JASON J. CZARNEZKI

On November 5, 2010, the 13th Annual Conference on Litigating Takings Challenges to Land Use and Environmental Regulations will be held at Berkeley Law in Berkeley, California.  This year’s conference, sponsored by Vermont Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Berkeley Law and others, will feature a discussion of constitutional review of property rulings in the aftermath of Stop the Beach Renourishment, takings claims in the era of climate change, eminent domain practice five years after Kelo, takings questions arising from regulation of water use, and other topics.

The program brochure and registration information are available at:

http://www.vermontlaw.edu/x11644.xml

I earlier blogged about the close Vermont Democratic gubernatorial primary here and here.  Now the question is whether there will be a recount, as asked here by the Times Argus.  The current AP totals are:

Peter Shumlin  18,192  25%

Doug Racine       18,000   25%

Deb Markowitz      17,503   24%

Matt Dunne       15,242   21%

Susan Bartlett    3,774     5%

I hope someone like Nate Silver at 538 will take the time to do a statistical analysis to determine the likelihood of a new leader if their is a recount.  The expectation is that the VT Sec of State will announce official totals next week, and canadidates have 10 days from election day to request a recount.

In 2007, I wrote an article titled “Advancing the Rebirth of Environmental Common Law.”  The article, in part, discussed the case Connecticut v. Am. Elec. Power Co., decided in the Southern District of New York where state and local governments filed suit against power companies under state public nuisance law in order to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.  On appeal to the Second Circuit, the Court vacated the decision of the district court and decided that plaintiffs could proceed in their nuisance claims.  I recently posted to an interesting piece about the Obama Administration’s potnetial response in the case, and whether it would act strategically in order to pressure Congress to pass climate change legislation.  Now it seems that the Tennessee Valley Authority has filed its petition (click here for petition), signed by the U.S. Department of Justice, with the Supreme Court, asking the Court to grant cert and state that plaintiffs cannot pursue nuisance claims because now EPA is beginning to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

Call for Articles

The George Washington University Journal of Energy and Environmental Law (JEEL) is calling for full length articles for its spring issue. Articles should address topics that explore critical issues at the intersection of energy, environment and climate. We are particularly interested in articles addressing international treaties, legislative initiatives in other countries, U.S. federal and state legislation, and case law developments dealing with issues such as:

• energy generation and distribution with a special focus on renewable and distributed sources;
• facility siting, including transmission infrastructure;
• mechanisms for enhancing energy efficiency in all use sectors;
• public benefit funds, net metering requirements, renewable portfolio standards and other forms of utility regulation;
• implementation of a “smart grid;”
• climate change and carbon sequestration;
• air and water pollution issues related to energy generation;
• water use and water conservation related to energy production;
• land use questions;
• assessment of the environmental impacts of energy production and energy-intensive activities; and
• resource extraction

JEEL is published twice each year as a supplement to ELI’s Environmental Law Reporter (ELR) News & Analysis.

For more information and to view a sample issue visit JEEL’s website at:

http://www.law.gwu.edu/Academics/Pages/JournalofEnergyEnvironmentalLaw.aspx

Articles must be submitted by September 20, 2010 to: gwjeel@gmail.com

Questions can also be directed to Lee Paddock, Associate Dean for Environmental Law Studies, at lpaddock@law.gwu.edu.

This Fall, the Albany Law Review will be hosting a symposium focusing on the legal and regulatory effects of the oil spill in the Gulf.  In conjunction with this symposium, they will publish an issue exclusively devoted to this symposium topic, and are currently seeking articles to fill this issue.  More info here.

Peter Shumlin – 18,244 votes (25.0%)
Doug Racine – 18,066 votes (24.7%)
Deb Markowitz – 17,854 votes (24.4%)
Matt Dunne – 15,100 votes (20.7%)
Susan Bartlett – 3,795 votes (5.2%)

See here and here and here.

UPDATE:  I have never been a fan of run-off elections, but here is a case where one would certainly be appropriate given the large number of supporters for Markowitz and Dunne.  Also, the candiates can request a recount in a race this close (less than 2% margin of victory).  We’ll see if any of them do so, but reports indicate that such a recount would not be resolved until sometime in September, further shortening the time to campaign against the Republican candidate for governor Brian Dubie.

UPDATE 2:  Shumlin declared Winner by Times Argus. I have not yet seen this declared by AP.  Not certified by the state yet.

UPDATE 3: The AP numbers differ from the above.  And Racine has not yet conceded.   See here and here.  Still no official results.  All precincts have reported.

Peter Shumlin  18,183  25%

Doug Racine       17,993   25%

Deb Markowitz                 17,499   24%

Matt Dunne       15,034   21%

Susan Bartlett    3,773     5%

UPDATE 4: Expect the Vt. Sec. of State to announce the official results early next week.

See results here and here.  Apparently I was right on in my earlier post when I said no one had any idea who would win.  Apparently, there’s a gentlemen’s agreement that there will be no recount, but I’m not sure I buy that.  Of most interest, the town of St. Albans has yet to report vote totals (population just over 5,000).

In other primaries around the nation, there don’t seem to be any surprises–Meeks, McCain, Rubio all won.

UPDATE 1: 22 vote difference in VT Dem. Gov. Primary.  See http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100825/THISJUSTIN/100829956.

UPDATE 2: Racine ahead of Shumlin by 60 votes.  Markowitz 3rd.

UPDATE 3: Maybe a surprise in Alaska GOP US Senate Primary.  See here.

UPDATE 4: Upset in Fla. GOP Gov. Primary.  See here.

UPDATE 5: VT Dem Gov Primary – Racine leads by 88 votes.  http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100825/THISJUSTIN/100829956

Update 6:  Shumlin wins VT Dem. Gov. primary by 178 votes.

Legal Planet blogs about a cool mass transit idea apparently being developed in China–the Straddling Bus.  See here.

An excerpt from Greenwire:

The Gulf of Mexico’s undersea oil plume is no more.

For nearly a month, scientists sampling the site of a deepwater plume stretching southwest from BP PLC’s failed well in the Gulf have been foiled. Their sensors have gone silent. Where once a vibrant — if diffuse — cloud of oil stretched for miles, 3,600 feet below the surface, there is now only ocean, and what seems to be the debris of a bacterial feeding frenzy.

“For the last three weeks, we haven’t been able to detect the deepwater plume at all,” said Terry Hazen, a microbiologist and oil spill expert at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who has had a clutch of researchers monitoring the Gulf since late May. The disappearance is backed up by government sampling data. The plume is simply gone. And Hazen knows why.

“This all fits with the fact that the bugs have degraded the oil,” he said.

It’s my birthday and election day–what an awesome combination.    The most watched race is the Democratic Gubernatorial Primary where 5 candidates are vying to match up against the current Republican Lt. Governor in the fall, since Givernor Jim Douglas is not seeking re-election.  The candidates are: State senators Susan Bartlett and Doug Racine; a former state senator and Google exec, Matt Dunne; Secretary of State Deb Markowitz; and State Senate President Peter Shumlin. No one has any idea who is going to win the primary.  Let’s hope it’s not too close (like recount close) because there is a unity rally tomorrow at noon.  I’m not going to predict a winner, but I will go out on a limb on predict the President with come to VT to campaign for the Democratic nominee at some point; something that hasn’t happened in VT in a long time according to long-time Vermonters.