Despite existing laws, communities across the United States are exposed to dangerous environmental conditions that can have devastating effects on public health. One emerging mechanism to address these issues are “green amendments,” self-executing provisions added to a state constitution that recognize and protect the rights of all people, including future generations, to pure water, clean air, and a stable climate.

When the Internal Revenue Service began disallowing gifts of perpetual conservation easements for claimed failures of perpetuity requirements, it tumbled land trusts, landowners, and the U.S. Tax Court down the rabbit hole to a baffling land below. The Service’s drop into matters beyond valuation and into elements intended and necessary for easement durability and flexibility has caused a confusing array of Tax Court decisions.

Faced with interconnected crises—affordable housing, and environmental and climate injustice—in low-income, disadvantaged, and Black and Brown communities, this Comment asserts that President Joseph Biden should adopt the same or similar approach of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and challenge Congress to enact sweeping environmental and climate justice legislation in the first 100 days.

The coronavirus pandemic, the push for racial justice, and continued efforts to mitigate climate change have emerged as key challenges for corporations. At the center of this trifecta of change are supply chains; onequarter of the global supply chain, approximately $4.5 trillion, could shift by 2025. Leading companies are rebuilding supply chains more resilient to the disruptions caused by climate change and more cognizant of environmental, social, and governance expectations, while prioritizing suppliers that promote racial justice and companies owned by people of color.