Environmental Law Commons^™

The Public Trust Doctrine Fifty Years After Sax And Some Thoughts On Its Future, Michael C. Blumm, Zachary A. Schwartz

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mending Mepa Analysis: Properly Addressing Climate Change Costs Under The Minnesota Environmental Policy Act, Brent Murcia

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Preventing Wind Waste, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The United States has vast offshore wind resources—nearly double the total electricity consumption of the country—ideally located in close proximity to the largest population centers. This abundance has remained stubbornly untapped for over a decade, without a single commercial scale wind project built in federal waters as of early 2021. In contrast to obstruction by the Trump administration, President Biden, in his first days in office, singled out offshore wind development as one of his priorities for tackling the climate crisis. As a result, the United States may soon see an offshore wind rush. Onshore, the United States is a …

Green Energy V. The Constitution: New York State’S Battle With Home Rule Provisions In The Age Of Environmentalism, Alexa L. Archambault

Buffalo Law Review

In the era of metal straws, reusable grocery bags, and glass water bottles, there is no doubt society is becoming more and more environmentally conscious. This ecological ethos has manifested itself inhuge policy shifts away from traditional fossil fuel energy and toward renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. Lawmakers throughoutthe world are making agreements and commitments aimed at decreasingreliance on fossil fuels. In the United States, New York State has taken a leading role in the quest toward renewable energy. With New York State’s ambitious climate goals, though, have come serious encroachments on powers traditionally held by local …

Hydrofluorocarbons, Leaky Car Air Conditioners, And Revoked Waivers: The Question Of State-Level Regulation Of Climate Change In The Trump Era, Connor Hilbie

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ancestral Comprehensions For A Policy For The Future Of The Earth: The Narrative Of The South American Andes In The Face Of The Global Climate Crisis, Erick Pajares G., Eduardo Calvo B., Jorge Iván Palacio P., Juan José Munar M., Carlos Loret De Mola, Darío Espinoza M., Yuri Godoy P., Gustavo Mora R.

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Addressing Correlations Between Gender-Based Violence And Climate Change: An Expanded Role For International Climate Change Law And Education For Sustainable Development, Achinthi C. Vithanage

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Exploring Climate Framework Laws And The Future Of Climate Action, Jennifer Huang

Pace Environmental Law Review

Every country in the world now has at least one law or policy to address climate change; these laws vary widely in type, scope, and ambition. Although scholarship on the many types and levels of effectiveness of enacted climate legislation is still growing, legal experts are taking note of a recent trend in the adoption of formal climate legislation that is economy-wide or cross-sectoral in scope, sets out both a broad and long-term direction for climate policy, and ensures some measure of accountability for the executive branch. In the absence of a commonly agreed definition, this article will loosely define …

An Instrumental Perspective On Power-To-Gas, Hydrogen, And A Spotlight On New York’S Emerging Climate And Energy Policy, Tade Oyewunmi

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Carbon Storage Future Of Public Lands, Tara Righetti, Jesse Richardson, Kris Koski, Sam Taylor

Pace Environmental Law Review

To meet the climate and energy goals set forth by the Biden Administration and the Paris Agreement, the United States must dramatically reduce carbon emissions. Use of public lands for carbon dioxide removal activities, including carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), has the potential to advance carbon reduction goals and concurrently provide economic revitalization opportunities to communities dependent on fossil industries. Current federal law presents numerous challenges and opportunities associated with utilization of federal pore space for CCUS. Although federal grant programs and tax incentives encourage deployment of CCUS technologies, legal and land-management issues related to public lands have received …

"There Is No Planet 'B'": How U.S. Music Festival Production Companies Can Reduce Their Negative Environmental Impact By Incorporating As A Benefit Corporation, Bryce Ballard

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

The music festival industry in the United States is growing exponentially each year, both in terms of fan attendance and the money being produced by concession, merchandise, and ticket sales. However, there is also a growing realization that there are several negative externalities associated with the growth of the music festival industry, not the least of which is the environmental damage that follows in the wake of music festivals.

The scene at most music festivals in the United States today is the same: a caravan of vehicles lined up single-file waiting to enter the campgrounds, camping tents of various sizes …

No Time To Waste: Can A State Prevent Nuclear Waste Transportation Within Its Borders Once Yucca Mountain Becomes Operational?, Ryan Franklin

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Following the drop of the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, the United States seriously began contemplating the use of atomic energy not just as a weapon, but as an efficient energy source. President Eisenhower delivered his “Atoms for Peace” speech in front of the United Nations eight years later, effectively launching a massive American campaign to build numerous nuclear power plants to generate enough clean energy to power the entire nation. As these plants were being constructed, however, policymakers and lawmakers who were champions of this endeavor failed to consider the problem of nuclear waste generated …

Slow And Steady Saves The Whales: Preventing Vessel Strikes On Whales In The Santa Barbara Channel, Anthony Cusato

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

“While in the life the great whale’s body may have been a real terror to his foes, in his death his ghost becomes a powerless panic to a world.” In the past, whales and humans (in boats) fought on the high seas. The humans fought for precious whale oil while the whales fought for their rights not to be murdered and turned into oil. While those days are mostly long gone, whales still face a serious threat of harm from humans in the form of vessel strikes, which is when a whale is struck by a vessel. Vessel strikes are …

Not Approved For Human Consumption: A Study Of The Denmark Water Crisis, A Call For Reforming The Swda, And A Demand For Community Lawyering In Rural America, Matthew Woodward

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Over the past four decades, nine million Americans have ingested dangerous drinking water from a trusted source: their own taps. Each year, “an estimated 16.4 million cases of acute gastroenteritis” are linked to public drinking water. For many Americans, drinking water—perhaps the most important cornerstone of human health—has become cause for concern.

In Flint, Michigan, this concern turned to panic. In 2014, after toddlers began developing painful skin conditions, children fell seriously ill, and tap water emerged in the form of thick, orange-brown sludge, the people of Flint began to wonder: is there something in the water? What soon became …

Congestion Pricing And The Opportunity To Confront New York City's Air Quality Emergency, Chad Hughes

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Poor air quality in New York City is a public health emergency that disproportionately harms the city’s most vulnerable populations. Recent studies have found that exposure to particulate matter pollution previously thought “safe” causes significant damage to perhaps every organ of the human body. While New York City has reduced particulate matter exposure over the last decade, progress has stalled. In fact, climate change, the shift in the automobile market from sedans to SUVs and “light” trucks, and the federal pullback of environmental enforcement under Trump suggest that air pollution in New York City is likely to worsen.

While the …

The Half-Earth City, Timothy Beatley, Jd Brown

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

At the intersection of the biophilic city and the global commitment to halt biodiversity declines lies the half-earth city.

E.O. Wilson inspired the global effort to conserve and restore half the Earth, to sustain remaining biodiversity, necessarily focused on areas where the human footprint is small and the conversion of land to anthropogenic land use is less pronounced. However, given the increasing urbanization of the globe, cities must also play a central role in the conservation of global biodiversity. Holistic ecoregional planning must account for the impact of cities and work to ensure that urban areas are built in harmony …

Resilience Justice And Community-Based Green And Blue Infrastructure, Craig Anthony Arnold, Resilience Justice Project Researchers

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

The environmental conditions of marginalized communities, particularly low-income communities of color, make those communities disproportionately more vulnerable to major disturbances and changes, such as climate change, health crises, pollution releases, disasters, economic shocks, and social and political upheaval. Many of the most important movements for justice with respect to environmental conditions, including environmental justice, disaster justice, and climate justice, are connected to broader movements for racial and social justice, asserting that Black and Brown lives matter. These movements seek to confront, dismantle, and reform systems of racism, colonialism, and structural inequality.

In particular, low-income communities of color have inequitably less …

Digital Urban Agriculture As Disparate Development: The Future Of Food In Three U.S. Cities Through The Lens Of Stakeholder Perceptions, Networks, And Resource Flows, Michael Carolan

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Urban agriculture takes many forms. Often, the term elicits images of raised beds, hoop houses, and, in those instances where topsoil is both present and non-contaminated, in-ground gardens—what I call traditional urban agriculture (“TUA”). But that imagery is changing, especially in some parts of the country where vacant space is scarce and land prices dear. In those instances, cities are seeing growth in digital urban agriculture (“DUA”). DUA, as defined here, refers to farming within urban and peri-urban areas that incorporates elements of automation, software, and/or silicon-based hardware into their operations. While this definition is not meant to draw a …

Foreword: Sustainability In The City, Julia D. Mahoney

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

“Nature loves to hide,” observed ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus roughly 2,500 years ago, and the worldwide “COVID-19” pandemic that followed the emergence of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 at the end of 2019 has served as a bracing reminder of humanity’s incomplete understanding of the natural world. The COVID-19 crisis has turned out to be more than a public health emergency rooted in natural causes, for the pandemic has revealed significant weaknesses in humancreated institutions, including those that govern and influence the urban areas in which most Americans now live.

Of course, with crisis comes opportunity, and it seems highly plausible …

Table Of Contents (V. 45, No. 3)

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.