Environmental Law Commons^™

Agricultural Investments Under International Investment Law, Jesse Coleman, Sarah Brewin, Thierry Berger

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

International investment law, based primarily on international investment treaties, plays an important role in the governance of investment in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. The obligations established by these treaties, and enforced by means of investor–state arbitration, can present challenges for policy-makers and others seeking to ensure that investments are sustainable, including by affecting the ways in which the costs and benefits of investments are distributed among different actors.

CCSI partnered with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) to produce a briefing note on agricultural investments under international investment law. The …

Abandoned But Not Forgotten: Improperly Plugged And Orphaned Wells May Pose Serious Concerns For Shale Development, Bret Wells, Tracy Hester

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

This Article addresses the intersection of oil and gas law and environmental law on a topic that has profound significance for the nation’s oil industry and for the environment. In this regard, the Permian Basin is experiencing a renaissance that has fundamentally impacted oil production in the United States. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing now allow the industry to produce in the Permian Basin’s unconventional shale formations in ways that were unimaginable a decade ago. But, the hot shale plays within the Permian Basin exist above conventional fields that are littered with a century’s worth of abandoned wells. Fracturing new …

Beyond Localism: Harnessing State Adaptation Lawmaking To Facilitate Local Climate Resilience, Sarah J. Adams-Schoen

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Notwithstanding the need for adaptation lawmaking to address a critical gap between climate-change related risks and preparedness in the United States, no coherent body of law exists that is aimed at reducing vulnerability to climate change. As a result of this gap in the law, market failures, and various “super wicked” attributes of hazard mitigation planning, local communities remain unprepared for present and future climate-related risks. Many U.S. communities continue to employ land-use planning and zoning practices that, at best, fail to mitigate these hazards, and, at worst, increase local vulnerability. Even localities that have implemented otherwise robust adaptation plans …

Report From The Royalty Policy Committee: The Past, Present, And Future Of The Royalty Policy Committee, Monte Mills

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

This report was Prepared for the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Special Institute on Federal and Indian Oil & Gas Royalty Valuation and Management: Panel: Report from the Royalty Policy Committee October 24, 2018 ~ Houston, Texas

How International Oil Companies Could Assist The Republic Of Cyprus To Achieve The Sustainable Development Goals: A Conversation Starter, Andreas Tornaritis, Perrine Toledano

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

This policy paper is addressed to International Oil Companies (IOCs), public officials and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) involved in the natural gas industry in Cyprus. There is currently no conversation happening in Cyprus on how the oil and gas industry could help Cyprus achieve their Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, this paper hopes to initiate a debate and conversation around this topic. It provides an overview of the ways in which IOCs operating in Cyprus could contribute towards the sustainable development of the natural gas industry and assist the Republic of Cyprus to achieve a number of their 2030 Sustainable Development Goals …

Are Beach Boundaries Enforceable? Real-Time Locational Uncertainty And The Right To Exclude, Josh Eagle

Faculty Publications

Over the past few decades, landowners have tried to use the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments to fully privatize the upper, dry-sand part of the beach. If these efforts were to succeed, there would be a host of negative consequences, and not just for surfers. In most of the states in which beaches are economically important, including California, Florida, New Jersey and Texas, privatized dry sand would mean little to no public access at times when the public, wet-sand part of the beach is submerged, that is, in the hours immediately before and after high tides. Decreased beach use would …

Applying The Pennsylvania Environmental Rights Amendment Meaningfully To Climate Disruption, Robert B. Mckinstry Jr., John C. Dernbach

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The Pennsylvania Constitution contains a unique Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA), which recognizes an individual right to “clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.” The ERA also includes a public trust element that makes “Pennsylvania’s public natural resources . . . the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come.” It makes the Commonwealth the “trustee of these resources,” requiring it to “conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.” Recent decisions by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (the Court) in Robinson Township v. …

Game Of Tones: A Twail-Analysis Of The Evolution And Impacts Of The United Nations Framework Convention On Climate Change Technology Transfer Regime In Africa, Adebayo Majekolagbe

LLM Theses

The 1992 Rio Outcome articulates what is arguably, to date, the most ambitious North–South environmentally sound technology (EST) transfer aspirations. Yet, 26 years post-Rio, Africa remains at the lowest rung of the global EST deployment totem. Departing from talking-points like the connection of EST transfer and intellectual property rights, this research focuses on the normative underpinnings of the history, processes and dynamics of UNFCCC’s EST transfer regime. Using a ‘reconsidered’ Third World Approach to International Law approach and its accompanying historical research methodology, the thesis seeks to track landmarks in UNFCCC’s EST transfer regime evolution and the impacts of a …

Reframing The Sustainable Development Goals To Achieve Sustainability In The Anthropocene — A Systems Approach, Michelle Mei Ling Lim, Peter Sogaard Jorgensen, Carina Wyborn

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Griggs et al. (2013) redefine sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present while safeguarding Earth’s life-support system, on which the welfare of current and future generations depend.” We recommend this as the end goal that the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) should strive to achieve. Integration across the SDGs is less than what is required from a science perspective. Effective implementation of the SDGs will require States to attend to trade-offs and overlaps. We argue that continuous failure to address integration within the SDGs will jeopardize realization of this ultimate end goal. Therefore, we adopt …

Net Neutrality Powers Energy And Forestalls Climate Change, Catherine J.K. Sandoval

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

Drawing on my experience as a Commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) from January 2011 to January 2017, this Article explores the interdependence of the electricity sector and the open and neutral internet. Section II of this Article discusses the evolution of critical infrastructure laws and policies. Section III examines California’s energy loading order adopted in 2003 to increase energy reliability and protect the environment. Section IV analyzes the evolution of federal and state Smart Grid policies to infuse communications and information technologies including the internet into the energy ecosystem. Section V discusses FERC’s authorization of demand response−the …

Swamp Money: The Opportunity And Uncertainty Of Investing In Wetland Mitigation Banking, Elan L. Spanjer

Northwestern University Law Review

In recent years, the wetland mitigation banking program has emerged as a favored mechanism for protecting the nation’s aquatic resources while allowing for economically beneficial development projects to proceed. Mitigation banks generate wetland credits, which in turn can be sold at a profit to developers who need them to offset wetland impacts. The number of mitigation banks has grown significantly in recent years, and the market has seen an influx of institutional investment. However, investors face significant risks and uncertainty, and many prospective investors lack access to information about wetland credit prices—which are neither reported to the regulatory authorities nor …

The Geopolitical Implications Of The United States Of America's Withdrawal From The Paris Agreement, Christopher Mahoney

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The Trump Administration's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement has significant geopolitical implications, as it creates a leadership vacuum that China is poised to fill, potentially reshaping the global transition to renewable energy. While the U.S. federal government steps back from international climate efforts, non-federal actors like states and cities continue to advance climate initiatives. The withdrawal underscores the importance of domestic innovation in clean energy to counterbalance China's growing influence.

Private Governance Responses To Climate Change: The Case Of Global Civil Aviation, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Daniel J. Metzger

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article explores how private governance can reduce the climate effects of global civil aviation. The civil aviation sector is a major contributor to climate change, accounting for emissions comparable to a top ten emitting country. National and international governmental bodies have taken important steps to address civil aviation, but the measures adopted to date are widely acknowledged to be inadequate. Civil aviation poses particularly difficult challenges for government climate mitigation efforts. Many civil aviation firms operate globally, emissions often occur outside of national boundaries, nations differ on their respective responsibilities, and demand is growing rapidly. Although promising new technologies …

Environmental Protection Requires More Than Social Resilience, Michael P. Vandenbergh

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Achieving the green economy requires taking into account divisive politics and distributive justice.

Household And Block Level Influences On Residential Fertilizer Use, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Amanda Carrico, Urooj Raja, James C. Fraser

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Urban and suburban lawns make up a large share of land use in the US. Maintaining lawns to fulfill aesthetic norms has environmental consequences. In this analysis, we examine household decisions to apply nitrogen-containing lawn fertilizer. Using survey data of 298 households in Nashville, Tennessee, we first examine the prevalence of fertilizer use and the rate of annual nitrogen applied. We find that the resulting distribution is skewed, with the top 20% of the sample applying 56% of the total share of nitrogen. In contrast to this subset of “intensive” fertilizers, 93% of households applied at or below levels recommended …

Onsite Sewage Systems: Background, Framework, And Solutions, Jamie Huffman, Sarah Simonetti, R. Scott Herbert

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

A Broader Vision For Climate Policy: Lessons From California, Alice Kaswan

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

As the federal role in addressing climate change shrinks, state and local action is once again taking center stage. States are facing innumerable challenging policy questions about the best mechanisms for addressing climate and energy, and many are looking to California for inspiration. This article focuses on a particular and unique feature of California’s approach: the integration of social and environmental justice concerns into the state’s climate and energy policies. As decisionmakers grapple with the fundamental and existential shifts associated with a clean energy transition, California’s efforts to incorporate environmental justice—and the state’s broader social, economic, and environmental vision–provide important …

The Trump Effect On Power Plant Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Thomas O. Mcgarity

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article will probe the legal, technological and economic underpinnings the Trump Administration initiatives and the viewpoint that their initiatives will have little impact on CO2 emissions from power plants. Part II will highlight the Trump Administration’s views on the extent to which human activities are the leading contributing factor. Part III will describe the radical change in direction that that the Trump Administration is taking with respect to regulations designed to reduce GHG emissions from power plants. Part IV will offer predictions about the likely effect of the Trump Administration’s rollbacks on the electric power and coal industries, on …

Judicial Review In An Age Of Hyper-Polarization And Alternative Facts, David A. Dana, Michael Barsa

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article is organized as follows: Part I reviews the case law and commentary on judicial review of agency shifts in policy or practice, focusing on the technocratic case for deference and how recent political realities call such deference into question. Part II sets forth the background and history regarding fuel economy standards, leading to the Obama Administration’s adoption of standards in 2012 and the “midterm” review of those standards that Obama’s EPA declared final as of January 2017. Part II also reviews the legal issues surrounding Trump’s EPA’s “re-opening” of the midterm review. We suggest how courts could, and …

Hope On The Horizon For Offshore Wind Development? An Examination Of The Regulatory Framework Rhode Island Navigated To Make The Nation’S First Offshore Wind Farm A Reality, And The Implication For California’S Ability To Adopt A Similar Approach Under The Coastal Zone Management Act, Lauren Perkins

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

After establishing the reasons for why creating a more efficient permitting system is crucial, this Article examines the question of under what conditions BOEM, the lead agency in the offshore wind permitting process, delegates authority to a state so that it may permit a project in federal waters under the CZMA without running into federal preemptory roadblocks. This question is of utmost significance in California and Hawaii where projects utilizing floating turbine technology are proposed to be located in federal waters to take advantage of optimal wind gusts farther offshore. After examining the conditions favorable for federal delegation of the …