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The Carbon Footprint of the Whiskey Industry: is Federal Preemption at Odds with Environmental Health?

Dana Dabbousi

February 21st 2024

by Jenisha Sabaratnam* Introduction In Mulberry, a small town in Lincoln County, Tennessee, residents have begun noticing the growth of a suspicious black fungus. The most likely culprit? Whiskey. Several Jack Daniels warehouses near the town are home to countless barrels of whiskey. During the distillation process, ethanol is released ...

A Polymer Problem: How Plastic Production and Consumption is Polluting our Oceans

Computer Courage

April 19th 2019

Typically, when a new product comes on the scene, it takes several generations to evaluate its use and environmental impact. However, synthetic plastics really only began to take over around 50 years ago, and we’re already seeing a movement to ban, or at least drastically reduce, the material.

State Clean Energy Polices at Risk: Courts Should Not Preempt Zero Emission Credits for Nuclear Plants

ELQ Journal

April 27th 2018

In 2016, the Illinois Legislature and New York Public Service Commission (PSC) enacted nearly identical policies to induce economically struggling nuclear power plants to continue operating. Competing power generation companies filed suits in federal district courts, arguing that the states’ policies are preempted

Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Transportation Sector: A Cap-and-Invest Approach

ELQ Journal

March 7th 2018

James D. Flynn* This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate (ELRS). I. Introduction In recent years, states in New England and the mid-Atlantic region have made significant progress in reducing climate change-inducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the electricity generation sector.[1] This has largely been the result of ...

An Autopsy of the Clean Power Plan

ELQ Journal

April 12th 2017

John Copeland Nagle* [ download PDF ] The Clean Power Plan (CPP) was supposed to be great. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) celebrated its regulation as “a historic and important step,” “fair, flexible and designed to strengthen the fast-growing trend toward cleaner and lower-polluting American energy,” providing “national consistency, accountability ...

WWII-Era Government Contractor Indemnification Clauses Come to the Fore in CERCLA Litigation as Other Grounds to Shift Costs to the Government Narrow

ELQ Journal

October 14th 2016

Hume Ross This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate (ELRS).   I.       Introduction Before World War II, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto wrote: “Because I have seen the motor industry in Detroit and the oilfields of Texas, I know Japan has no chance if she goes to war with ...

A Leading Cause of Everything: One Industry That Is Destroying Our Planet and Our Ability to Thrive on It

ELQ Journal

October 30th 2015

Christopher Hyner Christopher Hyner is a 3L at Georgetown University Law Center, where he is a Managing Editor for the Georgetown Environmental Law Review. This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate. Click here to see the original post and leave a comment. Climate change. Ocean dead zones. Fisheries depletion. Species extinction. Deforestation. World hunger. ...

Damages from Pesticide Spray Drift under Trespass Law

ELQ Journal

March 21st 2014

Terence J. Centner* [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] Introduction In today’s world, millions of people lack access to sufficient quantities of food to meet recommended dietary needs.[1] As the world’s population grows, global demand only increases for food and fiber.[2] These shortages are occurring despite significant ...

The Obsolescence of Environmental Common Law

ELQ Journal

May 9th 2013

by R. Trent Taylor* [ Click Here to Comment ] [ download PDF ] Obsolescence, the process of becoming obsolete, is a staple of our lives in the twenty-first century. As new and better technologies develop at a faster and faster pace, our existing technologies—smartphones, televisions, computers—become obsolete almost as ...

Sulfuric Acid Mist: Regulating Uncertainties

ELQ Journal

December 7th 2012

Matthew Thurlow* [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] <<< See Update, January 2, 2013, below >>> Sulfuric acid mist, also known as H2SO4 or SO3,[1] is one of the least publicized air pollutants associated with emissions from coal-fired power plants. Long overshadowed by nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, ...

Hydraulic Fracturing and Groundwater Contamination: Can Disclosure Rules Clarify What’s In Our Groundwater?

ELQ Journal

July 31st 2012

Rachel Degenhardt* [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] Hydraulic fracturing is a process whereby chemical additives, sand, and water are pumped into underground source rocks at high pressures in order to release natural gas and oil for fuel production.[1] There are a number of potential environmental impacts ...

China’s Regulatory Response to the Looming Energy Crisis

ELQ Journal

June 20th 2012

                                                                   Yuwa Wei*                                 ...

Student Review of Selected Panels at the 2012 Water Law Symposium “Water and Growth: The Imperative for Sustainable Approaches to Uncertainty”

ELQ Journal

March 22nd 2012

[ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ]   Click here for videos of all sessions or on each session for its video. All review authors attended the 2012 Water Law Symposium hosted at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law on January 21, 2012. The panel reviews ...

Aviation and Emissions Trading in the European Union: Pie in the Sky or Compatible with International Law?

ELQ Journal

February 15th 2012

Stephanie Switzer* [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] In 2003, the then European Community[1] adopted Directive 2003/87/EC, establishing a scheme for trading allowances of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.[2] Directive 2003/87/EC mandated the establishment of an emissions trading scheme (ETS) within the European Community “to promote reductions of ...

Seawater Desalination: Climate Change Adaptation Strategy or Contributor?

ELQ Journal

December 4th 2011

Angela Haren Kelley* [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] While droughts and water supply challenges have plagued California for decades, climate change will increase the strain on California’s water management system.[1] Seawater desalination—the process of removing salt and other minerals from seawater—is often hailed as the solution ...

Clean Water Act Liability for Stormwater Discharge Regardless of Who Muddied the Waters

ELQ Journal

July 19th 2011

Yana Welinder[*] [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] Introduction Regulating pollution from stormwater that flows over structures and paved surfaces, collecting waste and sediments and ultimately spilling into rivers and oceans, can be a true “administrative nightmare.”[1] However, on March 10, 2011, the Ninth Circuit clarified that, ...

CERCLA’s Unrecoverable Natural Resource Damages: Injuries to Cultural Resources and Services

ELQ Journal

March 3rd 2011

Sarah Peterman* [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] Introduction Confusion over what damages are recoverable as natural resource damages (NRD) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and other federal statutes abounds, giving credence to the oft-repeated phrase that “CERCLA is not ...

Student Review of Selected Panels at the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice 2010 Symposium “Empowered Partnerships: Participatory Action Research for Environmental Justice”

ELQ Journal

January 21st 2011

Anna Lund, Michelle Ben-David, and Ubaldo Fernandez* [ Click Here to Comment ][ download PDF ]  The following articles are student responses and observations of a selected few panels at Berkeley Law’s 2010 Symposium “Empowered Partnerships: Participatory Action Research for Environmental Justice” hosted by the Thelton E. Henderson Center for ...

BP’s Well Evaded Environmental Review: Categorical Exclusion Policy Remains Unchanged

ELQ Journal

November 3rd 2010

Jaclyn Lopez* [ Clck Here to Comment ][ download PDF ] Introduction Sea snot, tar balls, and designated oiled carcass holding locations are just a few of the many appalling and lingering consequences of the failure of BP’s Macondo well in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The ...

Student Review of Selected Panels at the Berkeley Law 2010 Environmental Justice Symposium

ELQ Journal

April 24th 2010

Kara Cook, Maria Stamas, and Meredith Wilensky* [ Clck Here to Comment ][ download PDF ]    The Role of the Environmental Justice Lawyer PANELISTS: Kara Brodfehrer, Attorney, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.;Alegria De La Cruz, Directing Attorney, Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment;Helen Kang, Director, Golden Gate University, ...

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