Environmental Law Commons^™

America’S Forgotten Nuclear Waste Dump In The Pacific, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

During the Cold War the United States detonated sixty-seven nuclear weapons over the atolls of Bikini and Enewetak in the Marshall Islands. In the late 1970s the United States addressed the massive amount of residual contamination by abandoning Bikini as permanently uninhabitable and pushing much of the waste at Enewetak into the open lagoon. Much of the plutonium was dumped into the crater that had been left by an atomic bomb explosion, and then covered with a thin shell of cement. The resultant “Runit dome” sits unmarked and unguarded in a small island and one day will be submerged by …

What Can Be Done, If Anything, About The Dangerous Penchant Of Public Trust Scholars To Overextend Joseph Sax’S Original Conception: Have We Produced A Bridge Too Far?, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Article examines the tendency of many legal scholars to overextend the scope of a previous scholar’s original idea—in this case, Professor Joseph Sax’s reconceptualization of the largely moribund common law public trust doctrine. Legal scholars are induced to write immoderately either to enhance their standing within the academic community or, more selflessly, to achieve law reform. These expansionist tendencies, however, are not without risk—a common law doctrine that becomes too unmoored from its historical shackles may lose the support of the courts that is required for its implementation. The Article examines whether a combination of academic norms and hortatory …

Weed And Water Law: Regulating Legal Marijuana, Ryan Stoa

Faculty Publications

Marijuana is nearing the end of its prohibition in the United States. Arguably the country’s largest cash crop, marijuana is already legal for recreational use in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington DC. Between now and election day 2016, an additional 14 states may place marijuana legalization initiatives on their ballots. In addition, 23 states and Washington DC have legalized medical marijuana, with up to seven states pending legislation. The era of marijuana prohibition is rapidly coming to a close.

At the same time, traditional doctrines of water law are struggling to cope with the modern realities of water scarcity. …

V.6, 2015 Masthead

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Electric Utilities And Distributed Energy Resources - Opportunities And Challenges, Jeff Winmill

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article explores the key business and regulatory issues associated with utility investments in DERs, as well as important considerations for regulators seeking to strike the appropriate balance between DER services provided by third parties and DER services provided by utilities. Part I provides a brief overview of the electric utility industry, and the growth and impact of DERs in recent years. Part II analyzes two emergent distributed technologies––solar photovoltaics (PV) and distributed storage––as well as utility efforts to invest in these technologies. And Part III concludes with a discussion of two different regulatory models for addressing utility-ownership of DERs: …

"Green" Performance: The Future Of Performance-Based Executive Compensation?, Ben Schwefel

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

Although sustainability performance appears to be a logical extension of the traditional performance-based compensation model, the effect and result of such performance remains unclear and untested across the market. The adoption of broad-based sustainability performance measures may be dangerous because, often times, these measures are tailored to the corporation and may decrease total shareholder return in the short run. Regardless of whether or not the corporation decides to introduce these measures, their effect on total shareholder return and other corporate interests requires an individualized analysis.
Part II of this Comment discusses the current state of executive compensation, including the use …

Solar Energy, Utilities, And Fairness, Troy A. Rule

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article analyzes the primary fairness arguments that utilities are leveling against net metering programs and electricity rate designs as rooftop solar energy expands across the country. By categorizing and more thoroughly evaluating these arguments, this Article seeks to enhance the dialogue between utilities, legislators, state regulators, and the solar energy industry over how to best orchestrate the nation’s shift toward more sustainable electricity strategies.
Part II of this Article describes how net metering programs and other factors are spurring dramatic growth in distributed solar energy generation in the United States and how utilities are increasingly lobbying for policy changes …

Getting To Utility 2.0: Rebooting The Retail Electric Utility In The U.S., James M. Van Nostrand

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article examines the drivers for this perceived need to revisit the utility business model, focusing primarily on the declining cost of DG resources and the resilience benefits of DG resources in addressing the impact of future extreme weather events. Second, this article reviews the various “Utility 2.0” proceedings underway across the United States, and the common themes emerging from those proceedings. The third section of the Article discusses the possible approaches to a utility business model, based on experience in wholesale and retail electricity markets in the United States and Europe. Fourth, this Article will examine lessons learned regarding …

Who Speaks For The Fish? The Tragedy Of Europe's Common Fisheries Policy, Emily Self

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Common Fisheries Policy, enacted in 1983 as the European Union's primary overfishing regulation scheme, is widely regarded as a failure. Vast over exploitation in Europe's fisheries persists thirty years later, posing grave ecological consequences as well as economic devastation to Europe's fishing industry. In 2013, the EU overhauled the Common Fisheries Policy and enacted measures that oblige the EU and member states to support ecologically sustainable fishing practices, ban the harmful practice of discarding fish at sea, and give the member states more flexibility to tailor implementation to suit local conditions. While the 2013 reforms were momentous, those changes …

Fukushima's Shadow, Lincoln L. Davies, Alexis Jones

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The March 11, 2011 tragedy at the Fukushima Daiichi power station in Japan immediately etched its place in history as arguably the most noteworthy of the three nuclear energy disasters to date. This Article surveys the response to Fukushima both in Japan and worldwide. It observes that rather than stopping what many thought was a burgeoning "nuclear renaissance," the global policy reaction post-Fukushima was more varied. Using the examples of Germany, the United States, and China, the Article examines the three general approaches to nuclear energy that nations have followed since Fukushima: abandonment, status quo, and expansion. The Article then …

The Democratization Of Energy, Joseph P. Tomain

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The electricity industry is changing in dramatic ways. Most significantly, as demonstrated by the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan, the country is witnessing the merger of energy and environmental regulation. Historically, energy regulation was driven by the need to produce more power for economic growth. By contrast, environmental regulation attended to the pollution of the environment. Production of energy depends upon the use of natural resources, and throughout the fuel cycle from extraction and transportation to the burning and disposal of those resources, the environment is directly affected. Most dramatically, greenhouse gas emissions present climate change challenges. In order to …

Beyond Known Worlds: Climate Change Governance By Arbitral Tribunals?, Valentina Vadi

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Can economic development and the fight against climate change be integrated successfully? What role, if any, does international investment law play in global climate governance? Can foreign direct investments (FDI) be tools in the struggle against climate change? What types of claims have foreign investors brought with regard to climate change--related regulatory measures before investment treaty arbitral tribunals? This Article examines the specific question as to whether foreign direct investments can mitigate and/or aggravate climate change. The interplay between climate change and foreign direct investments is largely underexplored and in need of systematization. To map this nexus, this Article proceeds …

China’S Law And Practice As A Coastal State For The Prevention Of Vessel-Source Pollution, Nengye Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

China is a major maritime nation with 18,ooo km of mainland coastline.1 The marine environment is of fundamental importance for China's economic development and environmental protection. According to the National Report on Social and Economic Development, in 2010, China imported 239.31 million tonnes of crude oil and 36.88 million tonnes of refined oil.2 Approximately 95 percent of oil imports are carried by maritime transportation. This creates significant risk of marine pollution such as oil, oily wastes and invasive species from ballast wateL Globally, maritime transport is responsible for 12 percent of total marine pollution.3 The United Nations Convention on the …

Navigating A Pathway Toward Colorado's Water Future: A Review And Recommendations On Colorado's Draft Water Plan, Lawrence J. Macdonnell, Colorado Water Working Group

Books, Reports, and Studies

40 pages (includes color illustrations).

The Problem Of Shared Irresponsibility In International Climate Law, Daniel H. Cole

Articles by Maurer Faculty

States have treaty-based and customary international law-based responsibilities to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions emanating from their territory do not cause transboundary harm. However, those international legal responsibilities conflict with the observed behavior of states, which suggests a general rule of irresponsible treatment of the global commons. This paper, written for a conference (and eventual book) on shared responsibility in international law, examines that conflict and two potential mechanisms for resolving it: (1) international litigation and (2) various types of polycentric approaches to climate governance.

Several international legal scholars have been advocating litigation as a means of compensating victims and …

Creating Order Amidst Food Eco-Label Chaos, Jason J. Czarnezki

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Eco-labels, certifications, and seals of approval serve a variety of functions including communicating to businesses and consumers the environmental attributes of a particular product and incentivizing improvements in production. Eco-labels also provide a basis for companies to set measurable sustainability goals for sourcing, improvements, and transparency. As they gain greater traction in the marketplace, however, there has been a massive proliferation of labels, certifications, and green seals of approval. This has led to consumer confusion, inaccurate and misleading claims, and inconsistent standards. A 2009 survey identified about 600 labels that denote some definition of “environmentally friendly” worldwide, including more than …

Adapting Conservation Easements To Climate Change, Adena R. Rissman, Jessica Owley, M. Rebecca Shaw, Barton (Buzz) Thompson

Articles

No abstract provided.

A Three-Legged Stool On Two Legs: Recent Federal Law Related To Local Climate Resilience Planning And Zoning, Sarah Adams-Schoen, Edward Thomas

Scholarly Works

Notwithstanding a critical gap between climate change related risks and preparedness in the United States, congress has yet to pass any federal law expressly addressing climate change hazard mitigation (or any other aspect of climate change) and appears unlikely to do so anytime soon. Despite this, the first half of 2015 has seen a number of actions in the other two branches of the federal government with significant implications for local hazard mitigation planning, zoning, and development. Of particular note, and as discussed in more detail below, the President issued an Executive Order and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) …

Billy Joel: The Chronicler Of The Suburbanization In New York, Patricia E. Salkin, Irene Crisci

Touro Law Review

Artists often chronicle historical developments through their chosen medium. In the case of Billy Joel, some of his lyrics can be traced to the early sustainability movements as he wrote about the migration of people from the cities and the attendant problems with rapid suburbanization. Described by Tony Bennett as “a poet, a performer, a philosopher and today’s American songbook,” his lyrics address, among other topics, land use, community development, and environmental issues. Following World War II, there was a major shift in population settlement patterns in the United States. As war heroes returned home, not only did the country …

Eco-Environmental Risk Management, Jonathan B. Wiener

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.