands throughout their history and comparing Indigenous land-ethics to the Euro-American-settler land ethic, this paper evaluates the role that ideology and …

Building A Cleaner, More Resilient Energy System In Cuba: Opportunities And Challenges, Korey Silverman-Roati, Daniel Whittle, Romany M. Webb, Jeffrey P. Fralick, Lila Harmar

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Cuba’s energy sector is at a crossroads. The country’s mostly fossil fuel-fired energy system faces a number of longstanding and serious challenges, including breakdowns at aging power plants, decreasing fuel imports and fuel shortages, and the growing threat of climate change-related disruptions. In recent years, Cuba has seen frequent electric blackouts and brownouts that have affected residents, businesses, and government institutions island wide.

Compounding these problems, Cuba is facing a severe economic crisis. In 2022, year-on-year inflation was 39% (down from 77% in 2021). While inflation is estimated to have dropped to 30% in 2023, the price of food increased …

Same Crime, Different Time: Sentencing Disparities In The Deep South & A Path Forward Under The Fourteenth Amendment, Hailey M. Donovan

Seattle University Law Review

The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. The American obsession with crime and punishment can be tracked over the last half-century, as the nation’s incarceration rate has risen astronomically. Since 1970, the number of incarcerated people in the United States has increased more than sevenfold to over 2.3 million, outpacing both crime and population growth considerably. While the rise itself is undoubtedly bleak, a more troubling truth lies just below the surface. Not all states contribute equally to American mass incarceration. Rather, states have vastly different incarceration rates. Unlike at the federal level, …

How To Interpret The Securities Laws?, Zachary J. Gubler

Seattle University Law Review

In discussions of the federal securities laws, the SEC usually gets most of the attention. This makes some sense. After all, it is the agency charged with administrating the securities laws and regulating the industry as a whole. It makes the majority of the laws; it engages in enforcement actions; it reacts to crises; and it, or sometimes even its individual commissioners, intervene publicly in policy debates. Often overlooked in such discussion, however, is the role of the Supreme Court in shaping securities law, and a new book by Adam Pritchard and Robert Thompson demonstrates why this is an oversight. …

Going Forward: The Role Of Affirmative Action, Race, And Diversity In University Admissions And The Broader Construction Of Society, Steven W. Bender

Seattle University Law Review

The third annual EPOCH symposium, a partnership between the Seattle University Law Review and the Black Law Student Association took place in late summer 2023 at the Seattle University School of Law. It was intended to uplift and amplify Black voices and ideas, and those of allies in the legal community. Prompted by the swell of public outcry surrounding ongoing police violence against the Black community, the EPOCH partnership marked a commitment to antiracism imperatives and effectuating change for the Black community. The published symposium in this volume encompasses some, but not all, the ideas and vision detailed in the …

Memories Of An Affirmative Action Activist, Margaret E. Montoya

Seattle University Law Review

Some twenty-five years ago, the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) led a march supporting Affirmative Action in legal education to counter the spate of litigation and other legal prohibitions that exploded during the 1990s, seeking to limit or abolish race-based measures. The march began at the San Francisco Hilton Hotel, where the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) was having its annual meeting, and proceeded to Union Square. We, the organizers of the march, did not expect the march to become an iconic event; one that would be remembered as a harbinger of a new era of activism by …

After Affirmative Action, Meera E. Deo

Seattle University Law Review

This is a time of crisis in legal education. In truth, we are in the midst of several crises. We are emerging from the COVID pandemic, a period of unprecedented upheaval where law students and law faculty alike struggled through physical challenges, mental health burdens, and decreased academic and professional success. The past few years also have seen a precipitous drop in applications to and enrollment in legal education. Simultaneously, students have been burdened with the skyrocketing costs of attending law school, taking on unmanageable levels of debt. And with the Supreme Court decision in SFFA v. Harvard, we are …

Religious Freedom And Diversity Missions: Insights From Jesuit Law Deans, Anthony E. Varona, Michèle Alexandre, Michael J. Kaufman, Madeleine M. Landrieu

Seattle University Law Review

This Article is a transcript of a panel moderated by Anthony E. Varona, Dean of Seattle University School of Law. During the panel, Jesuit and religious law school deans discussed what law schools with religious missions have to add to the conversation around SFFA and the continuing role of affirmative action in higher education.

Charting Extraterritoriality: Jurisdiction, Corporate Conduct, And Environmental Harm, Kalika Mehta

National Law School of India Review

Chimni’s TWAIL critique of the principle of jurisdiction, the subject of this symposium, implicates its development with the evolution of capitalism. Against this backdrop, this paper uniquely focuses on international criminal law and the selective application of principle of extraterritorial jurisdiction, particularly its exclusion of corporate entities from prosecution for large-scale violence. Through an analysis that engages with Chimni’s critique, the paper illustrates how these extraterritorial prosecutions align with the mainstream liberal theory of jurisdiction, while also exposing gaps in corporate accountability. Further, the paper contributes to ongoing legal reform debates by exploring the proposed international crime of ecocide, a …

Saving Species Or Sacrificing Science?: Navigating The Legal Labyrinth Of Research And Conservation Through The Case Of The Long-Tailed Macaque, Maliat Chowdhury

Animal Law Review

For decades, long-tailed macaques have served an instrumental role in advancing biomedical research. However, due to the recent primate shortage in U.S. laboratories, these macaques have become coveted targets for poachers. In 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) elevated the long-tailed macaque’s threat level from “Vulnerable” to “Endangered,” citing research-related capture as a critical factor contributing to their decline. Under this new status, long-tailed macaques are at risk of being categorized under Appendix I of CITES, a designation that will subject them to stricter trade regulations. Alarmed by the potential obstacles this reclassification may pose to scientific …

Verses Turned To Verdicts: Ysl Rico Case Sets A High-Watermark For The Legal Pseudo-Censorship Of Rap Music, Nabil Yousfi

Seattle University Law Review

Whichever way you spin the record, rap music and courtrooms don’t mix. On one side, rap records are well known for their unapologetic lyrical composition, often expressing a blatant disregard for legal institutions and authorities. On the other, court records reflect a Van Gogh’s ear for rap music, frequently allowing rap lyrics—but not similar lyrics from other genres—to be used as criminal evidence against the defendants who authored them. Over the last thirty years, this immiscibility has engendered a legal landscape where prosecutors wield rap lyrics as potent instruments for criminal prosecution. In such cases, color-blind courts neglect that rap …

Weighing The Costs Of, And Authority For, A Mandatory Climate Disclosure Regime, Dean John P. Anderson

Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law

No abstract provided.

We Shall Overcome: The Evolution Of Quotas In The Land Of The Free And The Home Of Samba, Stella Emery Santana

Seattle University Law Review

When were voices given to the voiceless? When will education be permitted to all? When will we need to protest no more? It’s the twenty-first century, and the fight for equity in higher education remains a challenge to peoples all over the world. While students in the United States must deal with the increase in loans, in Brazil, only around 20% of youth between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four have a higher education degree.

The primary objective of this Article is to conduct an in-depth comparative analysis of the development, implementation, and legal adjudication of educational quota systems within …

Law And Literature In Pennsylvania: A Changing Landscape, Juliette Gaggini

Honors Theses

This thesis examines themes of American national identity perpetuated in Pennsylvania surrounding private property through historical, literary and legal analysis. Ideals of private property and land ownership are broken into three transitions throughout Pennsylvania history: the American frontier and initial land claiming by settlers, mass-deforestation and the introduction of widespread agriculture, and finally industrialization and the introduction of mining and fracking. Each of these transitions highlights the physical changes to the region and how they were influenced by American ideals of private property, productivity, and profitability.

Throughout this thesis, I analyze both literary and legal texts to examine societal beliefs …

The Sffa V. Harvard Trojan Horse Admissions Lawsuit, Kimberly West-Faulcon

Seattle University Law Review

Affirmative-action-hostile admissions lawsuits are modern Trojan horses. The SFFA v. Harvard/UNC case—Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, et. al., decided jointly—is the most effective Trojan horse admissions lawsuit to date. Constructed to have the distractingly appealing exterior façade of a lawsuit seeking greater fairness in college admissions, the SFFA v. Harvard/UNC case is best understood as a deception-driven battle tactic used by forces waging a multi-decade war against the major legislative victories of America’s Civil Rights Movement, specifically Title VI and Title VII …

Students For Fair Admissions: Affirming Affirmative Action And Shapeshifting Towards Cognitive Diversity?, Steven A. Ramirez

Seattle University Law Review

The Roberts Court holds a well-earned reputation for overturning Supreme Court precedent regardless of the long-standing nature of the case. The Roberts Court knows how to overrule precedent. In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), the Court’s majority opinion never intimates that it overrules Grutter v. Bollinger, the Court’s leading opinion permitting race-based affirmative action in college admissions. Instead, the Roberts Court applied Grutter as authoritative to hold certain affirmative action programs entailing racial preferences violative of the Constitution. These programs did not provide an end point, nor did they require assessment, review, periodic expiration, or revision for greater …

Fish Kills' Hidden Link How Animal Feeding Operations Hurt Florida's Coastal Businesses, Julia Williams

St. Thomas Law Review

This paper proposes that agricultural water pollution should be further limited. As water pollution laws have thus far failed to adequately guard against nutrient pollution, despite abundantly available regenerative agricultural models, this three-part solution aims to empower citizens and the business industry to hold animal feeding operations accountable. To that end, this paper proposes: (1) expanding Florida’s Red Ride Task Force; (2) educating citizens via a media campaign; and (3) mandating feeding operations participate in Florida’s now voluntary Environmental Stewardship Certification Program. Part II of this paper describes the scientific process whereby discharge from animal feeding operations causes Florida’s fish …

A Synthesis Of The Science And Law Relating To Eyewitness Misidentifications And Recommendations For How Police And Courts Can Reduce Wrongful Convictions Based On Them, Henry F. Fradella

Seattle University Law Review

The empirical literature on perception and memory consistently demonstrates the pitfalls of eyewitness identifications. Exoneration data lend external validity to these studies. With the goal of informing law enforcement officers, prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, judges, and judicial law clerks about what they can do to reduce wrongful convictions based on misidentifications, this Article presents a synthesis of the scientific knowledge relevant to how perception and memory affect the (un)reliability of eyewitness identifications. The Article situates that body of knowledge within the context of leading case law. The Article then summarizes the most current recommendations for how law enforcement personnel should—and …

Municipalities Could Provide Valuable Second-Life Uses Of Electric Vehicle Li-Ion Batteries While Legislators And Manufacturers Refine Safe Recycling And Disposal Practices, Heather D. Stewart

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

As consumers are embracing emerging electric vehicles (EVs) as an important step to take in combating climate change, the reality is that the EV solution has some serious short-term issues to address, especially when evaluating the lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that power most EVs. This comment first discusses the potential problems associated with the lack of recycling and disposal technology as well as regulations that are available for EV LIBs. Even though consumers and regulators alike are supportive that fossil fuel-burning internal combustion engines need to be replaced with cleaner transportation options such as EVs, policies, and proclamations are still subject …

Addressing The Disproportionate Adverse Health Effects Among Bipoc Communities As A Result Of Environmental Racism, Lindsay M. Farbent

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This article examines factors that contribute to the negative health impacts on Black Americans, other minorities, and low-income communities that are living in areas with high levels of air pollution, toxic waste, and environmental hazards. First, this article assesses the role of historical residential redlining on the segregation of BIPOC neighborhoods. Furthermore, the article addresses gaps in both federal and state environmental laws that allow facilities to keep obtaining permits and polluting in BIPOC and primarily low-income neighborhoods. Moreover, the article explains the higher rates of trauma, stress, and stress-related illnesses among BIPOC communities exposed to high levels of environmental …

Is Bitcoin The New Gold? The Two May Be More Similar Than You Think, Including Their Value, Uses, And Deleterious Effects On The Environment, Justin Allen

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

In the 1850s, the Gold Rush started in the United States, and in 2010, an analogous phenomenon, the Cryptoboom, began. Similar to the Gold Rush, Bitcoin’s initial boom was marred by the deleterious effects that mining for valuable coins had on the environment, but there are steps that can be taken to mitigate the negative effect cryptocurrencies have on the environment. Cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and the blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies, have been widely embraced by many people, corporations, and even entire governments for a multitude of reasons. Some have embraced the fruits of blockchain to use as a decentralized …

Miami Is Setting The Expectation On How Coastal Communities In Florida Should Respond To Protect Homeowners From The Sinking State, Dayana B. Blanco

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This note begins by explaining what environmental factors are causing the sea level rise to increase at just a rapid pace and how coastal communities are ultimately affected. Because Florida is a slice of paradise within the states, it causes the population to increase vastly. Thus, millions of homeowners could face tragic consequences, such as total inundation of residential homes, flooding within the community, and a drastic decrease in home value. In response to this natural disaster, in 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis passed Senate Bill 1954 into law, which requires the Department of Environmental Protection to complete a statewide flood …