The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) touches more lives in more ways than any other federal agency. Currently led by Secretary Ryan Zinke, the agency manages one-fifth of the land in the United States, including our national parks, wildlife refuges, and the delivery of water and power in the West. We have entrusted Secretary Zinke and DOI with the care of wildlife, fish, waterways, and land for the benefit of us all. As trustee, Secretary Zinke is accountable to us—the beneficiaries of the trust—to show that he has managed them for the common good. So, how is he doing?

This Article examines the various ways countries throughout the world have started to incorporate considerations of climate change adaptation into their framework environmental laws, implementing regulations, and other binding instruments. Drawing upon searches in databases of environmental laws, it examines national legislative and regulatory language, focusing on various types of provisions that address climate change adaptation. These laws serve as a valuable source of mechanisms that can be used to implement adaptation, providing a toolbox of approaches.

Hydropower—both conventional and pumped storage hydropower—is crucial to sustaining our transition to a decarbonized grid. Additional hydropower development that meets modern environmental requirements is essential to reduce the United States’ dependence on carbon.

President Donald Trump promised to undo much of the regulatory handiwork of his White House predecessors. On the heels of his inauguration, President Trump tasked Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to review national monument declarations of previous presidents issued under the Antiquities Act of 1906, and to recommend monument modifications or revocations. The plain meaning of the Antiquities Act, however, does not delegate legislative power to the president to revoke or to materially disturb prior presidential national monument declarations.

Does the United States need the Clean Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program to guard against degradation of air quality? In their recent Comment in these pages, John C. Evans and Donald van der Vaart say no, but the right answer is more nuanced. While the program is flawed in some respects, PSD helps to protect national parklands, guard against pollution “hot spots,” and decrease air pollution emission levels in the United States, thus helping to remedy regional pollution problems.

The Trump Administration’s approach to fisheries management appears to constitute a significant policymaking shift. Recent NOAA decisions, such as extending the Gulf of Mexico red snapper season or overturning an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decision to cut New Jersey’s recreational quota for summer flounder, seem to go against the agency’s traditional approach of placing scientific information at the center of fisheries decisionmaking. On January 25, 2018, ELI held a webinar to discuss these and other recent developments, and to assess the direction U.S.

This year’s 8th World Water Forum in Brazil—the largest gathering on this subject, held every three years—will for the first time bring judges and prosecutors together with policymakers from around the world to discuss the precarious state of freshwater resources and the importance of rule of law in achieving water resource objectives.

The Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project (DDPP) projects a doubling of U.S. demand for electricity by 2050, even accounting for increased energy efficiency and conservation. In two DDPP scenarios, this demand would be met by significant increases in nuclear, wind, and solar energy by 2050. The High Nuclear Scenario involves more than 400 gigawatts of nuclear, four times current capacity. The Mixed Scenario involves approximately 200 gigawatts of nuclear, or two times current capacity.

Humanity’s quest to achieve orderly mitigation of and adaptation to climate change is dependent upon the just application of the environmental rule of law—the legal framework that protects and sustains the environment on which life depends. A 3+ degree world of collapsing ecosystems will arrive within the century, unless the environmental rule of law is enforced.

This Comment is a compendium of select recent cases pertaining to water in Africa, and details how these cases have contributed to the interpretation of the legal framework within which water is utilized and protected as a “common good.” The most notable issues dealt with in these cases include the use and protection of water as a common good; how other rights, such as the right to property, interface with the use and protection of water; and important jurisdictional questions on the most appropriate forum for adjudicating water