Aerial drones are emerging as an effective tool for environmental monitoring and enforcement because of their ability to reach areas that would be otherwise inaccessible or cost-prohibitive. However, the regulatory framework has not developed as fast as the technology, raising concerns. As EPA and other agencies consider using drones to monitor industrial sites and farmland, many landowners claim it would be an invasion of privacy. Using drones for inspections also raises legal questions about information obtained from drone flyovers and the associated evidentiary requirements.

The rise of high-volume hydraulic fracturing has been accompanied by a suite of environmental and social concerns, including potential water and air contamination, greenhouse gas emissions, health effects, and community disruptions. Concerned over these negative environmental impacts, individuals and communities have turned to the law to restrict oil and natural gas production.

Heightened awareness of climate change has inspired institutional investors to divest from fossil fuels. At the same time, investors have pushed for a new sustainable energy economy with socially and environmentally responsible investments. This fossil fuel divestment and investment in sustainable and socially responsible businesses will become a powerful driver of change, and will promote climate justice by taking a human-centered approach to climate change and safeguarding the rights of present and future generations.

In a previous Comment, 46 ELR 11024, the authors examined the nexus between “willpower” and “ambition” in the context of the Paris Agreement, and identified key elements of an integrated, systematic, and strategic treatment of each through law and policy.

This Article highlights the role that national judiciaries worldwide have played in developing the field of “climate law.” It focuses on some of the key lawsuits from civil and common-law jurisdictions that may influence climate law beyond their borders, including climate mitigation and adaptation cases as well as transnational climate cases. In particular, it considers the procedural tools and interpretive principles that judges have employed to decide novel legal issues presented by climate litigation.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a fundamentally important part of the legal systems in both the United States and China. In this Article, the authors compare and contrast the development of EIA in the two countries, including (1) an introduction to EIA in China, (2) the U.S. experience with EIA, (3) challenges to EIA in China, and (4) the latest development of EIA in China. They conclude that with a series of proactive actions taken by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection, 2015-16 has been a milestone in the development of the EIA process in China.

The express mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System “is to administer a national network of lands and waters for conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats within the United States.” But the establishment of individual refuges has not always focused on achieving a genuine network of conservation lands.

This Article examines the complex CAA program known as new source review (NSR), which affects virtually every major manufacturing facility and power plant in the United States. The NSR program provides important health and environmental benefits but has become a significant impediment to the growth and modernization of the U.S. manufacturing sector. Because of a new, more stringent air quality standard for ozone, the resulting changes in the NSR program may effectively prevent industrial development in some parts of the country.

Since 1990, China’s carbon emissions have increased 73% due to economic growth. Although China’s emissions per capita are only about one-fifth of those from the United States, China is the largest emitter in the world. China signed the Paris Agreement on April 22 and plans to decrease its carbon dioxide emissions by 18% in the second half of this decade, according to the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan. Against this background, this Comment explores two questions: (1) Is China’s existing legal framework sufficient to fulfill its new pledges?

As climate change alters global weather patterns and the earth’s population continues to grow and urbanize, water resources are poised to become an ever increasing catalyst for volatility, even in regions where water scarcity has not historically been an issue. Water law and policy is complex, varying regionally, country by country, and even within national borders.