Winter 2021: Population and the Environment

In This Issue

Environment

Rationing Water, Changing the Landscape: California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

Shani Harmon Alexander and Lauren Estell

California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act requires that government develop and implement plans for sustainable groundwater use, which will change agricultural uses of water and may disproportionately impact small, diverse farmers.

Environment

Killing Factory Farm Funding to Resuscitate the World Food Economy

Carlie Leoni and Kenneth Anspach

Economic disruptions from a global pandemic could cause farming to become a more responsible and sustainable sector that healthfully feeds a growing population.

Public Utility

Changing Climate, Changing Utilities: Extreme Weather, Wildfires, Technology, and the Electric Grid

Ellen Howard Kutzer and Erin Overturf

Electrical service interruptions reduce wildfire risk but pose hardship on broad populations of utility customers.

Environment

Cooperative Federalism: A Path to Proactive Managed Retreat

Manisha Patel and Allie Reilly

Current events demonstrate the need for federal leadership to respond to pervasive social and economic issues like climate change. Cooperative federalism offers a model for developing a unified values-based managed retreat vision.

Environment

State Housing Affordability Initiatives and Environmental Protection: Can They Work Together?

Rich Campbell

Several new and proposed state housing affordability laws across the nation do not address environmental issues, thus raising the question whether these goals are mutually exclusive.

Environment

Long Crises, Short Crises, and Public Investment in State Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Lane Kisonak

Species extinctions, inequities in policing, and funding challenges are converging with the COVID-19 crisis to create opportunities for state fish and wildlife conservation.

Environment

Paying for a Pandemic: “Just Compensation” and the Exercise of Police Powers for Public Safety

Roger Hanshaw

This article analyzes the applicability and application of the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment to government actions causing losses by a limited number of persons or entities for the benefit of society at large with a focus on the exercise of the government’s police powers.

Departments

Environment

Vantage Point

Erin Flannery Keith, Issue Editor

The environment and the law can respond to population trends through a variety of adaptive land use strategies and conservation measures that take into account populations displaced or most affected by climate change.

Environment

Perspectives: The Three “Cs” of SEER: Civility, Culture, and Creativity

William L. Penny

William L. Penny, SEER chair (2013–14), reflects on how the Section has always served as a center for Civility, Culture, and Creativity for its members despite differences of opinions.

Environment

Interview: Gaylord Nelson (1916–2005), Founder of Earth Day

Interview by Milo Mason

NR&E’s 1995 interview with Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day, former Wisconsin governor and U.S. senator, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

Environment

Literary Resources

Reviewed by Madeline June Kass

Reviews of Climate Adaptation, Distributed Generation Law: A Guide to Regulations, Policies, and Programs, Living Planet Report 2020—Bending the Curve of Biodiversity Loss

Environment

The Back Page: A Proper Discussion

Mark A. Ryan

Let us have fact-based discussions and focus on how we reach compromise whenever we can.

Insights

Tort

Fire Liability Imbalances—An Issue Worth Revisiting?

Lawson Fite and David Bechtold

The federal government is often shielded from tort liabilities associated with wildfires, but should it be when fires increasingly start and spread from federal lands?

Environment

Pandemic or Not, PFAS Review Progresses

Patrick J. Paul

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, governmental attention to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has continued in earnest throughout 2020.

Environment

Nationwide Permit 12: Currently in Flux

Lisa A. Decker

This article discusses the ongoing litigation surrounding the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers nationwide permit 12 for oil and gas pipelines, as well as the Corps’ recent pre-publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify the challenged nationwide permit.

Environment

The Future of SEPs in Citizen Suits

Louise Dyble

Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) have already been phased out of environmental settlements negotiated by the U.S. Department of Justice. Now, SEPs in citizen suit settlements are being challenged as unconstitutional.

Bias & Discrimination

Climate Change Is Hurting Expectant Black Mothers

Felicia Isaac

Black mothers are harmed by climate change at a much higher rate than the population at large. Environmental justice efforts should focus on eradicating this disparity.

American Bar Association TM American Bar Association

Winter 2021: Population and the Environment

Rationing Water, Changing the Landscape: California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

In This Issue

Rationing Water, Changing the Landscape: California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

Killing Factory Farm Funding to Resuscitate the World Food Economy

Changing Climate, Changing Utilities: Extreme Weather, Wildfires, Technology, and the Electric Grid

Cooperative Federalism: A Path to Proactive Managed Retreat

State Housing Affordability Initiatives and Environmental Protection: Can They Work Together?

Long Crises, Short Crises, and Public Investment in State Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Paying for a Pandemic: “Just Compensation” and the Exercise of Police Powers for Public Safety

Departments

Vantage Point

Perspectives: The Three “Cs” of SEER: Civility, Culture, and Creativity

Interview: Gaylord Nelson (1916–2005), Founder of Earth Day

Literary Resources

The Back Page: A Proper Discussion

Insights

Fire Liability Imbalances—An Issue Worth Revisiting?

Pandemic or Not, PFAS Review Progresses

Nationwide Permit 12: Currently in Flux

The Future of SEPs in Citizen Suits

Climate Change Is Hurting Expectant Black Mothers