Environmental Law Commons^™

Editor's Note, Wyoming Law Review Editorial Board

Wyoming Law Review

No abstract provided.

How The Proposed Esa Habitat Rule Harms Species On Public Lands, Sandi Zellmer

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

At present, there are 1,684 federally listed endangered and threatened species in the United States. Habitat modification is the primary reason for listing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have proposed a rule that would rescind their decades-old definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Currently, “harm” is the only term within ESA Section 9’s prohibition on “take” that encompasses habitat modification. If modifying habitat is no longer a “take,” the ESA itself would be rendered incapable of satisfying Congress’s goal: “to halt and reverse the trend toward species …

Community Influence In Streamlined Siting Regimes, Danielle Stokes, Uma Outka

Law Faculty Publications

Siting energy infrastructure has long been contentious, but growing local opposition to new energy projects in the U.S. – notably, wind and solar facilities – has drawn nationwide headlines. The legal context for energy siting varies across U.S. states, with local control being a dominant model. Against this backdrop, several states have adopted legislation to facilitate renewable energy siting by adjusting decisional authority between the local and state level.

This article evaluates these reforms at a time marked by change and uncertainty within the energy sector. Bipartisan support for infrastructure permitting reform generally has gained momentum in recent years, often …

Climate Last Resorts, Michael Pappas

Publications

The United States faces a climate crisis, an affordable housing crisis, and, linking them both, an insurance crisis. At the intersection of these concurrent predicaments lie a set of little-known but surprisingly impactful policies: state Insurer of Last Resort (ILR) programs. ILRs are state policies that provide property insurance when private insurance is unavailable, such as when private insurers determine that climate hazards are too risky to underwrite.

This Article argues that long-overlooked ILR programs are quickly becoming lynchpins for addressing some of today’s most pressing concerns around climate, housing, and insurance. Accordingly, ILRs bear urgent attention and reevaluation. In …

The Evolution Of California Wildfire Governance Through State Bills, Regulations, And Executive Actions, Cassandra Dawn Blevins

History and Political Science | Senior Theses

California faces an escalating wildfire crisis, driven by climate change, drought, and development in fire-prone areas. Despite decades of scientific research on wildfire behavior and risk reduction, catastrophic fires since 2017 raise a critical question: to what extent have California state laws and policies kept up with the intensifying wildfire crisis? Existing scholarship provides extensive insight into wildfire ecology, land-use planning, fuel management, and community resilience, yet it lacks a comprehensive evaluation of whether California’s legislative, regulatory, and executive actions have adapted in a coordinated and evidence-informed manner. In particular, the literature offers limited analysis of how state laws integrate …

The Destruction Of The Climate Spending State, Adam D. Orford

Faculty Scholarship

The Biden Administration bet big on spending laws to forward its climate policies, creating a novel “climate spending state”in a field previously approached primarily through regulation. But the second Trump Administration, building on an aggressive theory of Presidential power, with support from bicameral Congressional majorities and a sympathetic Supreme Court, has dismantled the climate spending state with startling ease and speed. Although degradation of the federal workforce and legislative alterations to the tax code have played their part, it is the Trump Administration’s refusal to administer the spending laws enacted by prior Congresses that has had the most disruptive and …

Geographical Indications For Agricultural Products: Inconsistencies And Conflicts In Europe And The Global Arena, Lorenzo Bairati

FIU Law Review

Food systems are regulated by a global and hybrid legal framework. In fact, while supranational and international sources play an increasingly important role, private regulators are also becoming more and more involved alongside traditional public policy-makers. Within this context, Geographical Indications (GIs) serve as the main tool in the European Union and beyond to protect quality agri-food products.

This Article aims to explore these instruments in depth in order to analyze several critical aspects from the perspective of global governance, i.e., the networked, hybrid, and diffuse legal space that develops through the participation, negotiation, and strategic interaction between public and …

Indigenous Land Seizure & Environmental Injustice: Impacts Of Settler Colonialism, Lydia Moorman

Journal of Earth and Life Science

The fields of conservation and environmentalism prioritize ecosystem health, yet both emerged from western frameworks that displaced and criminalized Indigenous land stewardship. The idealization of “pristine wilderness” narratives served to justify the removal of Indigenous peoples from their homelands and erased millennia of sustainable land stewardship that had maintained ecological balance long before western conservation existed. These narratives not only misrepresented Indigenous relationship with land but also constructed a false dichotomy between humans and nature that positioned Indigenous presence as a threat rather than a source of ecological knowledge. Simultaneously, anthropogenic expansion; such as pipelines, mining, railroads, and other extractive …

Powering The Machine, Draining The Planet: Whether U.S. Environmental Law Is Equipped To Regulate The Energy And Water Demands Of Ai Data Centers, Michael Marcu

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers have become one of the United States' fastest-growing and least-regulated sources of environmental stress. In 2024 alone, U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity more than the entire nation of Pakistan and consumed an estimated 17 billion gallons of water (IEA, 2025; Berkeley Lab, 2024). By 2030, electricity demand from these facilities is projected to reach 426 TWh, a 133% increase in six years (Pew Research Center, 2025). This paper examines whether the existing U.S. environmental regulatory framework put by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the …

Risk, Reward, And Renewable Collateral: Can Ip Sustain Financing In Green Energy?, Nigel Blake

Marquette Intellectual Property & Innovation Law Review

As the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy accelerates, intellectual property has become one of the most valuable assets held by emerging green technology companies. Patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets often comprise a greater share of these companies' value than tangible assets, making intellectual property an increasingly important source of collateral for commercial financing. At the same time, the renewable energy industry presents unique valuation challenges. Rapid technological innovation, shifting government policies, evolving consumer preferences, and uncertain market demand can significantly affect the value of intellectual property, creating substantial risks for both borrowers and lenders.

This Comment examines …

John Copeland Nagle Award For Student Writing Excellence In Environmental Law, Notre Dame Law School

Student, Faculty, and Staff Awards

John Copeland Nagle, a beloved Notre Dame Law School professor, died suddenly in 2019. His research integrated his lifelong faith in Jesus Christ with his passion for the environment. To honor his memory, his family has endowed the John Copeland Nagle Award for Student Writing in Environmental Law, a $5,000 prize presented each year to the Notre Dame law student author of the best paper written in the field of environmental law.

Cobalt's Climate Paradox: Global Ambitions For A Greener Future Rely On Blood-Stained Hands, Ashleigh Wootton

Natural Resources Journal

The global effort to mitigate climate change increasingly relies on widespread electrification, with lithium-ion batteries at its core and the key minerals required for their production concentrated in countries uniquely vulnerable to exploitation. Lithium-ion battery production relies heavily on cobalt, a critical mineral primarily sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which supplies approximately 70 percent of the world’s cobalt. As demand for cobalt is projected to rise sharply, the DRC has become indispensable to the global clean energy transition. Cobalt extraction in the DRC is closely linked to severe human rights abuses, including forced labor, child labor, …

Disaster Risk Management During Climate Emergencies In The Dominican Republic And Puerto Rico, Rosleny Ubinas

Dissertations and Theses

This paper analyzes the DRM approach as an effective framework in addressing climate emergencies across the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. These two Caribbean regions, with high hurricane exposure and differing response structures, are deeply shaped by their governments and affiliated international organizations. Disaster Risk Management is the systematic process of using laws, plans, institutions, and community networks to reduce vulnerability to hazards and coordinate effective response when disasters occur. It covers the full cycle, from prevention to reconstruction and rebuilding more resiliently. The Dominican Republic’s law-based intervention led to greater local-level community participation during disasters with its embedded volunteer …

Navigating State Law In Local Climate Action, Vincent M. Nolette, Daniel J. Metzger, Olivia N. Guarna, Amy E. Turner

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Local governments are well-positioned to lead the fight against climate change by reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions, promoting renewable energy resources, and otherwise advancing climate mitigation and adaptation goals. Many local governments have already taken actions, and there is more they can do. In mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis, local governments must be aware of and act consistently with preemptive state laws that limit their authority. This report provides state-by-state information, resources, and analysis for nineteen states on key state-local preemption issues.

The states covered in this report represent several of the “swing” states that are the most …

Editor's Note, Emily Derrenbacker

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Colorado Environmental Law Journal

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

On Shaky Ground: America’S Public Lands Face An Uncertain Future, John Leshy

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Fight For Public Rights On America’S Waterways, Mark Squillace

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Fencing In A Technological Age: Utilizing Federal Regulatory Frameworks To Implement Virtual Fencing On Federal Public Land, Sam Johnson

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Précis Of Pfas Legislation In The Southwestern United States, Brenden Catt

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.