Colorado Environmental Law Journal

Abstract Climate change and its destabilizing effects are already here. Yet there is a chance to prevent even worse scenarios if carbon emissions can be quickly and drastically reduced, especially in the carbon-intensive energy sector. While the need to transition to low-carbon, renewable sources of energy is urgent, many legal, political, and economic barriers stand in the way of an efficacious and equitable shift away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources. One such barrier involves the massive investments that have already been made in 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 The global crisis of climate change looms large over every aspect of our society today. It presents an increasingly potent existential danger to humanity, as the widespread consequences of rising global temperatures include increasing ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, more frequent heatwaves and droughts, and extreme and unseasonal natural disasters and weather events.[2] The results of a warming planet are already wreaking havoc on the ecosystems, biodiversity, and civilizations of Earth. And the devastating effects on people’s food security, water supply, health, and livelihoods, Continue reading →

  Introduction The right to use water is key to making land productive and valuable. This Article will address the little-known topic of the rights of Indian allottees (those Indian individuals who were allotted lands under the General Allotment Act), and their descendants, to use water for agricultural and development purposes on allotment lands. Many allottees do not realize they have water rights, and in most cases, the allottees and their local community do not understand what law applies to those rights. This often contributes Continue reading →

Introduction The Biden Administration’s efforts to combat climate change by moving toward clean energy are poised to have an outsized impact on Indigenous communities if critical minerals slated for clean energy projects are obtained through new mining. This is because much of the untapped supply of these minerals is located near tribal land. The nation’s transition to clean energy, including increased production and use of solar photovoltaic plants, electric vehicles (“EV”), and wind farms, requires a greater use of certain minerals. Critical minerals include copper, Continue reading →

  Introduction This Article examines the progress of renewable energy and energy decentralization in Sweden and Denmark. Both countries have numerous projects underway aimed at reducing dependence on fossil fuels and promoting greener energy options. These projects include boosting energy usage from renewable sources and adopting tools and technologies that will facilitate energy security and efficiency. Much of the work taking place in the two countries has the potential to be replicated in other jurisdictions. Denmark is at the epitome of renewable energy and sustainable 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 →