Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources

Federal Climate Change Legislation as If the States Matter
States are at the forefront of climate change efforts in the United States. These efforts involve more and more states and are becoming increasingly ambitious and regional in scope. Most observers, even at the state level, see state and regional efforts as a next-best strategy in the absence of serious national leadership. The growing prospect of comprehensive national climate change legislation, however, raises many important questions about the role of state efforts in a national climate change program.
Robert B. McKinstry, Jr., John C. Dernbach, and Thomas D. Peterson

China: Climate Change Superpower and the Clean Technology Revolution
Move over America. China has sprinted to the front of the pack in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Lost in the euphoria of skyrocketing stock markets and the debate over trade imbalances, poisoned pets, and toxic toothpaste and toys was the announcement that China now has the dubious distinction of being the largest producer of CO2 in the world.
Margret J. Kim and Robert E. Jones

California Climate Change Initiatives Leading the West and the Nation
California takes its responsibility for global warming seriously. Very seriously. The second leading emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the United States after Texas, California is also ranked between the twelfth and sixteenth largest emitter of GHGs in the world, depending on the study.
Mary Ellen Hogan

Climate Change and the Environmental Impact Review Process
In the explosion of modern environmental law that occurred in the 1970s, the first major statute was the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321–4347, signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on January 1, 1970. It spawned “little NEPAs” in about twenty-five states and eighty countries.
Michael B. Gerrard

Property Law and Climate Change
Most proposals to deal with global climate change are legislative and administrative, and the major elements of property law are taken as a given. Although the complex problems associated with global warming make a focus on legislative and administrative approaches understandable, property law has an important yet neglected role to play in addressing global warming.
Gregory Sergienko

Climate Change and Freshwater Resources
Earth’s climate is warming. This is the unequivocal conclusion of climate scientists. Despite the complexities of climatology, certain consistent trends emerge with implications for water availability: as the world gets warmer, it will experience increased regional variability in precipitation, with more frequent heavy precipitation events and more susceptibility to drought. These simple facts will have a profound impact on freshwater resources throughout the United States, as the warmer climate will reduce available water supplies and increase water demand.
Noah D. Hall, Bret B. Stuntz, and Robert H. Abrams

Global Climate Change and National Security
Depending on the audience, global climate change has many different meanings. For environmentalists, global climate change may be the number one threat facing the world. Many argue that humans are the sole cause of the problem and that it is incumbent on us to take steps to reverse course. Some in that community go so far as to see mitigating global climate change as a chance to reverse the course of modernity.
James Stuhltrager

Carbon Accounting: A Practical Guide for Lawyers
The stars appear to be lining up for passage of climate change legislation in the next year or two. We could back this prediction with a wonkish reading of congressional tea leaves (e.g., industry support for climate change legislation through coalitions such as the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, the Democratic majority in both houses, and pressure by Republican incumbents on the president not to veto climate change legislation because they fear that a presidential veto could hurt their chances in the 2008 elections).
Peter L. Gray and Geraldine E. Edens

The Effects of Climate Change on American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes
Climate change will affect American Indian tribes differently than the larger American society. Tribal cultures are integrated into the ecosystems of North America, and many tribal economies are heavily dependent on the use of fish, wildlife, and native plants. Even where tribal economies are integrated into the national economy, tribal cultural identities continue to be deeply rooted in the natural world.
Daniel Cordalis and Dean B. Suagee

Climate Change and the Courts: Litigating the Causes and Consequences of Global Warming
There is a growing consensus that our global climate is warming and that human activity, primarily the combustion of fossil fuels, is the primary cause. There is still considerable dispute, however, over how best to respond to global warming. International efforts, such as carbon cap and trade regimes and other mechanisms developed under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, will do little to reduce the global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Kevin Haroff and Jacqueline Hartis

 

Vantage Point

Interview
U.S. Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI)

Insights

The Ninth Circuit Jumps into the Post-Rapanos Fray
Mark A. Ryan

Rattle and Hum: A Few Observations on Landfill Gas to Energy
Christine LeBel

Tulloch III or Congressional Solution?
Rebecca Shawn Finley

Buying Mineral Property Subject to an Area of Mutual Interest Clause
Jean Feriancek

Shifting the Focus of Wetlands Protection to State and Local Governments
Paula J. Schauwecker

Literary Resources

The Back Page

Issue Editor:
David R. Hodas

Assistant Issue Editors:
Scott Grover, Andrea Rimer, Dean Suagee, Andrew Waite

Cover photograph:
Punchstock: The Racetrack Playa, an ancient dry lakebed on the
west side of Death Valley National Park.

Department art:
Mike Callaway

Board Member Listing

©Copyright Information
Natural Resources & Environment (ISSN: 0882-3812) is published quarterly as a service to its members by the Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources of the American Bar Association, 321 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60654. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, Illinois, and additional mailing offices. Any member of the ABA may join the Section by paying its annual dues of $75. Subscriptions are available to nonlawyers for $80 a year ($85 for foreign subscribers). Back issues published two years ago and earlier may be purchased from William S. Hein & Co., Inc., 1285 Main St., Buffalo, New York 14209. More current issues may be obtained for $20 plus a $5.95 handling charge from the ABA Service Center, American Bar Association, 321 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60654. Requests to reprint articles should be sent to ABA Copyrights & Contracts; all other correspondence and manuscripts should be sent to the NR&E Managing Editor at the address above. For more information, visit www.ababooks.org. The opinions in Natural Resources & Environment are those of the authors and shall not be construed to represent the policies of the American Bar Association; the Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources; or the employers of the authors. POSTMASTER: Send all changes of address to Natural Resources & Environment, 321 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60654. Copyright © 2008 American Bar Association.