Colorado Environmental Law Journal

    Introduction In the absence of comprehensive climate change legislation, federal agencies are left to use the regulatory tools granted to them by existing environmental laws to address the challenges posed by greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and climate change. These laws, including the Clean Air Act (“CAA”), the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), and the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), were all drafted nearly half a century ago when environmental protection had bipartisan support.[2] These laws were each drafted to address a singular social problem. Continue reading →

      Introduction The United States monopolized radioactive ore during the Cold War era, incentivized uranium mining on the Navajo Nation, and manipulated the Navajo government into approving mining leases. This Note argues that the United States should remediate the numerous radioactive waste sites on the Navajo Reservation and compensate the Navajo Nation for the associated harms to the Tribe’s health, community, and culture. Although Congress has created a legal scheme aimed at remediating the harms caused by its uranium procurement program, the Navajo Continue reading →

        Introduction The Colorado Plateau consists of a series of stunning plateaus and mesas, all situated within a larger basin.[2] Despite being categorized as an arid region, perhaps the most crucial element in shaping the Plateau’s geography, as well as its human past, is its hydrology. The principal water body on the Plateau is the Colorado River. Originating in the Rocky Mountains, it flows west through Colorado, Utah, and Arizona, eventually draining into the Gulf of California in Mexico.[3] The Colorado River Continue reading →

      Introduction Every year in June, as snow in the high country melts and fills Colorado’s rivers, there is a gathering in the small mountain town of Salida. The festival is known as FibArk, and people from all over the country bring rafts, kayaks, tubes, and all manner of vessels to float down the Arkansas River in a celebration of the state’s upcoming whitewater rafting season.[2] The festival initially began as one of the first kayak races in the United States in 1949,[3] Continue reading →

  Introduction The Bears Ears National Monument (“Bears Ears”) in southern Utah is at the center of a live conflict in the conservation, public lands, and natural resource spaces. President Barack Obama established the 1.35 million acre monument in 2016 as an exercise of his protective authority under the Antiquities Act.[2] Conservation proponents supported the designation, but opponents criticized the action as a land grab by the federal government.[3] Less than a year later, President Donald Trump reduced the monument by eighty-five percent of its Continue reading →

  Introduction At 5:00 p.m. on August 23, 2005, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida issued an advisory about a tropical storm forming over the Bahamas.[2] To those who live along the southern coast of the United States, a tropical storm advisory, and even a hurricane advisory, is not typically a huge concern. Alerts come in frequently, but a large weather disturbance only occurs every twenty to thirty years.[3] In New Orleans, Louisiana, directly in the path of the oncoming storm, the governor stated Continue reading →