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Vibrant Environment
Biodiversity | Climate Change and Sustainability | Environmental Justice | Governance and Rule of Law | Land Use and Natural Resources | Oceans and Coasts | Pollution Control
TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT: Protecting the Environment in the Context of International Trade
By Greta Swanson, Visiting Attorney
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Although making no specific commitments, the Trump Administration continues to propose the potential renegotiation of NAFTA. House Democrats, in a Resolution earlier this spring, and a group of 15 environment, labor, and human rights groups, in an Eight-Point Plan, have called for a renegotiation of NAFTA that ensures that regulations protecting the environment are maintained.
In an earlier blog post, I discussed how environmental protection provisions incorporated in trade agreements could help mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of (international) trade. This post explores the inverse topic: how the investment chapters in NAFTA (and other trade agreements) may affect environmental and social protections in parties’ domestic regulation.
A Win for Kids and the Environment in China
By Zhuoshi Liu, Staff Attorney; Director, China Program
Monday, May 15, 2017
Since the early 2000s, many Chinese schools and kindergartens have built synthetic running tracks on their campuses. However, many of these schools and kindergartens are underfunded and consequently tend to award contracts to the lowest bidders, often at a cost to the environment and human health.
This Month in ELR - The State of Environmental Justice: An Obama Administration Retrospective
By ELR Staff
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Pres. Barack Obama made a number of promises related to environmental justice when he hit the 2008 campaign trail: he said he would strengthen the EPA Office of Environmental Justice, expand the environmental justice small grants program, and empower minority communities to respond to health threats. For the most part, he delivered.
The Great Gobs of Good Green News
By Stephen R. Dujack, Editor, The Environmental Forum®
Monday, May 8, 2017
Never in my nearly thirty years as an environmental journalist have I seen such doom and gloom. And that era has seen a lot of doom and gloom, starting with the worldwide drought that made “Planet of the Year” in Time magazine in 1988 and continuing through predictions of global Armageddon from industrial pollutants and the dregs of an advanced society.
Helping Communities Pursue Water-Neutral Growth
By Adam Schempp, Senior Attorney; Director, Western Water Program
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Water is fundamental to life, but it is not always bountiful. Many communities around the country already face water scarcity issues, whether such scarcity is due to a history of shortages, a present crisis, or growing concerns over the longevity of supplies. Accommodating population growth, and realizing the benefits from new development, only adds to the challenge in water-stressed areas.
Represent a Wildlife Whistleblower: Announcing the NWC’s Wildlife Whistleblower Attorney Referral Service
By Meera Gajjar, Staff Attorney, National Whistleblower Center
Monday, May 1, 2017
It’s time to take the fight against wildlife trafficking from the jungles to the judges. The National Whistleblower Center (NWC) recently launched its Global Wildlife Whistleblower Program, and it is now seeking attorneys who are ready to join the vanguard by representing wildlife whistleblowers. This means helping whistleblowers develop effective reports and qualify for rewards under U.S. laws.
Climate Change: An Inside Story
By Tobie Bernstein, Senior Attorney; Director, Indoor Environments and Green Buildings Program
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Communities throughout the United States are experiencing a variety of conditions associated with a changing climate—hotter summers and heat waves, droughts, intense storms and flooding, increased average precipitation and humidity, and more severe wildfires. Alongside potentially far-reaching environmental and economic impacts, these conditions have direct and indirect effects on human health. In recent years, scientists have begun to shed light on important climate-related health effects that occur indoors, where people spend the vast majority of their time.
Floodplain Buyouts: From the Archives and for the Future
By Nora Moraga-Lewy, Former Research Associate
Monday, April 24, 2017
With all the national-level news surrounding the new administration’s approach to environmental protections, it can be easy to lose track of the important roles that state and local governments have in pushing forward plans and policies for environmental protection and resilient communities. Working on ELI and UNC’s floodplain buyouts project and stumbling upon a book from the ELI archives refreshed my excitement and understanding of the various levels on which we can push for environmental action.
FOOD WASTE: “Smart Technology” Promises to Revolutionize Recycling
By Carol Adaire Jones, Visiting Scholar, Linda Breggin, Senior Attorney; Director of the Center for State, Tribal, and Local Environmental Programs, and Emmett McKinney, Former Research Associate
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Imagine the dumpsters behind restaurant row in your community signaling their hauling company to come pick them up because they are full and about to overflow, or their food is rotting and about to stink up the neighborhood. Such are the promises for waste management of new “smart technologies,” based on sensors, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, big data, and social networks.
The Uncertain Fate of WOTUS
By Robert Kelsey, Associate Editor, Environmental Law Reporter
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
In a series of executive orders, the president has requested that agencies review several environmental protection rules, and if deemed necessary, repeal or modify rules to better facilitate economic growth. One such rule, the Clean Water rule, also known as the Waters of the U.S. rule (WOTUS), has been in the crosshairs of industry for some time.
