In recent years, the proliferation of commercial drone or unmanned aircraft system (UAS) applications in the United States has generated significant discussion and controversy among legal scholars and practitioners attempting to navigate this budding industry. The drone phenomenon is just starting to catch on in the area of environmental monitoring and enforcement.
As the drought in western states worsens, the agricultural sector is being criticized for failing to adopt technical responses, such as shifting to less waterdemanding crops and state-of-the-art irrigation systems. However, these responses alone are insufficient to reduce water consumption if unaccompanied by changes in how the law defines and allocates water rights. This Article proposes a redefinition of water rights to ensure that changes in crops or irrigation techniques are socially efficient.
Black carbon, a component of soot and the result of incomplete combustion, is one of the most climate-forcing substances in existence. While black carbon is currently unregulated internationally, the technology to substantially reduce emissions exists and is readily available to curb some of the worst sources and those most dangerous to human health. Black carbon’s short life in the atmosphere makes it a low-hanging fruit in the world of climate change reduction, and regulations to curtail it should be introduced immediately.
This Comment, the first of a two-part series, examines the nexus between willpower and ambition in the context of the Paris Agreement and its domestic implications worldwide, and identifies key elements of a more integrated, systematic, and strategic treatment of the two through law and policy.
Many have put forward a vision for a “circular economy” that would not only conserve and recycle materials, but also contribute to new technological, financial, and environmental innovations. As this circular economy approach gains traction, adjustments to our system of regulatory and commercial law will be needed. For lawyers and their clients, the circular economy represents a new and important thought construct that will lead to legal frameworks better adapted to the 21st century.
The public trust doctrine provides that a state holds its tidelands, submerged lands, and navigable waters in trust for the benefit of the general public. California has codified the principles of this doctrine through various statutes, including the California Coastal Act of 1976. However, as climate change drives increased sea-level rise and erosion along California’s coast, landowners have sought to protect their property with hard armoring structures that impede coastal access and cause the sea to swallow previously accessible public beaches.
In recent years, air pollution issues have received unprecedented public attention in China. Partly for this reason, the Chinese government has made significant efforts toward reducing air pollution. However, compliance and enforcement will be key to cleaning up the air in China and around the globe. This Article discusses seven specific challenges to achieving effective compliance with and enforcement of the air pollution rules in China. In this regard, global good practices can be useful references for the Chinese government and other stakeholders.
Since it was enacted in 1973, the ESA has been one of the most celebrated environmental laws, but also one of the most reviled. Industry groups argue that the consultation process frequently delays and sometimes halts much needed energy, transportation, water supply, and other projects and often dramatically increases project costs. Environmentalists disagree with this view, contending that the process actually rarely stops anything and that the FWS lacks the backbone to impose meaningful conservation requirements that would be costly or inconvenient for the project developer.
Congress enacted OPA in 1990 following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, to strengthen the federal government’s ability to prevent and respond to oil spills, to establish financial resources to aid response, and to raise standards for contingency planning. It is an area of law that is still evolving, particularly in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill and subsequent developments in Gulf of Mexico restoration and recovery. A number of recent cases have since dealt with issues related to the spill.
It is well-known that land use patterns can affect climate change—particularly the relation between land use development and transportation infrastructure. Yet even the most aggressive efforts to address climate change have largely ignored land use. This disconnect was noted in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s most recent series of reports, collectively known as the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).