Great Salt Lake, Environmental Crises, and Securities Liability
This Article examines the intersection of environmental crises and financial disclosure obligations through the lens of Great Salt Lake. As the lake shrinks to unprecedented levels, the resulting dust storms, diminished snowpack, and destabilized ecosystems increasingly threaten both the public health and economic viability of Utah’s most populous region, and economic impacts will extend far beyond industries directly dependent on the lake.
Prescribed Fire in Wilderness Areas in a Post-Chevron Wolrd
In order to manage California wilderness areas to preserve their natural and untrammeled character, as required by the Wilderness Act, federal land management agencies should adopt interpretations of the Act that allow prescribed burning and Indigenous cultural burning in areas where it existed pre-colonialism.
Using Institutional Controls in Anticipation of Superfund Site Disasters
Understanding the nearly impossible task of containing contaminants from Superfund sites, it is imperative to find solutions in anticipation of disasters that scientists project will only increase in magnitude and frequency. This Comment proceeds in six parts. Part I identifies the challenge of increasing natural disasters and their impact at Superfund sites, which are toxic havens. Part II identifies efforts that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal agencies have taken to make Superfund sites more climate-resilient.
Restricting Oil and Gas Leases Through Withdrawals Under OCSLA: Can A President Rescind?
This Comment focuses on energy developments offshore. Part I recognizes OCSLA’s purpose of balancing energy needs with protection of marine animals, coastal beaches, and wetlands. Part II discusses examples of presidential use of OCSLA §12(a) authority to protect (withdraw from leasing) portions of the OCS temporarily or permanently, including challenges to President Biden’s recent withdrawal of the East Coast, West Coast, and part of the Gulf of Mexico and Bering Strait from future oil and gas leases.
Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts in California
The Comment shows the importance of EJ and cumulative impact governance coming from municipalities by highlighting a specific case study that has worked: San Francisco.
Local Environmental Impacts of Data Center Proliferation
Demand for data centers is increasing worldwide, raising questions about the electric grid, the transition to renewable energy, and distribution infrastructure. Northern Virginia is home to data centers that process nearly 70% of global digital traffic, leading officials to call for construction, at ratepayers’ expense, of new power plants and new transmission lines across four states, as well as the continued operation of coal-powered plants that had been scheduled to go offline.
Ass'n of Contracting Plumbers of the City of New York, Inc. v. New York, City of
A district court granted New York City's motion to dismiss a challenge to its statute prohibiting the use of fossil fuels in newly constructed residential buildings. Trade groups and a union argued the statute was preempted by the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) because it concerned "the ...
Organization of Professional Aviculturalists, Inc. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of aviculturalist groups' lawsuit challenging FWS' denial of their petition to add two parrot species to the list of species approved for import under the Wild Exotic Bird Conservation Act. The groups had petitioned FWS to add members of the cactus conure and ...