To go along with Paul in Kentucky, Reid’s opponent in Nevada, and the Murkowski loss in Alaska, the Tea Party just scored another victory in the GOP U.S. Senate Primary in Delaware. What does it mean? Moderates in the GOP are becoming endangered, establishment Republicans are very uncomfortable, Palin feels powerful, Democrats feel more hopeful about their chances, moderate Republicans voters won’t know what to do in the general, and everyone should be curious what so many Tea Party candidates in the Senate could do to coalition building and governance.
September 14, 2010
September 14, 2010
Legal Challenges to EPA Greenhouse Gas Regulations
Posted by Jason J. Czarnezki under Climate Change, Environment, LawLeave a Comment
A nice article in Greenwire (subscription needed) begins to lay out the legal challenges to four EPA rules that seek to regulate carbon dioxide in the absence of Congressional action. Writes Greenwire:
The four EPA rules being challenged are December’s “endangerment finding,” which determined that greenhouse gases are a threat to human health and welfare; March’s “triggering rule,” a reconsideration of a George W. Bush-era memo that determined when greenhouse gases would be subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act; April’s “auto rule,” which set greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and light-duty trucks; and May’s “tailoring rule,” which limited the newly triggered rules for stationary sources to the largest emitters.
September 13, 2010
Roadkill: A Tool to Help Determine the Environmental Impacts of Highways
Posted by Jason J. Czarnezki under Environment, Natural Resources, WildlifeLeave a Comment
Whenever I hike Kent’s Ledge, I chuckle at the idea of the passage under the highway as a potential wildlife corridor (though no one proclaims it to be one). But it makes me consider how necessary continuous land segments are to preserving wildlife habitat and biological diversity. America’s highways not only promote our driving culture and contribute to climate change, but also fragment habitat. This Times article discuss how roadkill is being used by some to measure the actual deaths of animals on the road and better understand the environmental impacts of roads.
September 12, 2010
Re-Reversing the Flow of the Chicago River
Posted by Jason J. Czarnezki under Environment, Law, Natural Resources[5] Comments
The Chicago River used to flow into Lake Michigan. But since raw sewage from the City of Chicago flowed into the river and then Lake Michigan, the city’s drinking water was often contaminated. Thus, in 1892 a major civil engineering project began–reversing the flow of the Chicago River into the Mississippi River by constructing a 28-mile canal to the Des Plaines River which flows into the Mississippi. Needless to say this did not make the residents of St. Louis happy, who became the recipient of the raw sewage. Law students and public nuisance buffs know of the Supreme Court case Missouri v. Illinois (200 U.S. 496 (1906)).
While many have suggested that the the flow of the Chicago River be returned to Lake Michigan, now a century later, lame duck Mayor Daley has offered his “heavyweight” support for the idea. See here.
September 10, 2010
New Vermont Law School Environmental Law Center Newsletter
Posted by Jason J. Czarnezki under Announcements, Environment, Vermont Law SchoolLeave a Comment
See here.
September 10, 2010
Land Use & Environmental Law Student Writing Competition
Posted by Jason J. Czarnezki under UncategorizedLeave a Comment
The 28th Annual Smith-Babcock-Williams Student Writing Competition sponsored by the Planning & Law Division of the American Planning Association. The deadline for submission of entries is June 6, 2011. The Competition is open to law students and graduate planning students writing on a question of significance in planning, planning law, land use law, local government law or environmental law. The winning entry will be awarded a prize of $2,500 and will be submitted for publication in /The Urban Lawyer/, the law journal of the American Bar Association’s Section of State & Local Government Law. In addition to the first prize, the Competition will offer a second place prize of $1,000 and up to two Honorable Mentions of $250. More info here.
September 10, 2010
Pace Law School has launched GreenLaw – The Blog of the Pace Environmental Law Programs. Commentary, news, and thoughts from its environmental law faculty now can be found at http://greenlaw.blogs.law.pace.edu.
September 9, 2010
Lastest Vermont Governor Recount Results
Posted by Jason J. Czarnezki under PoliticsLeave a Comment
September 9, 2010
Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts and the Great Lakes
Posted by Jason J. Czarnezki under Environment, Natural ResourcesLeave a Comment
Betsy Baker has posted an analysis of the Executive Order recently issued by President Obama on Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts and the Great Lakes. As the blogsite host notes: Betsy’s scholarship includes examinations of proposals for Canadian-US cooperation in maritime issues and the law-science interface in environmental treaties and legislation. In her guest post, she considers the newly announced U.S. ocean policy in light both of international law and the oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico.
September 9, 2010
Today’s News: Scalia in Milwaukee; Vermont Recount; Obama & Daley; Oil Spill; Montpelier
Posted by Jason J. Czarnezki under Environment, Law Schools, Politics, TeachingLeave a Comment
(1) Justice Scalia in Milwaukee where he spoke at the opening of the new Marquette University Law School building. In his speech, Scalia stressed the impact of teaching over scholarship for law school professors. He said, “The reality is that the part of your academic career that will have the most lasting impact and that will be remembered after you are long gone is those hours you spent producing a living intellectual legacy in the classroom.” The annual discussion of the value of legal scholarship seems to have begun, as other blogs have been debating the article, Preaching What They Don’t Practice: Why Law Faculties’ Preoccupation with Impractical Scholarship. Why does everything have to be so black and white? We should all strive to be great teachers, and write different forms of scholarship that are of value to various audiences.
(2) VT Democratic Governor Recount Underway. Don’t plan on going to the county courthouses to turn in your passport applications or do other business; they’re busy recounting ballots.
(3) Politics: Obama Speaks Out Against Pastor’s Plan to Burn Koran and Chicago’s Mayor Daley not running for re-election.
(4) BP takes some of the blame for the Gulf Oil Spill…maybe. See here.
(5) Montpelier, Vermont, first state capitol to adopt “sustainable” master plan.
JASON J. CZARNEZKI 