Environmental Law Commons^™

Ethical Issues Associated With Multidisciplinary Practices In Texas., Michael Kelly

St. Mary's Law Journal

In 2000, the American Bar Association House of Delegates voted to uphold the ban on multidisciplinary practices (MDPs) set out in Rule 5.4 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (Model Rules). In 2009, the ABA announced the creation of the Ethics 20/20 Commission to review the Model Rules in the context of globalization. The Commission announced it was looking into alternative business structures, including MDPs. In an MDP a client can seek the advice of several professionals with experience in different disciplines working in a single business. Under Rule 5.4, a lawyer is prohibited from sharing legal fees with …

Kawalan Perundangan Terhadap Pencemaran Air Oleh Jabatan Alam Sekitar Negeri Selangor : Satu Analisis Menurut Perpsektif Perundangan Islam., Mohd Istajib Mokhtar

Student Works (2010-2019)

The research deeply explores the Islamic legal approaches in water quality control and pollution prevention. In Malaysia, environmental pollution issues such as water pollution are not enacted under the Syariah jurisdiction but Civil. This research elaborates the approaches and measures that have been applied and practiced by the Department of Environment, the State of Selangor towards controlling and preventing water pollution. All data were collected mainly through library research methodologies, institutional documentations and interviews. In order to achieve the research objectives, priority was given to comparative analysis approaches to examine similarities, differences and to determine whether the water pollution control …

A Green Road To Development: Environmental Regulations And Developing Countries In The Wto, Jonathan Skinner

Publications

The WTO framework can accommodate enforceable environmentally protective measures.

Climate Change, Fragmentation, And The Challenges Of Global Environmental Law: Elements Of A Post-Copenhagen Assemblage, William Boyd

Publications

The 2009 United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen has been widely viewed as a failure -a referendum in the eyes of many on the top-down, comprehensive approach to climate governance embodied in the Kyoto Protocol and carried forward in efforts to negotiate a successor regime. Despite a modest agreement on future work toward a new agreement, the most recent climate meeting in Cancún, Mexico reinforces this view, underscoring the conclusion that Copenhagen represents an important inflection point for international climate policy. Although much of the post-Copenhagen commentary has correctly identified various problems, even fatal flaws, with the process, very little …

State Responsibility In Promoting Environmental Corporate Accountability, Lakshman Guruswamy

Publications

No abstract provided.

Nudge, Choice Architecture, And Libertarian Paternalism, Pierre Schlag

Publications

In Nudge, Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler describe how public and private institutions can improve on individual choices by nudging individuals into making selections that are right for them. Rejecting the Econ-101 caricature of the rational utility maximizer as inaccurate, Sunstein and Thaler apply the insights of behavioral economics to show how institutions can improve the delivery of services. Moving beyond attempts to remedy individual cognitive errors, Sunstein and Thaler also argue for "libertarian paternalism" - which they herald as the "Third Way." This Review assesses their claims critically, finding their development of "nudge" and "choice architecture" to be …

Defining The Challenge In Implementing Climate Change Policy, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

When Jonathan Cannon, Michael Vandenbergh, and I started planning this conference last summer, we planned to call it “Implementing Climate Change Legislation.” We assumed that by today a new law aimed at addressing climate change would be in place, or at least would be in the final polishing stage, in the United States. We even imagined that the federal agencies would be rolling up their sleeves to implement not only the new U.S. climate law but also our part of the comprehensive climate pact that the nations of the world had agreed to in Copenhagen.

Public Nuisance Suits For The Climate Justice Movement: The Right Thing And The Right Time, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

The climate justice movement seeks to provide relief to vulnerable communities that have been disproportionately affected by climate change impacts. Public nuisance litigation for climate change impacts is a new and growing field that could provide the legal and policy underpinnings to help secure a viable foundation for climate justice in the United States and internationally. By securing victories in the court system, these suits may succeed where the domestic environmental justice movement failed in seeking to merge environmental protection and human rights concerns into an actionable legal theory. This Article first examines the nature and scope of the climate …

A Green Solution To Climate Change: The Hybrid Approach To Crediting Reductions In Tropical Deforestation, Randall S. Abate, Todd A. Wright

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

Redd, White, And Blue: Is Proposed U.S. Climate Legislation Adequate To Promote A Global Carbon Credits System For Avoided Deforestation In A Post-Kyoto Regime?, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) has emerged as an important albeit controversial, component of negotiations for a new international climate change regime to succeed the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012 Not permitted under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, REDD involves paying developing countries to protect their tropical forests as a climate change mitigation strategy REDD gained widespread attention by 2005 and took center stage in the months preceding the negotiation of the Copenhagen Accord in December 2009. After more than a decade of nonparticipation in international climate change compliance efforts, the United States has signed …

Correcting Mismatched Authorities: Erecting A New "Water Federalism", Robert Abrams

Journal Publications

Conflicts over water allocation have, become a national topic, rather than a regional one confined to the West. Increased water use and projections for further increased demand are combining with the decline of stationarity to underscore the importance of having sound water management policies and a coherent plan for water allocation at the ready and capable of implementation. Historically, and in an earlier era of water federalism, the state police power was acknowledged as the proper locus for making water law and policy.

In the twentieth century, even while laws and rhetoric respected the division of authority favoring the states, …

Framing Water Policy In A Carbon Affected And Carbon Constrained Environment, Robert H. Abrams, Noah D. Hall

Journal Publications

Climate change driven by greenhouse gas emissions is substantially altering water availability while increasing water demand. Shifts in domestic energy policy and production, while needed to confront the challenge of climate change, may further stress the nation's water resources. These changes and new demands will be most severe in regions that are already experiencing water stresses and conflicts. This article examines the extent of the changes in water supply and demand by assessing how water conflicts will be addressed in the four overarching water use categories: water for population security, water for ecological security, water for energy security, and water …

Nepa, National Security, And Ocean Noise: The Past, Present, And Future Of Regulating The Impact Of Navy Sonar On Marine Mammals, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

or several decades, and in a variety of contexts, national security and environmental protection interests have clashed. Balancing these competing concerns is a challenging task. However, in the wake of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. government “drastically changed its approach to how it handled important environmental concerns in relation to national
defense issues."

The most common manifestation of the tensions between national security and environmental protection objectives is the Navy’s use of sonar in U.S. waters. The oceans that surround the United States on both coasts provide the U.S. Navy with an indispensable buffer zone in …

Investment In Water And Wastewater Infrastructure: An Environmental Justice Challenge, A Governance Solution, Alexandra Dapolito Dunn

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article evaluates the impact of the growing presence of privatized water and wastewater infrastructure projects in some of the world’s most populous countries: China, India, the United States, Brazil, and Nigeria. Together, these nations account for nearly 50 percent of the world’s population. The article discusses environmental justice issues associated with contaminated drinking water and insufficient sanitation and explores the role that public versus private ownership of water infrastructure plays in ensuring access to clean water for the lower-income echelons of society. It articulates the importance of the rule of law and sound environmental governance in this arena and …

Climate Change Consensus: Emerging International Law, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

China In Context: Energy, Water, And Climate Cooperation, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Soundscape Conservation In U.S. National Parks: Implications For Adjacent Land Use Planning, Sarah L. Dumyahn, Bryan C. Pijanowski

GIS Day

Humans have altered the Earth’s ecosystems and biodiversity significantly. With the conversion of land and the loss of biodiversity, the world loses its natural sounds. The loss of natural sounds is compounded by the growing intrusions of motorized noise. Noise pollution is a ubiquitous problem in cities around the world, but the issue is spreading to more remote areas due to expanding transportation networks, motorized recreation and urban sprawl. The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) recognizes park soundscapes, or entire acoustic environment of a given area, as resources just as air and water are resources. However, national park resources are …

Does Cercla Preempt New York State Law Claims For Cost Recovery And Contribution?, Kristi Weiner

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Preemption And Alteration Of Epa And State Authority To Regulate Greenhouse Gases In The Kerry-Lieberman Bill, Bradford Mccormick, Hannah Chang

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

The recently-released discussion draft of the Kerry-Lieberman bill (KL), officially titled the American Power Act, contains numerous provisions that affect the role of states in addressing climate change as well as the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Preemption has been the subject of intense debate and speculation since the passage of the Waxman-Markey climate bill (WM) in June 2009, and commentators have questioned whether KL’s preemption measures would (and should) have the effect of “a scalpel or a sledgehammer” on existing state and EPA authority. The following paper contributes to the discussion by summarizing …

The Olympic Games And The Triple Bottom Line Of Sustainability: Opportunities And Challenges, Joseph Weiler, Arun Mohan

All Faculty Publications

Growing public expectations that the Olympic Movement and Olympic Host City Organizing Committees be socially, environmentally and economically responsible has made a commitment to integrate sustainability principles and practices a common theme in the bids of cities competing to host the Games. To understand the growing role of sustainability as an Olympic theme, the authors trace the evolution of the sustainability aspirations of the Olympic Movement by looking at the key Olympic Games and bids in this process. The authors determine that unlocking the potential of the Olympic Games to use sport to attract new audiences to sustainable living cannot …