Environmental Law Commons^™

Climate Perspectives Across The Generations, Dan Farber

Natural Resources Journal

Climate change is a multi-generational problem, but it does not impact all generations in the same way. Correspondingly, older Americans and younger ones differ greatly in how they perceive the issue and how they respond. The wave of youth activism epitomized by Greta Thunburg is on one side of this generation gap. Donald Trump’s climate skepticism is on the other. We’re talking about large groups of people, so there is a range of attitudes on both sides, but these two individuals represent the generational differences in dramatic form. My goal today is to explore these generational differences. I want to …

Creating Social Change Through Art: The Greater Chaco Art Zines, Jeanette Hart-Mann, Asha Canalos

Natural Resources Journal

This interview with Jeanette Hart-Mann and Asha Canalos took place on March 6, 2020 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This interview was conducted in person and edited by Ariel MacMillan-Sanchez.4 Hart-Mann and Canalos explained the importance of the Greater Chaco Art Zines project, how it came to fruition, the issues of censorship that surround it, and their perspectives on generating meaningful change. Some of the art pieces discussed in this interview are published in this article. If you would like to get involved or wish to see more of the art pieces discussed in this interview please visit https://greaterchacoartzines.org/.

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Revisited: Law, Science, And The Pursuit Of Ecosystem Management In An Iconic Landscape, Robert B. Keiter

University of Colorado Law Review

Thirty years ago, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) concept and ecosystem management surfaced as key to preserving this legally fragmented region's public lands and wildlife in the face of mounting development pressures. Yellowstone's grizzly bears were in sharp decline and wolves were absent from the landscape, while bison and elk management issues festered. The GYE's national forest lands were subject to extensive logging, energy leasing, and other commercial activities that cumulatively threatened the region's ecological integrity. In the face of extreme jurisdictional complexity and a strong commitment to agency discretion, a high-profile federal "Vision" effort to improve and better coordinate …

Reevaluating Environmental Citizen Suits In Theory And Practice, David E. Adelman, Robert L. Glicksman

University of Colorado Law Review

Citizen suits are frequently cited as an essential legal innovation by virtue of their capacity to provide a backstop to lax or ideologically antagonistic administrations. Drawing on data from fifteen years of litigation under two prominent environmental statutes, we find little evidence that citizen suits effectively serve this role in practice. Instead, we find that limited resources and institutional barriers strictly limit the number of citizen suits filed annually against the federal government under two of the most litigated environmental statutes, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). While our findings do not negate the …

Contingent Delisting, Justin R. Pidot

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ecosystem Services And Federal Public Lands: A Quiet Revolution In Natural Resources Management, J.B. Ruhl, James Salzman

University of Colorado Law Review

The major federal public land management agencies (the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Park Service, Fish & Wildlife Service, and Department of Defense) have increasingly adopted a language that did not exist twentyfive years ago-the language of ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the range of benefits that ecological resources provide to humans, from water purification and pollination to carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat. The scientific discipline advancing the ecosystem services framework arose in the mid-1990s and quickly became a central strategy for fusing ecology and economics research. Despite its ascendance in research communities, the recognition and conservation of ecosystem …

Toxic Floodwaters: Strengthening The Chemical Safety Regime In The Climate Change Era, Noah M. Sachs

Law Faculty Publications

Extreme flooding linked to climate change has caused toxic chemical spills across the United States, yet policymakers are not prioritizing industrial chemical safety in planning for climate change. Many scholars and industry executives have argued that existing private law mechanisms, such as insurance and tort-based deterrence, can adequately manage the risk of flood-induced chemical releases from industrial sites. But private law mechanisms have failed to prevent past incidents of mass contamination, and there is little evidence that tort law deters industrial firms from the practices that put communities at risk. In this Article, I engage in a comparative analysis of …

Not Yet America's Best Idea: Law, Inequality, And Grand Canyon National Park, Sarah Krakoff

Publications

Even the nation’s most cherished and protected public lands are not spaces apart from the workings of law, politics, and power. This Essay explores that premise in the context of Grand Canyon National Park. On the occasion of the Park’s 100th Anniversary, it examines how law — embedded in a political economy committed to rapid growth and development in the southwestern United States — facilitated the violent displacement of indigenous peoples and entrenched racialized inequalities in the surrounding region. It also explores law’s shortcomings in the context of sexual harassment and discrimination within the Park. The Essay concludes by suggesting …

Honoring Sally Jewell, Charles Wilkinson

Publications

No abstract provided.

Administrative Law's Extraordinary Cases, Jonathan Skinner-Thompson

Publications

The Supreme Court's major questions doctrine is grounded in the Chevron framework. Reconstituting it as a "major rules" exception to Chevron or as a non-delegation principle are misguided and create greater uncertainty.

(Carbon) Farming Our Way Out Of Climate Change, Alexia Brunet Marks

Publications

Numerous climate-related emergencies highlight the challenges and urgency posed by climate change: the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report, the Global Climate Action Summit in California and international student walkouts, to name a few. While the IPCC Report sent an urgent cry to reduce total emissions and to achieve specific results—45% reduction by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050—reductions need to be combined with capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Scientific studies have shown that an annual increase of 0.4% of carbon stored in soils would make it possible to stop the present increase in atmospheric CO2.

This …

Uncooperative Environmental Federalism 2.0, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised to curtail federal environmental regulation and empower the states. Has the Trump Administration made good on these pledges to reinvigorate cooperative federalism and constrain environmental regulatory overreach by the federal government? Perhaps less than one would think. This Essay provides a critical assessment of the Trump Administration’s approach to environmental federalism. Despite the Administration’s embrace of “cooperative federalism” rhetoric, environmental policy reforms have not consistently embodied a principled approach to environmental federalism in which the state and federal governments are each encouraged to focus resources on areas of comparative advantage.

Gmo Corn, Mexico, And Coloniality, Ernesto Hernandez-Lopez

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Genetically modified ("GMO") corn germinates legal controversies in Mexico. Since 2013, Mexican courts have temporarily suspended GMO corn because it threatens biodiversity. In the Colectividad del Maiz lawsuit, courts have prohibited Mexico from issuing commercial GMO permits while the litigation continues. Companies like Monsanto need these permits to sell GMO seeds. Corn is the most essential food item for millions of Mexicans and is central to Mexican culture. Mexicans wait for Colectividad del Maiz's resolution, siding with biodiversity or GMOs. This Article describes scientific GMO controversies and analyzes biosecurity, class-action, and international environmental law. It argues that this corn fight …

Externalities As The Status Quo: Federal Application Of Environmental Charges In The United States, Robert Zupko

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Conceptualized as early as 1920 by English economist Arthur Cecil Pigou, but not formalized until later work in the 1970s and 1990s, “environmental charges” are a form of Pigouvian taxes that suggest the revenue burden of governance could be shifted from economic “goods” to environmental “bads”. While their association with Pigouvian taxes would suggest that environmental charges are applied as a policy instrument to encourage the reduction or elimination of environmental externalities, their application at the federal level in the United States suggests this is not the case. This report postulates that federally applied environmental charges accept environmental externalities as …

Ohio's Avoidance Of Total Maximum Daily Load And The Continued Relevance Of The Constructive Submission Doctrine, Ashley Kirk

Global Business Law Review

This Note examines several provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA)—in particular, Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)—in the context of recent litigation over the State of Ohio’s plan to address Lake Erie water quality. It looks at the role of TMDLs in CWA implementation and explains Ohio’s response to Lake Erie water quality, asserting that Ohio’s ranking of Lake Erie as a "low priority," in conjunction with its plan to follow a non-binding international agreement, the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, is simply an attempt to create another CWA loophole and avoid TMDL obligations. This Note also considers federal courts' …

Relationship Between Sustainable Outer Space Law And The Use Of Satellite Technology In Handling Marine Plastic Debris, Andreas Pramudianto

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Since the discovery of plastic material, which ends up as plastic waste after use and partly enters the sea, it has become a global problem that needs serious treatment. No international agreement exists about handling marine plastic debris. By contrast, national laws have been created to plastic bags and plastic debris. Currently, the existing legal instruments, especially in outer space law, are still traditional and inadequate. A sustainable new paradigm in outer space law is needed, such as the use of satellite technology, such as the COSMOS satellite by RKA Recosmos, for global environmental issues, including the ozone layer, climate …

Legal Certainty For Foreign Investors In Coal Mining In Indonesia, Rouli Anita Velentina Anita Velentina

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Since 2009, there have been significant regulatory changes in coal mining in Indonesia, beginning with the enactment of Law No.4 of 2009 concerning Mineral and Coal Mining, which replaced the prior system of contracts and mining authorizations (Kuasa Pertambangan; KP) with mining business permits (Ijin Usaha Pertambangan; IUP). There are two types of IUP: exploration and production operation. Then, the mechanism of Clean and Clear was created to reduce the large numbers of overlapping licenses. This article explores Indonesian regulatory changes and court rulings in coal mining and clarifies share divestment requirements for foreign investors in Indonesian coal-mining operations, which …

Analysis On The Effectiveness Of “Unbundling” And “Open Access” In Indonesian Gas Business Sector, Parulian Paidi Aritonang

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Natural gas is a very important non-renewable natural resource that controls the lives of many people. Therefore, the exploitation and utilization of natural gas must be carried out wisely and for the greatest prosperity of the people. This is mandated in Article 33 Paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia that "Earth, water and the natural resources contained therein are controlled by country and used for the greatest prosperity of the people". With the promulgation of Law Number 22 the Year 2001 concerning Oil and Gas, there has been restructuring in the implementation of natural gas …

Of Sustainable Development In Africa: Addressing The (In)Congruence Of Plastic Bag Regulations With International Trade Rules, Regis Y, Simo

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Several aspects of the trade policies of African countries suffer from neglect in the legal literature. When they are the object of research, the focus is sometimes limited to their participation in the dispute settlement system or on the enforceability of special and differential treatment provisions. While practice displays that African countries have almost never been the target of complaints for a number a reasons, those approaches do not always take into consideration African countries’ domestic measures affecting the flow of goods and services, which could eventually trigger disputes. This paper intends to fill that gap and add to the …

There Must Be Something In The Water: Understanding Pfas Contamination Of Groundwater As A National Security Issue, Kylie N. Ford

Student Theses 2015-Present

This report addresses the widespread pollution of domestic groundwater resources with Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) caused by firefighting activities performed at military installations across the United States. Two former military bases in Southeastern Pennsylvania are used as a single case study: the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) in Warminster and the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NASJRB) in Horsham. Chapter 1 gives a history of domestic military bases from the perspective of the infrastructure buildup and downsizing that occurred over the 20th Century, along with the environmental degradation revealed during brownfield redevelopment. The chapter then gives specifics about …