Environmental Law Commons^™

A Penny Saved Is A Penny Not Burned: Renewables, Efficiency, And Conservation As Alternative Means Of Reducing Energy Consumption, Thomas Currey

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Expanding The Watershed: Certainty And Sustainability In The Twenty-First Century, Michael L. Connor

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Hallett Decrees And Acequia Water Rights Administration On Rio Culebra In Colorado, Will Davidson, Julia Guarino

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Case For The Creation Of An International Environmental Court: Non-State Actors And International Environmental Dispute Resolution, Alessandra Lehman

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Colorado Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Review

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Comments On Proposed Revisions To Subpart J Of The 1994 National Contingency Plan, Meghan Gavin

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) provides the organizational structure and procedures for preparing for and responding to discharges of oil and releases of hazardous substances. Subpart J of the NCP governs the use of chemical agents to control oil discharges, setting forth the criteria for listing an agent on the Product Schedule—a list of the dispersants and other spill-mitigating substances that responders may use in carrying out the NCP. Dispersants are chemical agents that emulsify and disperse oil into the water column. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last amended Subpart J in September 1994. In …

Human Rights, Environmental Protection, And The Sustainable Development Goals, John H. Knox

Washington International Law Journal

In recent years, international human rights tribunals and other bodies have identified ways that environmental harm can interfere with the enjoyment of human rights, and have clarified that States have obligations to protect human rights against such interference. For example, States have duties to provide access to environmental information, to protect rights of free expression and association in relation to environmental issues, and to provide for participation in environmental decision-making. This article examines how well the draft Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”) proposed by the United Nations Open Working Group reflect the human rights obligations relating to environmental protection. It concludes …

Arctic Law & Policy Year In Review: 2014, Arctic Law & Policy Institute, University Of Washington

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

A categorized review of major developments, with background information and current events.

Comments On Proposed Revisions To Subpart J Of The 1994 National Contingency Plan, Meghan Gavin

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) provides the organizational structure and procedures for preparing for and responding to discharges of oil and releases of hazardous substances. Subpart J of the NCP governs the use of chemical agents to control oil discharges, setting forth the criteria for listing an agent on the Product Schedule—a list of the dispersants and other spill-mitigating substances that responders may use in carrying out the NCP. Dispersants are chemical agents that emulsify and disperse oil into the water column. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last amended Subpart J in September 1994. In …

Natural Resource Contracts As A Tool For Managing The Mining Sector, David Kienzler, Perrine Toledano, Sophie Thomashausen, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In this report commissioned by the Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), CCSI examined the different types of legal regimes governing mining projects in 18 countries to gain a better understanding of mining deals granted and negotiated under different minerals regimes. CCSI compared the provisions of 30 mining contracts from 13 countries, analyzed a selection of mining-related legislative texts from 18 countries, and surveyed the experiences of mining contract negotiations through dozens of interviews with experts, government officials, company representatives, and members of civil society organizations.

The report …

Wrong Direction On Climate, Trade And Development, Lisa E. Sachs, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In pushing for Trade Promotion Authority, the Obama administration argues that the agreements it is negotiating (including TPP and TTIP) are true 21st century agreements that correct the failings of past agreements and will promote trade and investment that can both re-launch America as the key economic player and promote broad-based sustainable development at home and abroad.

Energy In The Ecopolis, Sara C. Bronin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Climate change, resource scarcity, and environmental degradation demand a paradigm shift in urban development. Currently, too many of our cities exacerbate these problems: they pollute, consume, and process resources in ways that negatively impact our natural world. Cities of the future must make nature their model, instituting circular metabolic processes that mimic, embrace, and enhance nature. In other words, a city must be a regenerative city or, as some say, an “ecopolis.” So, how to get there—to ecopolis—from here? In this Comment, I propose a partial answer by focusing on certain legal frameworks that must be reenvisioned to enable the …

Promoting Sustainable Development Through Environmental Law: Prospects For Saudi Arabia, Faisal K. Alturki

Dissertations & Theses

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enjoys a rich cultural and natural heritage and has an advanced state of socio- economic development. It also suffers from a wide range of growing environmental problems such as securing its potable water supply, coping with solid and liquid waste, ensuring clean air or protecting the marine environment. It is the objective of sustainable development to ensure that further development in the Kingdom does not damage the public health of the people or the natural environment. The policies underlying sustainable development have developed internationally over the past four decades and are well explained in Agenda …

Lessons From Pollution Control: Response To Heller And Hobbs 2014, Robert L. Fischman, James Salzman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Heller and Hobbs (2014) provide an incisive analysis of the challenges inherent in setting endpoint states as conservation goals. The social construct of nature, nonequilibrium ecosystems, global climate change, large-scale transformations of the landscape, and increasing population and economic activity confound efforts to establish conservation goals. Stakeholders often disagree on endpoint targets, whereas competing notions of historic fidelity and future flexibility frustrate our ability to articulate success, never mind actually achieve it. As Heller and Hobbs describe, this leaves managers in the bind of finding the “balance between future-looking management emphasizing change and past-looking management emphasizing persistence.” As a result, …

The European Union's Potential Contribution To Enhanced Governance Of Offshore Oil And Gas Operations In The Arctic, Nengye Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article focuses on the potential contribution of the European Union (EU) to an enhanced legal regime for Arctic offshore oil and gas operations. It first briefly describes existing international law for the regulation of offshore oil and gas operations in the Arctic. The article then discusses the development of the EU's Arctic policy and the EU's competence to regulate Arctic offshore oil and gas activities. Subsequently, it analyses potential actions and initiatives that could be taken by the EU to promote high safety standards for offshore oil and gas operations in the Arctic.

Big Storms, Big Debt, And Biggery-Waters: Navigating Florida's Uncertain Flood Insurance Future, Loren M. Vasquez

Seattle Journal of Environmental Law

No abstract provided.

Can Sharks Be Saved? A Global Plan Of Action For Shark Conservation In The Regime Of The Convention On Migratory Species, James Kraska, Leo Chan Gaskins

Seattle Journal of Environmental Law

Shark populations throughout the world are at grave risk; some spe-cies have declined by 95 percent. The most recent IUCN (Interna-tional Union for the Conservation of Nature) assessment by the Shark Specialist Group (SSG) found that one-fourth of shark and ray spe-cies face the prospect of extinction. This article proposes an engage-ment plan to accelerate efforts by states and international organiza-tions to conserve and protect sharks worldwide. Sharks are found throughout all of the world’s oceans, and collec-tively they occupy an indispensable niche as apex predators at the top of the ocean trophic ecosystem. These fish function as an im-portant …

Instrument Choice, Carbon Emissions, And Information, Michael Wara

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

This Article examines the consequences of a previously unrecognized difference between pollutant cap-and-trade schemes and pollution taxes. Implementation of cap-and-trade relies on a forecast of future emissions, while implementation of a pollution tax does not. Realistic policy designs using either regulatory instrument almost always involve a phase-in over time to avoid economic disruption. Cap-and-trade accomplishes this phase-in via a limit on emissions that falls gradually below the forecast of future pollutant emissions. Emissions taxation accomplishes the same via a gradually increasing levy on pollution. Because of the administrative complexity of establishing an emissions trading market, cap-and-trade programs typically require between …

Too Many Cooks In The Climate Change Kitchen: The Case For An Administrative Remedy For Damages Caused By Increased Greenhouse Gas Concentrations, Benjamin Reese

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Recent federal and state court decisions have made clear that federal common law claims against emitters of greenhouse gases are not sustainable; however, those same courts seem to have given state common law tort claims the green light, at least if the claims are brought in the state where the polluters are located. This Note contends that such suits are not an adequate remedy for those injured by climate change because they will face nearly insurmountable barriers in state court, and because there are major policy-level drawbacks to relying on state tort law rather than a federal solution. This Note …

Cooperative Mineral Interest Development In The Lone Star State: It's Time To Mess With Texas, Matthew K. Trawick

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Since the early discoveries of the Spindletop, King Ranch, and East Texas oil fields, the oil and gas industry has dominated the Texas economy. The industry has also played an important role in shaping state politics and culture. The oil boom of the early 1900s created thousands of jobs for ordinary workers and immense wealth for a select few. Early Texas oil barons made headlines because of their lavish lifestyles and often extreme political beliefs. Legendary wildcatter H.L. Hunt typified this oil-fueled exuberance. Hunt became one of the eight richest individuals in the United States after securing mineral rights to …