Search Results
Use the filters on the left-hand side of this screen to refine the results further by topic or document type.

Massachusetts v. EPA: The D.C. Circuit's Failure to Extend the Clean Air Act to Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Editors' Summary: On July 15, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's decision not to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from automobiles, thereby thwarting efforts to use the CAA to curb climate change. In this Article, Zachary Tyler analyzes the court's decision, arguing that the court should have reached the opposite conclusion. Tyler looks at the events that led to the dispute, including how the Clinton and Bush Administrations differed in their interpretation of the CAA with respect to GHGs.

The Godavarman Case: The Indian Supreme Court's Breach of Constitutional Boundaries in Managing India's Forests

Editors' Summary: With its ruling in the 1995 Godavarman case, the Supreme Court of India commandeered for itself the roles of policymaker, administrator, and interpreter of the law. The Court's actions pursuant to this ruling have had serious effects on India's forest policy. In this Article, Armin Rosencranz, Edward Boenig, and Brinda Dutta explore the ramifications of the Supreme Court's actions. The authors begin with an overview of changes in forest policy following the 1995 ruling and describe the deleterious effects that these changes have had on Indian forests.

Making the States Full Partners in a National Climate Change Effort: A Necessary Element for Sustainable Economic Development

For at least a decade, states have exercised de facto national leadership on climate change policy development. Through comprehensive planning, intensive fact-finding, and stakeholder-based consensus-building, they have developed and refined a broad range of laws and policies intended to advance climate, energy, and economic policy objectives simultaneously. The recommended portfolios of actions derived from this work, involving more than one-half of all U.S.

The 10th U.S. Supreme Court Justice (Crazy Horse, J.) and Dissents Note Written—The Environmental Term of 2003-04

I. Introduction

 

My nomination and appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court were not widely publicized. My collegiality was never held in high regard. My experience is limited but I think I understand the ways of nature and the use of language in treaty writings. I have listened for a sympathetic voice on this Court but I have not heard one. I will limit my dissents to seven. I will include one case from the 2002-2003 Term but will hold my tongue on many others. --Crazy Horse, J.

 

State v. BNSF Ry. Co.

A district court held that a property owner's Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act (MERLA) claims against a former owner are not time barred even though the state agency issued a "decision document" describing the former owner's cleanup of the site as "final" well beyond the statute of...

Citizens for Constitutional Fairness v. Jackson County

The Ninth Circuit held that a 2007 voter-approved initiative that overturned a 2004 initiative giving property owners relief from development restrictions under Oregon land-use laws, or payment for the lost value of their land, did not violate the Contract Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Waivers gr...

Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakama Nation v. Department of Agric.

A district court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the shipment of Hawaiian garbage to a landfill located on lands ceded by the Yakama Nation in Washington State near the Columbia River. There are serious questions as to whether the USDA adequately analyzed the environmental impacts of ...

In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon"

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multistate Litigation consolidated and transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana 77 lawsuits related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The actions indisputably share factual issues concerning the cause (or causes) ...

In re Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether Prods. Liab. Litig.

A district court held that a research institute must turn over documents relating to its methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) study to one of the plaintiffs in a consolidated multidistrict case against several gasoline companies for groundwater contamination stemming from their use of MTBE in gasoline...