Environmental Law Commons^™

Call To The Texas Legislature: The Franchise Tax Needs Substansive Changes, Not Just Rate Reductions., Alyson Outenreath

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Alito's Voice: Koontz And The End Of Justice Steven's Private Private Property Regulation Policy, Colin W. Maguire

Cleveland State Law Review

This article talks about the substantial distinction between a physical government invasion and a coercive request for funds, if the government action fails under Nollan and Dolan. Clearly, there is a newly recognized risk to water resource regulators who try to stop development in areas which are considered wetlands.

Please Turn Your Lights Off, The Turtles Are Nesting: Ensuring That Federal, State, And Local Laws Help Guide Endangered Marine Turtle Hatchlings In Florida To The Right Source Of Light, Cameryn Justice Rivera

St. Thomas Law Review

Part I of this paper provides background information on sea turtle behavioral patterns in nesting and hatching, while also highlighting the problems of disorientation and nesting deterrence. Part II examines federal and state laws that authorize and delegate sea turtle oversight protections, administer legal and practical protection, and attempt to enforce the laws to prevent sea turtle disturbances or deaths. Part III discusses local ordinance regulations on artificial lighting and comments on the Model Lighting Ordinance in Florida. Part IV analyzes sea turtle law coordination and conservation at the federal, state law, and local ordinance level, while commenting on a …

The Clean Power Plan: An Introduction To Cooperative Federalism In Energy Regulation, Tina Calilung

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Using A Community-Based Strategy To Address The Impacts Of Globalization On Underwater Cultural Heritage Management In The Dominican Republic, Lydia Barbash-Riley

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This Note addresses the management of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) in the Dominican Republic as a case study of the effects of two aspects of globalization on cultural and environmental resource management in the developing world: the international convergence of values and the horizontal delegation of state power to private actors due to economic constraints. This Note posits that even as the global community of states moves toward a consensus on the ethical management of the UCH, this convergence combined with the global trend of horizontal delegation may incentivize some lesser-developed countries to deal with the economic pressures of …

Energy Consumption Data: The Key To Improved Energy Efficiency, Alexandra B. Klass, Elizabeth J. Wilson

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article explores recent efforts that federal, state, and local governments have taken to create regulatory frameworks to collect energy consumption data and make it available to consumers and, in some cases, to the public. Part II explains the nature of energy consumption data, the problems with not having such data readily available to consumers and policymakers, and the benefits associated with making it available to a wider range of potential users. Part III explores developing federal, state, and local policies governing energy consumption data, including how policymakers have attempted to address some of the privacy and other concerns associated …

Correlations Between Childhood Obesity And Obesogenic Environmental Variables Within Durham County, North Carolina, Eureka Capri Daye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The application of geographic information systems was used to map obesogenic conditions by zip code tabulation areas in Durham County, North Carolina and evaluated associations between those conditions and the understudied area of early childhood obesity. Of the thirty one percent of the children in Durham County, North Carolina who were considered obese in 2010, four hundred and thirty three (1:5) 2 - 4 year old children who received supplemental nutrition services for women, infants and children were obese with BMI levels greater or equal to the 95th percentile and were used as the criterion variable in the study (N=433). …

The Integration Of Environmental Law Into International Investment Treaties And Trade Agreements: Negotiation Process And The Legalization Of Commitments, Madison Condon

Faculty Scholarship

There were seventeen international investment agreements (“IIAs”) signed around the world in 2012, and each one of them contained some provision relating to the protection of the environment. In comparison, no investment treaty signed before 1985, and fewer than ten percent of treaties signed between 1985 and 2001, contained any reference to the environment at all. Environmental language has become increasingly common in bilateral investment treaties (“BITs”), and to an even greater degree in other IIAs, such as free trade agreements (“FTAs”). The legal implications of the integration of environmental law and norms into investment law treaties have yet to …

The Political Economy Of Environmental Justice: A Comparative Study Of New Delhi And Los Angeles, Ratik Asokan

CMC Senior Theses

Though mainstream environmentalism, both in the U.S. and India, was initially rooted in social justice, it has, over time, moved away from this focus. The Environmental Justice Movement consequently arose to reunite social and environmental activism. In this thesis, I trace the historical relationship between the mainstream environmentalism, the Environmental Justice Movement, and marginalized communities. After providing this general overview, I examine two case studies – in Los Angeles and New Delhi respectively – where marginalized communities have been involved in Environmental Justice activities. My analysis reveals that marginalized communities often act in an ‘environmentalist’ or ‘environmentally friendly’ manner, without …

The Past, Present, And Future Of Canadian Environmental Law: A Critical Dialogue, Jason Maclean, Meinhard Doelle, Chris Tollefson

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In the critical dialogue that follows, Jason MacLean, an assistant professor at the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University whose research focuses on environmental law, explores some of the most salient aspects of the past, present, and future of Canadian environmental law with two of Canada’s leading environmental scholars and practitioners: Meinhard Doelle, professor of law and associate dean of research at the Schulich School of Law and director of the Marine & Environmental Law Institute at Dalhousie University; and Chris Tollefson, professor and Hakai Chair in Environmental Law and Sustainability and executive director of the Environmental Law …

Putting The Train Of Environmental Protection On Track: Nova Scotia's Experiment In Using Legislation To Strengthen Environmental Law, Meinhard Doelle, William Lahey

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This paper explores the role that legislation can play in addressing the governance obstacles to the enactment and implementation of effective environmental laws. It uses the experience of Nova Scotia under the Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act, 2007, to suggest that legislation that codifies an integrated program of goals for improved environmental governance can help to ensure that governments follow through on their environmental policy commitments, including those promising integration of environmental policy priorities into other areas of governmental activity.

The Role Of Strategic Environmental Assessments In Improving The Governance Of Emerging New Industries: A Case Study Of Wind Developments In Nova Scotia, Meinhard Doelle, Rebecca Critchley

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article explores the potential for strategic environmental assessments to enhance project decisions. It does so by taking a retrospective look at Wind energy project decisions in Nova Scotia in the past 15 years, decisions that have been made in the absence of a strategic environmental assessment. The study considers both individual project approvals and two contrasting municipal responses to the emergence of the industry.

The aim of the retrospective is to identify the key challenges this industry faced in establishing itself in Nova Scotia. The article then considers to what extent the challenges could have been avoided through the …

The Role Of Strategic Environmental Assessments (Seas) In Energy Governance: A Case Study Of Tidal Energy In Nova Scotia's Bay Of Fundy, Meinhard Doelle

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The article considers the role of strategic environmental assessments in improving decision making by government decision makers faced with the arrival of a new industry to its jurisdiction. It uses using the arrival of the in stream tidal energy industry in Nova Scotia as a case study. The article first considers the existing federal and provincial regulatory context for decisions about whether, where and under what conditions to approve tidal energy projects in the Bay of Fundy region. It then provides an overview of a strategic environmental assessment carried out on behalf of the province of Nova Scotia in 2007/2008, …

Offshore Renewable Energy Governance In Nova Scotia: A Case Study Of Tidal Energy In The Bay Of Fundy, Meinhard Doelle

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article considers the governance approach (including the legislative context, the regulatory system and relevant policy context) to offshore renewable energy developments in Nova Scotia, with a focus on tidal energy in the Bay of Fundy. It explores applicable regulatory processes at the federal and provincial levels as well as the contribution of strategic environmental assessments carried out in 2008 and updated in 2013. The article assesses the ability of the current governance approach to encourage integrated decision making that considers environmental, social and economic factors, such as various environmental impacts and benefits, energy security, economic development opportunities, interaction with …

Prosecutorial Discretion And Environmental Crime, David M. Uhlmann

Articles

In January 1991, just four weeks after joining the Justice Department’sEnvironmental Crimes Section as an entry-level attorney, I traveled to NewOrleans to attend an environmental enforcement conference. The conferencewas attended by hundreds of criminal prosecutors and civil attorneys from theJustice Department, as well as enforcement officials from the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (“EPA”). It was a propitious time for environmental protec-tion efforts in the United States. Less than two months earlier, President GeorgeH. W. Bush had signed the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, culminating aremarkable twenty-year period that created the modern environmental law sys-tem in the United States. My new office, …

Following New Lights: Critical Legal Research Strategies As A Spark For Law Reform In Appalachia, Nicholas F. Stump

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

The nascent “critical legal research” movement applies the constellation of critical theory to the American legal research regime. Work in this discourse has unpacked the means through which commercial print and online legal resources (e.g., Westlaw and Lexis) insidiously channel the efforts of legal researchers, essentially predetermining research outcomes. Although legal research is commonly conceived as a normatively neutral paradigm, such commercial homogenizing agents (paired with traditional methods of legal analysis) in fact reflect and perpetuate society’s dominant interests. As grounded in the existing literature, this Article outlines novel strategies that may together constitute one potential version of a critically …

The Woes Of Roe: The Future Of Women's Reproductive Health In 2015, Victoria Dempsey

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

The Responsible Investor’S Guide To Climate Change, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Around the world, institutional investors – including pension funds, insurance companies, philanthropic endowments, and universities – are grappling with the question of whether to divest from oil, gas, and coal companies. The reason, of course, is climate change: unless fossil-fuel consumption is cut sharply – and phased out entirely by around 2070, in favor of zero-carbon energy such as solar power – the world will suffer unacceptable risks from human-induced global warming. How should responsible investors behave in the face of these unprecedented risks?

Memo To The Obama Administration On The U.S. National Action Plan On Responsible Business Conduct, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In January 2015, CCSI sent a memo to President Obama to provide input on the U.S. National Action Plan on responsible business conduct. The memo applauded the U.S. Government’s decision to develop a National Action Plan consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, noting that responsible and rights-respecting outward investment can support sustainable development in host countries, and that the U.S. Government has an important role to play in promoting responsible business operations. The memo urged the government to explore in particular how the National Action Plan can address …

The Commander In Chief's Authority To Combat Climate Change, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

This Article first outlines the myriad national security threats posed by a changing climate, addressing the President’s and Congress’s powers to plan, study, and invest in climate-resilient infrastructure at military installations that are vulnerable to a rise in sea levels. Second, this Article asserts that climate change will stress and test persistent separation of powers concerns at home and abroad. Specifically, the President has less authority to protect military infrastructure domestically in the face of congressional intransigence, but has comparably greater authority as Commander in Chief to respond to climate-induced events abroad. Third, this Article argues that the threat of …