A proposed alternative for reducing GHG emissions—payiing developing countries to forego fossil fuel exploitation in tropical forests, or "compensated moratoria"—could serve an important role in future climate change regulation. Ecuador's proposal to impose a moratorium on oil exploitation in the Amazon rainforest—the Yasuní-ITT Initiative—illustrates how compensated moratoria could help to improve the shortcomings of prevailing policy mechanisms for mitigating GHG emissions in developing countries.

Section 9 of the ESA boldly declares that any harm perpetrated upon a listed species, even a single animal, is illegal. Yet, the Incidental Take Permit provision of the ESA expressly allows nonfederal landowners to harm thousands, possibly millions, of listed species every year. Despite this obvious statutory contradiction, the system makes sense—if executed correctly.

Competing theories exist for how intergenerational investment projects, such as investments related to global warming, natural resources, energy, etc., should be undertaken. In particular, there are two popular prescriptions: (1) In making intergenerational investments, policymakers should use a zero discount rate; and (2) In making intergenerational investments, policymakers should use the market rate. Neither of these prescriptions is correct. Indeed, using present-value discounting at all is extremely problematic.

Offshore areas are under pressure to industrialize for renewable energy. To plan for offshore wind development, Rhode Island engaged in a marine spatial planning process that resulted in the Ocean Special Area Management Plan (O-SAMP), a regulatory invention of the Coastal Zone Management Act. Notably, the Rhode Island O-SAMP maps and plans for uses in federal waters beyond the three-mile line dividing state and fedeal jurisdiction, as well as within the state's territorial sea, posing a challenge to the boundaries of offshore federalism.

Abundant, inexpensive, and lower in emissions than traditional coal power sources, natural gas is expected to play an enormous role in our energy future. Although the drilling technique of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" has made it possible to extract natural gas from "plays," such as the Marcellus Shale Play, some members of the public have become increasingly concerned about problems alleged to be associated with fracking and drilling, such as groundwater contamination and air pollution.

In the near future, the use of coal may be legally restricted due to concerns over the effects of its combustion on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Carbon capture and geologic sequestration offer one method to reduce carbon emissions from coal and other hydrocarbon fuel. While the federal government is providing increased funding for carbon capture and storage, congressional legislative efforts to limit carbon emissions have failed. However, regional and state bodies have taken significant actions both to regulate carbon and to facilitate its capture and storage.

This Comment seeks to prepare lawyers to address environmental risk management in the context of transactions, including: (i) transfers of ownership of corporate assets and of real property; (ii) extensions of secured credit; and (iii) issuance of securities. It offers tools for lawyers to assist clients in the identification of environmental risks, their assessment, and their avoidance or allocation to others. It also assists clients in understanding the goals of lawyers seeking to assess and manage environmental liabilities.

In 1982, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary James G. Watt merged the responsibilities for revenue collection and regulatory oversight of offshore oil and gas industries under the Minerals Management Services (MMS). This created a dangerous conflict of interest within the MMS.

The Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol has been in place in China for several years, and today, China exists as the global center of CDM project development. Although the CDM has brought and is expected to bring considerable benefits to China, its limited and in some cases negative impacts may affect China’s sustainable development in the long run. Moreover, as the first Kyoto period is set to expire in 2012, the climate legal regime and the CDM are likely to be changed.