Colorado Environmental Law Journal

I. Introduction Hydrocarbon development in the Arctic is no longer a “what if” situation; it is the here and now. The future will bring more development, as evidenced by the actions and plans of the Arctic states. Policy statements from the Arctic states suggest one unified goal for the future: protecting the environment while pursuing development.[2] The environmental risks of Arctic hydrocarbon development can never be completely eliminated, but they can be managed by efficient use of the existing regulatory framework. Currently, overlapping legal and Continue reading →

[1]*[2]**Model Law A BILL To promote the development and deployment of clean cookstoves to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and combat global warming by creating a thriving global market for clean, affordable, and efficient household cooking solutions, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the [legislative organ] of the [developed country] assembled, § 1. Short Title This Act may be cited as the “Clean Cookstoves Support Act of 201[_].” § 2. Findings [Legislative organ] finds that: (1) [Name of country] is a member Continue reading →

 Introduction This Essay introduces the framework for deliberation and legislative drafting undertaken at the workshop: Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations on July 12-13, 2012, in Boulder, Colorado. There are a number of fundamental premises upon which the workshop was based, and this Essay refers to the most salient among them. Jurisprudential Foundation The first premise lays the jurisprudential foundation for asserting that law, as a normative construct, can and should respond to social problems. The jurisprudential premise underlying such Continue reading →

[1]*I am pleased to be here this evening to present the Fifth Annual Schultz Lecture here at the University of Colorado. I appreciate the invitation of the Law School and the generosity of the Schultz family in supporting this lecture series. I am glad to see and recognize Scott Miller, who was a key member of my staff at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and who worked on a wide range of issues relating to public lands, forestry, and renewable energy. The University Continue reading →

Abstract Roughly half the world’s people use solid biomass fuel for cooking and heating. Most cook over open fires or with stoves that burn the fuel incompletely. Nearly two million people, mostly women and children, die prematurely from inhaling the smoke and particulates. Millions of others are sickened or disabled from chronic or acute disease or disfiguring burns. The cookstoves problem also has other serious consequences. The search for fuel obliges women and children to spend much of their time gathering fuel, often in dangerous Continue reading →

I. Introduction The controversial Keystone XL pipeline (“Keystone XL” or “pipeline”), if approved, will have effects for years to come. The potential effects are not only environmental. If the pipeline is permitted and constructed, it will affect the United States’ policy on matters such as whether the nation will support the development of “dirty” tar sands oil in neighboring countries, what other sorts of pipelines the government will allow, what sort of review applications for transboundary pipelines will receive, and after the applications are approved, Continue reading →

I. Introduction The new commercial space market offers the world unprecedented access to space but may also herald unprecedented dangers to the upper atmosphere that could hasten climate change. The launching of satellites, scientific research payloads, and people into space is transitioning from a purely governmental enterprise to an increasingly private industry that receives government contracts.[2] The private sector is assuming the role that governments once held in space activities, particularly in the United States. For instance, private companies including Lockheed Martin[3] and SpaceX[4] have Continue reading →

“[I]f we care for the River, the River will continue to sustain the people.” —The Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010 I. Introduction Adaptive co-management, an approach to environmental and natural resource management that enables stakeholders to share management responsibility and to learn from their actions, is a promising innovation in managing natural resources under conditions of uncertainty and complexity.[2] While not a panacea, adaptive co-management does hold promise as a means of moving past conflict and towards developing more effective and resilient Continue reading →

Abstract When the collective declines, who manages the collective-owned land? When the socialist state fails, who possesses the state-owned river? This Article concerns the governance of land and natural resources that are still owned by collectives or the state in rural China. No effective community governance has evolved in rural China to fill the authority vacuum left by the dissolution of the people’s commune system. As a result, such land and natural resources have become real commons. In describing these I use the term “transitional Continue reading →

I. Introduction The Huaorani (Waorani) are hunters and gatherers who have lived in the Amazon Rainforest since before written history. Their ancestral lands span some 20,000 square kilometers and include the area now known as Yasuni National Park and Biosphere Reserve in the Republic of Ecuador. Yasuni is world-renowned for carbon rich forests and extraordinary biological diversity and is an important refuge for fresh water dolphins, harpy eagles, black caimans, and other threatened species and regional endemics. The Huaorani are legendary, even among other Indigenous Continue reading →