Environmental Law Commons^™

Splash, Adam Regele

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Creating A Category Under The Kyoto Protocol Based On Non Emissions, Erin Sedloff

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Fallen Tree, Adam Regele

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Water Reuse In The West: State Programs And Institutional Issues. A Report Complied By The Western States Water Council, Nathan S. Bracken

UC Law Environmental Journal

No abstract provided.

Interstate Competition And The Race To The Top, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

This essay, based on remarks at the 211 Federalist Society Student Symposium, discusses some of the benefits of federalism. Many of the benefits of federalism derive from interjurisdictional competition, as competition among jurisdictions is a powerful means to discover and promote welfare-enhancing policies. Decentralizing authority over various policy matters also leaves states free to account for regional variation and can facilitate policy discovery and entrepreneurship and reduce the risks of policy failures. While the arguments for decentralization are strong, there are persuasive justifications for federal intervention in some instances, such as the existence of interstate spillovers. Fears of a “race …

An Empirical Assessment Of Climate Change In The Courts: A New Jurisprudence Or Business As Usual?, David Markell, J. B. Ruhl

Scholarly Publications

While legal scholarship seeking to assess the impact of litigation on the direction of climate change policy is abundant and growing in leaps and bounds, to date it has relied on and examined only small, isolated pieces of the vast litigation landscape. Without a complete picture of what has and has not been within the sweep of climate change litigation, it is difficult to offer a robust evaluation of the past, present, and future of climate change jurisprudence. Based on a comprehensive empirical study of the status of all (201) climate change litigation matters filed through 2010, this Article is …

Water Rights, Markets, And Changing Ecological Conditions, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

Conventional environmentalist thought is suspicious of private markets and property rights. The prospect of global climate change, and consequent ecological disruptions, has fueled the call for additional limitations on private markets and property rights. This essay, written for the Environmental Law Symposium on 21st Century Water Law, presents an alternative view. Specifically, this essay briefly explains why environmental problems generally, and the prospect of changing environmental conditions such as those brought about by climate change in particular, do not counsel further restrictions on private property rights and markets. To the contrary, the prospect of significant environmental changes strengthens the case …

Hydraulic Fracturing Additives: A Solution To The Tension Between Trade Secret Protection And Demands For Public Disclosure, Travis D. Van Ort

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

The Adverse Effects Of Aquatic Invasive Species On Native Commercial And Recreational Fisheries Of The Great Lakes And The Exacerbation Of The Problem By Judicial Reluctance To Act, Andrew S. Leung

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Bundling Solutions For Financing Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit Projects In Residential And Commercial Buildings, Michael Kerstetter

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of overall national energy consumption and renewed investment in energy efficiency (EE) projects and measures in that sector, in particular, could potentially save consumers and the U.S. economy billions of dollars, create jobs and significantly reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. Accordingly, a comprehensive and well crafted economy-wide EE solution should include programs for the upgrading or retrofitting of existing residential and commercial structures. Although there is already investment in these types of projects, significant potential still remains for further investment. The subjects discussed in this paper could serve as a useful starting point …

Public Utilities Commissions & Energy Efficiency: A Handbook Of Legal And Regulatory Tools For Commissioners & Advocates, Shelley Welton, Chen Xu, Brian Troxler, Chao Huang, Andrew Kirchner, Krista Yacovone, Maria Hristova

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This handbook examines the range of legal and regulatory tools that state PUCs have to promote energy efficiency. It draws from a broad and deep body of literature on the topic, an examination of relevant state laws and regulations, and interviews with experts in the private and public sectors. The handbook may prove useful in those states that are more advanced in their energy efficiency policies by illuminating potential refinements or alternative design options in areas that prove to be sticking points. It is intended primarily, however, as a resource for those in states that are not yet as advanced …

Livestock And Climate Change – Annotated Bibliography, Julia Christian, Andrew Kirchner, Derek Nelson, Jessica A. Wentz

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Over the past two decades, efforts to address climate change have primarily focused on reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel combustion. The potential contribution of livestock production to climate change has been largely overlooked. Recent scholarship suggests that activities related to livestock production constitute a significant proportion of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although estimates of livestock’s contribution to our overall GHG emissions range broadly – from 18% to 51% – there is no question that this impact warrants serious consideration from policy makers.

State Dynamism, Federal Constraints: Possible Constitutional Hurdles To Cross-Border Cap-And-Trade, Shelley Welton

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This article explores the constitutional viability of expanding domestic, state-run cap-and-trade programs to include Canadian provinces. It examines four constitutional doctrines that might be used to challenge these cross-border collaborations: preemption, the dormant foreign affairs power, the Compact Clause, and the dormant foreign Commerce Clause. Ultimately, it makes the case that while these doctrines are flexible enough that they could be interpreted to prohibit cross-border cap-and-trade, courts would be wise to let these novel and commendable state initiatives proceed.

Analysis Of California, Washington, And New York Insurer Climate Risk Surveys For The 2011 Reporting Year, Irene Shulman

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Climate change has the potential to affect the availability and affordability of insurance across most major insurance categories. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) adopted the Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey in 2009, and in February 2012, California, Washington, and New York administered the survey to insurance companies that write in excess of $300 million in premiums annually. This working paper summarizes and analyzes the survey responses that were submitted to California, Washington, and New York in 2012 for the 2011 reporting year. The working paper found that the majority of the 400 survey responses indicated that climate change …

Past Its Prime: Why The Clean Air Act Is In Need Of Modification, Levi Smith

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat

The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the primary federal statute regulating the emission of air pollutants. First enacted in 1970, the CAA requires, inter alia, the federal government to establish air quality goals and states to develop implementation plans to achieve those goals. The most stringent requirements of the CAA are imposed on “new” or “modified” sources of pollution, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, and particulate matter. Sources that were operating when the CAA was enacted are mostly exempt from regulation under the Act. Because of the substantial costs associated with the CAA standards, there is an incentive for …

Hot, Crowded, And Legal: A Look At Industrial Agriculture In The United States And Brazil, David N. Cassuto, Sarah Saville

Animal Law Review

Over the last sixty years, industrial agriculture has expanded in the United States and throughout the world, including in Brazil. Any benefit this expansion has brought comes at significant environmental and social costs. Industrial agriculture is a leading contributor to global climate change, air and water pollution, deforestation, and dangers in the workplace. This Article discusses the impact of industrial animal agriculture in the U.S. and Brazil. It also examines the laws pertaining to industrial agriculture in both countries and provides a comparative analysis of the two legal regimes. Finally, this Article concludes with the observation that although the price …

Implementation Of The Arizona Water Settlement Act In New Mexico: An Overview Of Legal Considerations, Adrian Oglesby

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Is A Substantive, Non-Positivist United States Environmental Law Possible?, Dan Tarlock

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

U.S. environmental law is almost exclusively positive and procedural. The foundation is the pollution control and biodiversity conservation statutes enacted primarily between 1969–1980 and judicial decisions interpreting them. This law has created detailed processes for making decisions but has produced few substantive constraints on private and public decisions which impair the environment. Several substantive candidates have been proposed, such as the common law, a constitutional right to a healthy environment, the public trust, and the extension of rights to fauna and flora. However, these candidates have not produced the hoped for substantive law. Many argue that a substantive U.S. environmental …

A Functional Approach To Risks And Uncertainties Under Nepa , Todd S. Aagaard

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) mandates that federal agencies evaluate the environmental impacts of their proposed actions. This requires agencies to make ex ante predictions about environmental consequences that often involve a significant degree of factual risk or uncertainty. Considerable controversy exists regarding how agencies should address such risks and uncertainties. Current NEPA law adopts a largely ad hoc approach that lacks coherence and analytical rigor. Some environmentalists and legal scholars have called for a greater emphasis on worst-case analysis in environmental planning, especially after the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the meltdowns …

Neoliberal Land Conservation And Social Justice, Jessica Owley

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Cincinnati Environmental Justice Ordinance: Proposing A New Model For Environmental Justice Regulations By The States, Jeannette De Guire

Cleveland State Law Review

The majority of environmental justice policies today exist as extremely decentralized municipal ordinances or as extremely centralized government agency strategies. Each system of regulation presents distinct advantages. Therefore, an analysis of the City of Cincinnati Environmental Justice Ordinance within the context of the ongoing debate between the benefits of centralized versus decentralized environmental regulations (the centralization-decentralization debate) examines the advantages of each scheme of regulations more extensively. However, each argument in favor of one type of regulation represents a disadvantage of the other, so this Note argues that by implementing environmental justice regulations at the state level, with the Cincinnati …

Greenpeace, Social Media, And The Possibility Of Global Deliberation On The Environment, Michael Roose

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Greenpeace uses the developmental republican model of democratic
governance for setting organizational policy. This model does an excellent
job of forming members into effective leaders who are committed to the
organization and its mission. However, Greenpeace could more effectively
encourage the global community to become involved in environmental
activism and set more responsive policy by employing an Internet-based
deliberative democracy policy-setting process.

"What The Frack?" Why Hydraulic Fracturing Is Abnormally Dangerous And Whether Courts Should Allow Strict Liability Causes Of Action, Neal J. Manor

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Botanical Gardens: Driving Plant Conservation Law, Amy Hackney Blackwell

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Preventing Atoms For Peace From Becoming Atoms Of Terror: The National Environmental Policy Act Is Not A Vehicle For Addressing Terrorism, David D. Leege

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Litigation Of A Climate Nuisance Suit Might Look Like, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

In American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut (AEP), the Supreme Court explicitly left ajar the door to litigation under state (as opposed to federal) common law for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Some plaintiffs' lawyers are also arguing that the decision leaves room for seeking money damages (rather than injunctive relief) even in a federal common law case.

For purposes of this Article, let's imagine a world in which the courthouse doors are swung open to common law claims for damages for GHG emissions, and the courts have rejected all defenses based on displacement, preemption, political question, and standing. In …

Cercla In A Global Context, Robert V. Percival, Katherine H. Cooper, Matthew M. Gravens

Faculty Scholarship

The article first reviews the essential features of CERCLA and how they have evolved over time through legislative amendments and judicial interpretation. The article then compares CERCLA's approach to that embodied in the European Union's 2004 Directive on Environmental Liability with Regard to the Prevention and Remedying of Environmental Damage ("ELD:). It then reviews the laws adopted by various countries, including EU members, to respond to releases of hazardous substances. The article then discusses several case studies of how different countries handled incidents of environmental contamination. It concludes by summarizing the comparative law of environmental remediation and its implications for …

Home State Regulation Of Environmental Human Rights Harms As Transnational Private Regulatory Governance, Sara Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Home state mechanisms designed to address harms arising from overseas resource extraction have recently been considered in Canada. This paper will examine whether such mechanisms could be viewed as an example of transnational private regulatory governance, and the implications of doing so for our understanding of both public international law and transnational private regulatory governance. After first briefly unpacking the idea of transnational private regulatory governance, the paper will compare common understandings of the scope of home state jurisdiction to regulate transnational corporations under international human rights and international environmental law. Recent developments in Canadian law and policy culminating in …

Agricultural Revolutions And Agency Wars: How The 1950s Laid The Groundwork For "Silent Spring", Roger E. Meiners, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter from the book Silent Spring at 50 analyzes the 1950s struggle over US food policy between USDA and FDA and how that struggle set the stage for the impact of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. Using a public choice/interest group analysis, the chapter examines how the two agencies reacted to the large scale transformation of US agriculture and food production during and following World War II. Just as agriculture underwent a dramatic productivity revolution that changed the face of American farming, marketing, new home appliances, and increased participation in the labor force by women radically changed the kinds of …

Silent Spring At 50, Roger Meiners, Pierre Desrochers, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

This introduction from the book Silent Spring at 50 describes the various contributors’ insights into Rachel Carson’s landmark work. The authors come from a variety of disciplines, including conservation biology, English, law, and economics, and offer critical assessments of Silent Spring and its legacy. The first part has three chapters that put the book into the context of its time, examining it in light of Carson’s previous books on the sea (Wallace Kaufman); the larger tradition of authors warning against human hubris in environmental matters (Pierre Desrochers & Hiroko Shimizu); and the contest between “environmental religion” and “economic religion” that …