Author
Elisabeth Parker, Brigham Daniels, Abigail Allen, and Corinne Doerner
Author Bios (long)
Elisabeth Parker is a Senior Attorney and Senior Fellow at the Wallace Stegner Center’s Law & Policy Program at the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law, an Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, and the Law & Policy Lead for the Great Salt Lake Project. Brigham Daniels is a Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, Co-Director of the Wallace Stegner Center, and Director of the Great Salt Lake Project. Abigail Allen is an Associate Professor of Accounting and the LeAnne Albrecht Fellow at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. Corinne Doerner is a Research Fellow at the Wallace Stegner Center’s Great Salt Lake Project.
Summary
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. These environmental threats can translate into material financial risks for publicly traded companies and municipal bond issuers, potentially necessitating disclosure under existing securities law. While industries directly reliant on the lake’s ecosystem may already face disclosure obligations, these will expand to include more sectors and geographic areas if the lake is allowed to continue to shrink. The Article argues that recognizing these growing securities liabilities presents a powerful additional reason for urgent policy interventions to restore the lake and safeguard the region’s long-term economic viability. This case study shows how localized environmental crises generate systemic vulnerabilities across economic sectors, with implications for similar situations worldwide.
