Environmental Law Commons^™

Yielding To The Necessities Of A Great Public Industry: Denial And Concealment Of The Harmful Health Effects Of Coal Mining, Caitlyn Greene, Patrick Charles Mcginley

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

In the mid-nineteenth century, coal mined in Central Appalachia began to flow into industrial markets. Those mines and the coal they produced provided jobs, put food on family tables in coalfield households, and even provided housing for hundreds of thousands of coal miners and their families. The bounty from America’s expanding coalfields fueled the Industrial Revolution and powered the nation’s steel mills, factories,steamboats, and railroads. It powered America’s defense through two World Wars and later military conflicts. Coal-fired power plants generated more than half of the electricity used in the United States in the latter quarter of the twentieth century. …

V.3 No.1

Conservation Law Center Newsletter

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of United States Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning Policy And The Public Participation Process, Alexis Stabulas

Sustainability and Social Justice

As the number of nuclear power plants slated for decommissioning increases, reflecting on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) decommissioning regulations in relation to public participation becomes increasingly important. When plants close, communities lose security in economics, employment, and environmental and human health. The NRC’s regulations on public involvement are very limited and generally stakeholders do not feel supported in the decommissioning process. Local and tribal governments, citizen groups, the general public, and those directly affected have all found the NRC’s public involvement inadequate, ineffective, and infrequent. The case studies of two completely decommissioned plants, Maine Yankee and Big Rock …

Corn, Cows, And Climate Change: How Federal Agricultural Subsidies Enable Factory Farming And Exacerbate U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Trevor J. Smith

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

As people around the globe grapple with the realities of an ever-warming planet, Americans, too, are coping with some of the attendant consequences of climate change: severe droughts, storms, and wildfires to name just a few. In response, Americans are evaluating their personal and collective contributions to the climate crisis. Notwithstanding President Trump’s unilateral move in June 2017 to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the international community is pressing forward with comprehensive strategies to mitigate anthropogenic sources of atmospheric carbon. Despite their best efforts, however, most of these actions focus on the energy and transportation sectors while …

Transboundary Wildlife Laws And Trafficking: The Plight Of The African Elephant In Malawi And The Need For International Cooperation, Emily Schenning

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Ocean Acidification: Dealing With Uncharted Waters, Kimberly N. Smith

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Innovative Financing Solutions For Community Support In The Context Of Land Investments, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Communities affected by agricultural, forestry, and other resource investments urgently need increased funding for legal and technical support. Without support, communities risk losing access to critical land and resources, suffering human rights violations, or missing opportunities to benefit from investments. A lack of community support can also lead to conflict and challenges that are damaging for companies and host governments.

Donors and support providers have found ways to finance support for communities, but such efforts can only extend so far. Promising new opportunities exist for filling the financing gap, yet they will require sustained efforts by a range of actors. …

Capturing The Regulatory Agenda: An Empirical Study Of Agency Responsiveness To Rulemaking Petitions, Daniel E. Walters

Faculty Scholarship

In environmental regulation as well as in other regulatory domains, a critical question is how outside interests shape the rulemaking agenda. A great deal of skepticism toward regulation stems from the widespread perception that agencies excessively, or even exclusively, cater to business interests. One answer to these concerns is administrative procedure, in particular rulemaking petitions, which are provided for in the Administrative Procedure Act and in many substantive environmental statutes. Although rulemaking petitions could in theory be used by business interests to strengthen their hold on regulatory agenda-setting, a growing number of scholars, highlighting the critical role a rulemaking petition …

Specialization Trend: Water Courts, Vanessa Casado-Pérez

Faculty Scholarship

Definition of property rights is not useful unless there is an enforcement system, either public or private, that backs it up. While the definition of property rights as a solution to the tragedy of the commons has been carefully analyzed in the literature, the enforcement piece has been somewhat overlooked. Water is becoming scarcer and conflict is rising. As a result, the need for an efficient and fair enforcement system is more necessary than ever due to climate change.

Given the complexity of water law and the backlog in the judicial system, introducing specialization in the resolution of water cases …

Strategic Institutional Positioning: How We Have Come To Generate Environmental Law Without Congress, Donald J. Kochan

Texas A&M Law Review

The administrative state has emerged as a pervasive machine that has become the dominate generator of legal rules—despite the fact that the U.S. Constitution commits the legislative power to Congress alone. When examining legislation authorizing administrative agencies to promulgate rules, we are often left asking whether Congress “dele- gates” away its lawmaking authority by giving agencies too much power and discretion to decide what rules should be promulgated and to determine how rich to make their content. If the agencies get broad authority, it is not too hard to understand why they would fulsomely embrace the grant to its fullest. …

Managing Hurricane (And Other Natural Disaster) Risk, Robert Jerry Ii

Texas A&M Law Review

With the data showing that hurricanes are the most likely and serious of all of these disasters, we return to Hurricane Harvey. No one living in Texas—especially in the cities of Houston, Port Arthur, Bridge City, Rockport, Wharton, Conroe, Port Aransas, and Victoria, or more generally in the counties of Harris, Aransas, Nueces, Jefferson, Orange, Victoria, Calhoun, Matagorda, Brazoria, Galveston, Fort Bend, Montgomery, and Wharton—needs to be told that the U.S. needs a better approach to managing hurricane and other natural disaster risk, both in terms of pre-disaster planning and post-disaster recovery. Texans are not alone, as survivors of Hurricanes …

Holding The Animal Agriculture Industry Accountable For Climate Change: Merits Of A Public Nuisance Claim Under California And Federal Law, Amit Liran

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Lowering The Bar?: Reevaluating The Diligent Prosecution Bar In Light Of The Gold King Mine Spill, Connor R. Adamson

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

The Wild West Re-Lived: Oil Pipelines Threaten Native American Tribal Lands, Ashley A. Glick

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

A Presidential Power Of Monumental Proportions: Does The Antiquities Act Permit The Review And Revision Of National Monuments Or Can The President Steal Your Land?, Maureen A. Mccotter

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

How To Decide Whose Bank Pays: The Impact Of Supreme Court Takings Jurisprudence On Environmental Regulations, Kathleen L. Mccanless

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Framing Of Geoengineering Affects Support For Climate Change Mitigation, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Kaitlin Raimi, Alexander Maki, David Dana

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The growing recognition that climate change mitigation alone will be inadequate has led scientists and policymakers to discuss climate geoengineering. An experiment with a US sample found, contrary to previous research, that reading about geoengineering did not reduce conservatives’ skepticism about the existence of anthropogenic climate change. Moreover, depending on how it is framed, geoengineering can reduce support for mitigation among both conservatives and nonconservatives. When geoengineering is framed as a major solution, people worry less about climate change, leading to reduced mitigation support. When framed as disastrous, people perceived geoengineering as riskier, also leading to a decrease in mitigation …

Overcoming Impediments To Shellfish Aquaculture Through Legal Research And Outreach: Case Studies, National Sea Grant College Program, Catherine Janasie, Amanda Nichols, Read Porter, Mitchell Ramic, Jordan Viana, Joseph Bingaman, Elizabeth Andrews, Angela King, Danielle Goshen, Shana Jones, Lisa Schiavinato, Catherine Courtier, Danielle Goshen

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

More than half of the population of the continental United States resides in coastal communities, which are increasingly home to commercial shellfish aquaculture operations. Consequently, a variety of user conflicts can arise as states seek to encourage the development or expansion of shellfish aquaculture. Each of these conflicts creates the potential for opposition and legal challenges to the industry.

An understanding of the legal and regulatory context governing shellfish aquaculture can assist in managing conflicts related to the industry. Laws and regulations in some cases create or can be perceived as impediments to the growth or success of the aquaculture …

The Rise Of China And The Antarctic Treaty System?, Nengye Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper examines three dimensions of China’s rise in Antarctica: (1) history (2) activities; and (3) governance. Historically, China was missing in Antarctic affairs for long time. Over the past four decades, as a reflection of China’s rapid economic growth after the adoption of ‘Open Door' policy, Chinese activities in the Antarctic can be seen as rising, especially in science, fisheries and tourism. Nevertheless, this paper argues that rather than having a secret agenda to pursue, China is still shaping up its general Antarctic policy. China’s capacity to advance its interests within the Antarctic Treaty System is not significant either. …

How Two Sunken Ships Caused A War: The Legal And Cultural Battle Between Great Britain, Canada, And The Inuit Over The Franklin Expedition Shipwrecks, Christina Labarge

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.