Environmental Law Commons^™

Exploring German And American Modes Of Pedagogical And Institutional Sustainability: Forging A Way Into The Future, Lindon N. Pronto

Pitzer Senior Theses

Rooted deep in Germany's past is its modern socio-political grounding for environmental respect and sustainability. This translates into individual and collective action and extends equally to the economic and policy realm as it does to educational institutions. This thesis evaluates research conducted in Germany with a view to what best approaches are transferable to the United States liberal arts setting. Furthermore, exemplary American models of institutional sustainability and environmental education are explored and combined with those from abroad to produce a blueprint and action plan fitting for the American college and university.

New Mexico Ex Rel. State Engineer V. Aamodt, No. 66cv6639 (D.N.M.), New Mexico State Engineer

Publications

No abstract provided.

Alone On A Wide Wide Sea: A National Security Rationale For Joining The Law Of The Sea Convention, James W. Houck

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

In the face of twenty-first century challenges to military maritime mobility, the question persists as to whether customary international law will remain a reliable foundation for U.S. maritime security interests in the future. To date, the U.S. has successfully conducted military operations sanctioned by the customary high seas freedoms of free navigation and overflight. However, with technological advances and heightened environmental and defense concerns, countries with coastal state interests may demand greater control over their near-shore waters, requiring the U.S. to reconsider its position outside the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This article addresses pertinent …

Book Review: Fuel Cycle To Nowhere: U.S. Law And Policy On Nuclear Waste, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Nuclear power remains controversial on many levels. On the up side, the lifecycle emissions for nuclear power are second lowest only to wind in comparison to all other primary sources of electricity generation. Nuclear power compares favorably against coal-generated electricity on additional fronts including fewer transportation impacts and before Fukushima, historically lower radiation releases than coal. Its land footprint per kilowatt hour is the smallest for any generation source, including renewables. Last, but not least, the United States has significant domestic reserves of uranium to fuel the plants. On the down side, the civilian nuclear power industry is not competitive …

Environmental Law At Maryland, No. 33, Spring/Summer 2012

Environmental Law at Maryland

No abstract provided.

Fracturing Regulation Applied, Hannah J. Wiseman

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Environmental And Energy Law Perspectives: Spring 2012, Environmental And Energy Law Program

Environmental and Energy Law Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Environmental Judicial Interpretation And Agency Review: An Empirical Investigation Of Judicial Decision-Making In The Clean Water Act And The Clean Air Act, John A. Sautter, Levente Littvay

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

Political ideology has long been associated with the manner in which judges make judicial decisions. Extensive empirical research has established the link between a judge s political ideology and how they rule on cases. However, little research has been conducted specifically in environmental law. Indeed, what research is available looks at environmental law in general and has not asked any questions concerning how political ideology might affect decision-making concerning specific environmental statutes. This article seeks to partially fill this void by looking specifically at how political ideology affects whether judges affirm or reverse agency action with respect to the Clean …

The Erosion Of Federal Common Law: Anticipatory Delegation In American Electric Power Company V. Connecticut, Paul Winters

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

Eleven plaintiffs brought a common law action, seeking injunctive relief against the six largest American producers of greenhouse gases. Because the EPA had not yet promulgated regulations governing the production of greenhouse gases, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that federal law had not displaced plaintiffs ' common law claim. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that even though regulations had not been promulgated, EPA occupied the field nevertheless. The decision marks an extension of the regulatory displacement of federal common law to regulations that are merely anticipated Such extension, or "anticipatory delegation, " represents an unacceptably large incursion into …

Tradable Standards For Clean Air Act Carbon Policy, Nathan D. Richardson, Dallas Butraw, Arthur G. Fraas

Faculty Publications

EPA is in the process of regulating U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using its powers under the Clean Air Act. The likely next phase of this regulatory program is performance standards under Section 111 of the act for coal plants and petroleum refineries, which the agency has committed to finalize by the end of 2012. Section 111 appears to allow use of flexible, market-based regulatory tools. In this paper, we discuss one such tool, tradable standards. Tradable standards appear to be a legally and politically viable choice for the agency, and evidence suggests they are substantially more cost-effective than traditional …

Private Policing Of Environmental Performance: Does It Further Public Goals?, Sarah L. Stafford

Faculty Publications

Over the past two decades the role of private parties in the policing of environmental regulation has grown dramatically. In some cases the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has led this effort. In other situations, private parties have provided the impetus for new policing activities that are conducted independently from the EPA. Private policing can be beneficial when the increased involvement of the private sector either decreases the costs of achieving a particular level of environmental performance or increases environmental performance in a cost-effective manner. Private parties, however, could also divert regulated entities away from regulatory objectives. This Article explores the …

Climate Change And The Roles Of Land Use And Energy Law: An Introduction, David Markell

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

The Environmental And Social Injustice Of Farmworker Pesticide Exposure, Joan D. Flocks

UF Law Faculty Publications

Farmworkers in the United States are recognized as an environmental justice community. The farmworker population is low-income and primarily Hispanic, and is at a disproportionate risk from exposure to an environmental contaminant pesticides. Farmworkers face distributional, procedural, corrective, and social challenges with this exposure, as is common with other environmental justice communities. Social challenges include socioeconomic and political inequities that are grounded in the historical domination of the agricultural industry over its labor force. The production and use of pesticides is a function of the economic priorities of industry. Employers profit from pesticide use and are able to maximize their …

An Inconvenient Lie: Big Tobacco Was Put On Trial For Denying The Effects Of Smoking; Is Climate Change Denial Off-Limits?, Elizabeth Dubats

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Plaintiffs have made several notable attempts to bring nuisance, trespass, and negligence suits against major sources of greenhouse gas emissions for climate change related injuries. While climate change is a widely recognized environmental issue, courts have refused to recognize it as a basis for a valid cause of action in tort, finding either petitioners lack standing to bring the claim, or that the claim raises political questions that should not be addressed by the judiciary. Some more recent climate change tort claims have also included allegations of fraud on the part of the hydrocarbon industry for actively perpetuating misinformation about …

Climate Change: Human Rights In The Times Of Climate Displacement, Shakeel Kazmi

Dissertations & Theses

The increasing numbers of climate migrants caution that the dilemma of climate refugees is a well-substantiated concern of today not tomorrow. In 2011 large-scale flooding and landslides affected more than one million people in the Philippines. More than twenty million people were displaced after massive floods in Pakistan in 2010. A significant number of future projections show that climate change will lead tens, and perhaps hundreds, of millions of people to leave their homes and in some cases their countries. The crisis of human displacement, which entails immediate actions, raised the questions of legal and moral obligations to protect the …

Changing Venue Of International Governance And Finance: Exercising Legal Control Over The $100 Billion Per Year Climate Fund?, Steven Ferrey

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

Developed countries have committed to the largest sustained international transfer of wealth in history: an additional $100 billion per year of foreign assistance continuing in perpetuity under the Copenhagen Accord to deal with global warming in developing countries. A legal microscope has been focused by various international parties to scrutinize these funds. These trillions of dollars of international finance must be applied correctly, or the entire globe warms, and humanity suffers.

Developing countries demand that these funds be administered through new organizations with control by recipient, rather than donor, nations, with fewer administrative requirements and monitoring of recipient expenditure decisions. …

Ripening On The Vine: North Carolina's Renewable Energy And Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard Should Be Left Unchanged Ahead Of 2012 Compliance Deadline, Robert W. Kaylor, Patrick T. Buffkin

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting Pennsylvania’S Three Rivers’ Water Resources From Shale Gas Development Impacts, Jennifer Hayes

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Revisiting The Impact Of Judicial Review On Agency Rulemakings: An Empirical Investigation, Wendy Wagner

William & Mary Law Review

It is generally believed that the judicial review of agency rulemakings helps protect the public interest against industry capture. Yet very little empirical research has been done to assess the accuracy of this conventional wisdom. This Study examines the entire set of air toxic emission regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with particular attention to those rules appealed to judgment in the court of appeals, and discovers significant disconnects between popular understanding of judicial review and rulemaking reality. Of these air toxic rules (N=90), the courts were summoned to review only a small fraction (8%), despite evidence that …

Environmental And Social Implications Of Hydraulic Fracturing And Gas Drilling In The United States: An Integrative Workshop For The Evaluation Of The State Of Science And Policy, Workshop Report

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.