Environmental Law Commons^™

A Landscape Of Thermal Inequity: Social Vulnerability To Urban Heat In U.S. Cities, Bruce Coffyn Mitchell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A combination of the urban heat island effect and a rising temperature baseline resulting from global climate change inequitably impacts socially vulnerable populations residing in urban areas. This dissertation examines distributional inequity of exposure to urban heat by socially disadvantaged groups and minorities in the context of climate justice. Using Cutter’s hazards-of-place model, variables indicative of social vulnerability and biophysical vulnerability are statistically tested for their associations. Biophysical vulnerability is conceptualized utilizing a urban heat risk index calculated from summer 2010 LANDSAT imagery to measure land surface temperature , structural density through the normalized difference built-up index, and vegetation abundance …

Is The "Act Of God" Dead?, Clifford J. Villa

Faculty Scholarship

In more than twenty years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before joining the legal academy, I saw many communities affected by fires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. However, I never saw a case where the act of God defense prevailed against environmental liability. Confirming this personal experience, I later learned that the number of reported cases where the act of God defense had prevailed against environmental liability, under all statutes and all federal circuits, was also exactly zero.

This raises two obvious questions: (1) why does the act of God defense so often fail? and (2) …

#Betterrules: The Appropriate Use Of Social Media In Rulemaking, Stephen M. Johnson

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Internationalization Of Climate Damages Litigation, Michael Byers, Kelsey Franks, Andrew Gage

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The annual global costs of climate change in 2010 were estimated at nearly $700 billion. As the costs continue to escalate, discussion is necessarily shifting to who should pay for mitigation and adaption. Many scholars argue that policy considerations and principles of tort law support holding greenhouse gas producers responsible for the costs of climate change. However, legal claims against greenhouse gas producers in the United States have thus far proven unsuccessful. This Article explores two previously overlooked potentialities that could significantly and rapidly alter the landscape for climate change litigation: (1) the emergence of transnational climate change litigation coupled …

Is The "Act Of God" Dead?, Clifford J. Villa

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

In more than twenty years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before joining the legal academy, I saw many communities affected by fires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. However, I never saw a case where the act of God defense prevailed against environmental liability. Confirming this personal experience, I later learned that the number of reported cases where the act of God defense had prevailed against environmental liability, under all statutes and all federal circuits, was also exactly zero. This raises two obvious questions: (1) why does the act of God defense so often fail? and (2) …

Aldo Leopold, Estella Bergere, Mia Casita And Sheepherding In New Mexico And Colorado, Andrew Gulliford

Natural Resources Journal

Personal and regional history of Peggy Bergon, Aldo Leopold, and sheepherding.

Foundations For Sustainable Development: Harmonizing Islam, Nature And Law, Norah Bin Hamad

Dissertations & Theses

Human society is weakening Earth’s environment, its only home. In 2015, nations agreed on a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide restoring and sustaining the wellbeing of peoples everywhere. If the SDGs are to succeed, all cultural and religious communities will need to urgently implement them. Islam offers a holistic view of God’s creation and the Qur’an clearly sets forth duties to care for the Earth. In the past, most people have ignored the world-wide trends of environmental degradation which scientist have reported. There is a pressing need to expand education and public awareness about the threats …

Environmental Law, Travis M. Trimble

Mercer Law Review

In 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit addressed, for the second time, whether the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) acted arbitrarily when it issued Nationwide Permit 21 (NWP 21), which authorizes dredge and fill activities by surface mining operations and applies differing standards to grandfathered operations and new operations. The court held that the Corps did not, and it upheld the permit. Also, the Eleventh Circuit held that the National Park Service did not act improperly under the Wilderness Act when it reduced the number of acres it considered to be eligible for designation as …

Campur Tangan Pemerintah Dalam Pengelolaan Lingkungan: Sebuah Penelusuran Teoretis Berdasarkan Analisis Ekonomi Atas Hukum (Economic Analysis Of Law), Muhammad Andri Gunawan Wibisana

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Government intervention in environmental management can be considered to fall within CAC instruments. Despite the instruments are the most familiar and practiced, they are criticized since the CAC approach requires too much government intervention. This article observes that government intervention can be justified as an effort to correct market failures. The article also finds that intervention is warranted for some distributive reasons. However, the article also observes possibility that an intervention occurs due to regulatory capture by interest groups, to serve the interest of bureaucrats, or to function as a tollbooth. Indonesian environmental law shows that these CAC instruments still …

Circling The Drain: Regulating Nutrient Pollution From Agricultural Sources, William Gutermuth

Journal of Law and Health

The 2014 Toledo, Ohio tap water ban has, at least temporarily, put a spotlight on United States water supplies. Consequently, many Americans have begun to take a closer look at the quality of the fresh water bodies being used to supply tap water to their homes. Therefore, this Note analyzes the problems currently threatening the lakes, rivers, and other surface waters that are the source of fresh drinking water for huge populations in the United States. Part II examines the problem of nutrient pollution and explains the harmful effects it has on human health. Part III provides an overview of …

Rules And Values In Virtual Optimization Of California Hydropower, Sonya F. P. Ziaja

Natural Resources Journal

Optimization models for California’s hydropower system are designed to be decision-support tools and aids for climate adaptation decision-making. In practice, they fall short of this goal. One potential explanation is that optimization models are not more successful because they are built on, and depend on, a misrepresentation of law and politics. The legal reality of California’s hydropower system is a web of networked jurisdictions of multiple federal and state agencies, with varying levels of coordination, long periods of legally obligated stability with rigid rules, and prone to conflict, but with multiple procedures for conflict resolution. Barriers to climate adaptation from …

Introduction, Natural Resources Vii Journal

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Hydropower Development In India: The Legal-Economic Design To Fuelgrowth?, Surabhi Karambelkar

Natural Resources Journal

Economic liberalization beginning in the early 1990s has represented a paradigm shift in policy discourse in India, from social welfare to economic growth. With its potential benefits of generating power for the growing economy and significant revenue through electricity sales and royalty payments, hydropower development has received center-stage in the hydrorich but economically weaker Himalayan states of India. Using an institutional approach to examine the evolution of laws and policies on electricity, land, environment, and water, this article seeks to uncover how prevailing legal and economic systems prioritize hydropower generation over other water uses. It argues that federal and state …

Liability And Compensation For Oil Spill Accidents: International Regime And Its Implementation In China, Yuan Yang

Natural Resources Journal

Marine oil spill accidents have long been caused by ship collisions. However, the proliferation of offshore oil and gas installations portends a marked increase in oil spills from these sources. This presents a unique enforcement challenge for international and Chinese domestic systems for oil pollution liability and compensation that were developed in response to the threat of ship-based oil pollution. This article focuses on how the international liability and compensation regime for oil pollution has been implemented in China, and whether a combination of the international regime and domestic Chinese regulations could provide an adequate mechanism for holding offshore oil …

Nasty Weather And Ugly Produce: Climate Change, Agricultural Adaptation, And Food Waste, Richard Moore

Natural Resources Journal

Food systems worldwide are threatened by climate change, as reflected, for example, in the diminished yields of fruits and vegetables and reduced production of global fisheries. This article discusses the threats of climate change on agricultural production and the need for agricultural adaptation. It posits that food insecurity must be considered in terms of climate change and its likely effects on food production. The article argues that agricultural mitigation and adaptation measures should must be pursued and communicated through the mechanisms of the Paris Agreement. In the United States, reducing food waste effectuated by the regulation on the culling of …

Liquid Power: Contested Hydro-Modernities In Twentieth-Century Spain By Erikswyngedouw, John Morseau

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Natural Resources I. Journal

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

The Domestic Well Exemption In The West: A Case Study Of Santa Fe’S Municipal Ordinance, Maxine N. Paul

Natural Resources Journal

In the case of Bounds v. State of New Mexico, the New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a statute that allows domestic wells to be permitted with less oversight than other water rights. The statute, known as the domestic well exemption, is common in various forms throughout the Western United States. Currently, there are an estimated 200,000 permitted domestic wells across the State of New Mexico, increasing at a rate of approximately 5,000 per year. Various scholars have argued for amendments to domestic well statutes or local regulations to make exempt well applications as rigorous as other water …

Fighting For Environmental Justice: The Life And Work Of Professor Eileen Gauna, Clifford J. Villa

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Improving Native American Tribes’ Voice In International Climate Change Negotiations, Jin Hyung Lee

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.