Natural Resources Law Commons^™

Cle Working Paper No.1/2021--Grassroots And Litigation-Based Approaches To Advancing Indigenous Rights: Lessons From Extractive Industry Resistance In Mesoamerica, Justin Wiebe

Centre for Law and the Environment

Indigenous peoples are frequently recognized as excellent stewards of their traditional territories. These territories, which often exhibit extraordinary levels of biodiversity, face disproportionate and growing threats from extractive industry. In opposing these threats, Indigenous peoples increasingly rely on internationally-defined Indigenous rights, including those set out in UNDRIP and ILO Convention 169. It is uncertain, however, how these rights are most effectively advanced. In this paper, I tease out strategies — both grassroots-based and litigation-based — that show promise in this regard. Drawing on Waorani resistance to an oil auction in Ecuador and Indigenous resistance to a large-scale mining project in …

Mandating Disclosure Of Climate-Related Financial Risk, Madison Condon, Sarah Ladin, Jack Lienke, Michael Panfil, Alexander Song

Faculty Scholarship

Climate change presents grave risk across the U.S. economy, including to corporations, their investors, the markets in which they operate, and the American public at large. Unlike other financial risks, however, climate risk is not routinely disclosed to the public. Insufficient corporate disclosures have persisted despite the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) issuance of regulatory guidance on the topic, the emergence of voluntary disclosure frameworks and standards, and growing calls from major investors for improved disclosure. Given the inadequacy of the current regime, the SEC should take further action to fulfill its statutory mandate to protect investors and promote efficiency, …

Pore Space Property, Joseph A. Schremmer

Utah Law Review

Through modern technology we can use the void pore space of underground rock formations for a growing number of socially beneficial purposes. These run the gamut from unconventional oil and gas production to climate change mitigation. The common law of property and tort, however, has struggled to keep up with advancing technology in this area. Significant questions remain about the nature of property rights in pore space. Of particular interest are the limits, if any, on an owner’s right to use pore space for beneficial purposes when it extends beneath the land of another. For example, may A hydraulically fracture …

If You Don’T Have A Cow (Or Chicken Or Pig), You Can’T Call It Meat: Weaponizing The Dormant Commerce Clause To Strike Down Anti-Animal- Welfare Legislation, Jessica Berch

Utah Law Review

Industrial meat producers and proponents of plant-based diets are locked in legislative and litigation battles. On the legislative battlefront, meat producers are attempting to prohibit vegetarian and vegan food manufacturers from calling their products “meat,” “burgers,” “pork,” or other similar “meaty” descriptions. At the same time, animal-welfare advocates are urging states to pass laws to better the lives of animals in various ways, such as requiring meat producers to provide farm animals more space or other enhanced conditions. On the litigation side, both the meat producers and the plant-based companies are attempting to deploy the Dormant Commerce Clause (“DCC”) to …

Indigenizing Grand Canyon, Jason Anthony Robison

Utah Law Review

The magical place commonly called the “Grand Canyon” is Native space. Eleven tribes hold traditional connections to the canyon according to the National Park Service. This Article is about relationships between these tribes and the agency—past, present, and future. Grand Canyon National Park’s 2019 centennial afforded a valuable opportunity to reflect on these relationships and to envision what they might become. A reconception of the relationships has begun in recent decades that evidences a shift across the National Park System as a whole. This reconception should continue. Drawing on the tribal vision for Bears Ears National Monument, this Article advocates …

Shares Of Water Stock In Utah: Personal Property Or Real Estate?, Michael P. Affleck

Utah Law Review

Utah deserts supply the state with exquisite beauty and are a definitive part of Utah’s identity. However, a consequence of this arid beauty is aridity itself. Because Utah is one of the driest states in the nation, water is an important resource. Accordingly, Utah legislators have enacted statutes that ensure that those who own water will use it beneficially and that ownership of water can be transferred easily from one owner to another. Water ownership is categorized as either ownership of a water right or a share of water stock. This Note focuses on the need for a resolution in …

Renewable Energy And Trade: Meeting The Paris Agreement’S Goals Through A Two-Step Jurisprudential Advance, Lisa Benjamin

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Recent Case Decisions

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Yours, Mine, Our Water: Where Correlative Rights End And Taking Begins Following Texas House Bill 3246, Charles P. Hosey

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Intellectual Property And The Law Of Fracking Fluid Disclosures: Tensions And Trends, Cody B. Johnson

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Brazilian Gas Market And Its Regulatory Overview, Hirdan Katarina De Medeiros Costa, Karina Ninni Ramos, Israel Lacerda De Araujo, Paola Mercadante Petry, Owen Anderson, Edmilson Moutinho Dos Santos

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Updated Guidance On Consent-To-Assign Provisions In Texas Oil And Gas Leases, Jason E. Wright

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Eureka! A Petroleum Transactions Guide That Delivers (Review Of International Petroleum Law And Transactions By Owen Anderson Et Al.), Norman Nadorff

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

A Tribute To Nawzad Yasin And Others: Part 2: Others, Owen L. Anderson

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

A Tribute To Nawzad Yasin And Others: Part 1: Nawzad, Owen L. Anderson

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction & Front Pages, Jake Ware

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Law Professors In Support Of Defendants, Robert Abrams

Amicus Briefs

No abstract provided.

Preventing Wind Waste, K.K. Duvivier

American University Law Review

The United States has vast offshore wind resources—nearly double the total electricity consumption of the country—ideally located close to the largest population centers. This abundance has remained stubbornly untapped for over a decade, without a single commercial scale wind project built in federal waters as of early 2021.

In contrast to obstruction by the Trump administration, President Biden, in his first days in office, singled out offshore wind development as one of his priorities for tackling the climate crisis. As a result, the United States may soon see an offshore wind rush.

Onshore, the United States is a world leader …

Unbecoming Adversaries: Natural Resources Federalism In Wyoming, Tara Righetti, Robert B. Keiter, Jason Robison, Temple Stoellinger, Sam Kalen

Wyoming Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Blm’S Duty To Incorporate Climate Science Into Permitting Practices And A Proposal For Implementing A Net Zero Requirement Into Oil And Gas Permitting, John C. Ruple, Jamie Gibbs Please, Nada Wolff Culver

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Almost one quarter of all U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions come from fossil fuels extracted from public lands, and these resources are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This article argues that the BLM has a statutory duty to respond to climate change, which includes the duty to avoid exacerbating climate change. The article then moves the legal discussion from aspiration to action by proposing a legal strategy, using the existing legal framework, by which the BLM can achieve net zero emissions from all new mineral development activity. While the article focuses on oil and gas development, the …