This Article offers proposals for better engagements, relationships, and deals with local communities contemplating wind farms. Because the rapid expansion of wind energy to date has exhausted the first-mover rural communities, the promise of wind energy depends on reluctant rural communities that may require the legal, relational, and policy innovations proposed herein if they are to grant their consent to future wind farms and participate in the renewable energy transformation.

Choice architecture as defined by Professor Mormann in Climate Choice Architecture is helpful and important, but it is also easy to overestimate its impact. It is not everything. This Comment argues that choice architecture is framing a decision at the point of decisionmaking, presenting a list in a specific way, like the decoy effect, setting defaults. Sometimes, social norms and feedback is choice architecture if presented at the time of making a decision or if presented at the optimal choice opportunity.

Prof. Felix Mormann’s introduction in Climate Choice Architecture masterfully highlights the pivotal role of behavioral change in tackling the global climate crisis, and underscores the profound impact of choice architecture—subtle changes in decision environments—on influencing climate-conscious decisionmaking. Drawing from the seminal works of Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler and Prof. Cass Sunstein, Professor Mormann champions the strategic use of small “nudges” to guide individuals and organizations toward sustainable outcomes.

Prof. Felix Mormann’s Climate Choice Architecture comprehensively catalogs and classifies different types of nudge interventions that can be used to combat climate change. He argues that choice architecture can complement command-and-control mandates, market-based incentives, and other forms of regulation while also acknowledging its limitations.

Prof. Felix Mormann’s Climate Choice Architecture provides a comprehensive framework and a masterful summary of the state of knowledge on behavioral nudges as they are applied to environmental outcomes. It does a great job of summarizing the literature and also crosses over from energy into water as well. This Comment supports Professor Mormann's conclusion that nudges can be very powerful instruments for achieving climate goals.

Successful climate change mitigation and adaptation require behavioral change at an unprecedented scale. Fortunately, behavioral research has proven that minor tweaks to the choice environment can usher in a paradigm shift toward more climate-friendly decisionmaking. This Article makes the case for greater reliance on choice architectural nudges as a catalyst for more climate-friendly decisionmaking across a wide range of contexts.

The Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review (ELPAR) is published by the Environmental Law Institute’s (ELI’s) Environmental Law Reporter in partnership with Vanderbilt University Law School. This Comment highlights the results of the ELPAR article selection process and reports on the environmental legal scholarship for the 2022-2023 academic year, including the number of environmental law articles published in general-interest law reviews versus environment-focused law journals, and the topics covered in the articles.

Natural resource damages (NRD) under federal law is a statutory cause of action to compensate for injury to natural resources resulting from releases of hazardous substances or oil. Designated officials are authorized under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), among others, to act as “trustees” on behalf of the public or tribes.

The total electricity generated by rooftop solar has increased tenfold over the past decade, and the number of American homes with rooftop solar increases by the day. Despite the rapid rise of solar, in 2022, total solar generation, including small-scale rooftop solar and large-scale utility solar, only made up 3.4% of the American electricity grid, while fossil fuels made up the majority. This Comment argues that the U.S.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) established the “Superfund,” which allows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up contaminated sites. It also forces the parties responsible for contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for the EPA-led cleanup work. The Superfund program relies on several tools to protect against lasting contamination.