The public trust doctrine’s foundation lies in English common law and was initially established to protect public commerce along navigable waterways. It has since been recognized in the United States in the landmark case, Illinois Central Railroad Company v. Illinois. In this case, the Court determined that all navigable waters in the United States and land under them are held in public trust by the government for the public interest. “Water is a ‘commons’ good that no single person government should keep for their own.”
Indigenous peoples’ lands and territories constitute at least 28% of the global land surface. Indigenous people represent 5,000 unique cultures worldwide, and they protect 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity. At the same time, despite having contributed the least to climate change, many indigenous people will experience the most drastic impacts from it if humans don’t ramp up renewable energy production rapidly and worldwide. Yet is it possible to do so without repeating the atrocities of the past or worsening indigenous peoples’ circumstances in the present?
From record heat waves to hurricanes to unprecedented wildfires, the devastating consequences of climate change continue to ravage our cities. One of the most recent examples of these impacts is the Lahaina wildfire.
The transition to renewable energy is vital in the global fight against climate change. Significant gains were made in the renewable energy sector in 2022, but more still needs to be done to avoid irreversible climate catastrophe.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. It is a colorless, odorless gas that has been brought center stage in the debate around renewable energy.
Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a technology that has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants and other industrial facilities. Colorado has been identified as one of three places in the southwestern United States with possible geographical sequestration formations that would allow it to serve as a regional sequestration sink. There are numerous risks that carbon sequestration carries.
Recent scientific studies on climate change paint a bleak picture of the biosphere. In reaction to this large-scale destruction and impending international global crisis, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated that the “world must step up” to protect the Earth from “the immediate and ever-growing risk of the climate emergency.” The Rights of Nature (RoN) legal approach is a system communities around the globe can implement to “step up” responses to the climate change threat and mitigate climate change impacts through an alternative legal mechanism.
In the past, when summer winds down and fall begins, the threats of a wildfire catching spark would diminish until the following summer. Recently, however, that threat has extended to be year long due to decades long droughts and disappearing snow caps.
Climate change activists across the world, frustrated by the inaction of world leaders to address climate change, have transitioned from traditional protests to demonstrative non-violent protests like vandalizing famous works of art and supergluing themselves at various locations. While their methods may be unorthodox, their message is being spread as they make headline news. The message? That climate change is tied to capitalism and has a larger socio economic impact.
The Colorado River is in a state of crisis. This is not merely an ecological issue to concern environmental bleeding hearts, this is on track to deeply impact the lives of the 40 million Americans that depend on the Colorado for water and power.
The public trust doctrine’s foundation lies in English common law and was initially established to protect public commerce along navigable waterways. It has since been recognized in the United States in the landmark case, Illinois Central Railroad Company v. Illinois. In this case, the Court determined that all navigable waters in the United States and land under them are held in public trust by the government for the public interest. “Water is a ‘commons’ good that no single person government should keep for their own.”
Indigenous peoples’ lands and territories constitute at least 28% of the global land surface. Indigenous people represent 5,000 unique cultures worldwide, and they protect 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity. At the same time, despite having contributed the least to climate change, many indigenous people will experience the most drastic impacts from it if humans don’t ramp up renewable energy production rapidly and worldwide. Yet is it possible to do so without repeating the atrocities of the past or worsening indigenous peoples’ circumstances in the present?
From record heat waves to hurricanes to unprecedented wildfires, the devastating consequences of climate change continue to ravage our cities. One of the most recent examples of these impacts is the Lahaina wildfire.
The transition to renewable energy is vital in the global fight against climate change. Significant gains were made in the renewable energy sector in 2022, but more still needs to be done to avoid irreversible climate catastrophe.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. It is a colorless, odorless gas that has been brought center stage in the debate around renewable energy.
Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a technology that has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants and other industrial facilities. Colorado has been identified as one of three places in the southwestern United States with possible geographical sequestration formations that would allow it to serve as a regional sequestration sink. There are numerous risks that carbon sequestration carries.
Recent scientific studies on climate change paint a bleak picture of the biosphere. In reaction to this large-scale destruction and impending international global crisis, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated that the “world must step up” to protect the Earth from “the immediate and ever-growing risk of the climate emergency.” The Rights of Nature (RoN) legal approach is a system communities around the globe can implement to “step up” responses to the climate change threat and mitigate climate change impacts through an alternative legal mechanism.
In the past, when summer winds down and fall begins, the threats of a wildfire catching spark would diminish until the following summer. Recently, however, that threat has extended to be year long due to decades long droughts and disappearing snow caps.
Climate change activists across the world, frustrated by the inaction of world leaders to address climate change, have transitioned from traditional protests to demonstrative non-violent protests like vandalizing famous works of art and supergluing themselves at various locations. While their methods may be unorthodox, their message is being spread as they make headline news. The message? That climate change is tied to capitalism and has a larger socio economic impact.
The Colorado River is in a state of crisis. This is not merely an ecological issue to concern environmental bleeding hearts, this is on track to deeply impact the lives of the 40 million Americans that depend on the Colorado for water and power.
War, famine, and human rights issues. These concepts are typically what one may think of when hearing the word “refugee.” However, a less common notion thought of when considering refugee crises is climate change. The number of climate change refugees is steadily rising and becoming more common as climate change itself continues to occur. Climate change and human rights issues are deeply intertwined, particularly when extreme changes in a natural environment leads to the displacement of individuals.
Hearing the words “Inflation Reduction Act” does not necessarily trigger thoughts of environmental legislation nor efforts of reducing the negative impacts of climate change. However, not only does President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (“the Act”) combat inflation and lower healthcare costs, it also heavily invests in clean energy. In fact, Congress has never passed such expansive investments in combatting climate change. The Act seeks to delegate funds that will invest in clean energy, allowing the United States to return to its leadership role as a major player in combatting against climate change.
As the climate crisis continues to ravage the planet and government action remains limited, some people have resorted to extreme measures to draw attention to the problem. Some of these actions include blocking barges full of coal from leaving port, fraudulently bidding on oil and gas leases, and turning off transcontinental oil pipelines. Many of the individuals who commit such acts have faced criminal prosecution.
No one owns Antarctica – sort of. But climate change activists should lobby for international law to more clearly define ice structures and laws that govern them.
limate change is no longer news. We have seen the effects from superstorms like Hurricane Sandy to bigger, hotter wildfires in California. Climate change is complicated, and because it occurs at a global level, those complexities need to be addressed at an international level. This effort came to fruition when the United Nations created the Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”) in 1994.
Colorado’s 2021 legislative session was extremely progressive on environmental justice and climate. Even environmental groups approved. The following are the major pieces of legislation to know about:
Technology advancements and generations of agricultural revolutions have allowed for a global expansion in the realm of crops, bringing plants far beyond their original and natural limits and introducing them to new climates and countries.
When we hear “climate change” or “global warming,” what we are really hearing about is an overabundance of carbon dioxide, or CO2, and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate change, including periods of global warming, has always been part of Earth’s history, but the warming period we are in now is problematic because it is man-made.
If you had to guess which regions are feeling the effects of climate change the most, you would be correct to guess low-lying islands and coastal areas. But within urban areas of the United States, certain parts of cities are feeling the effects
The accepted theory for the case of the extinction of the dinosaurs—the great terrible lizards that once ruled the earth—is an asteroid impact. But the crash did not cause their death the way that most of us assume it did.
In 1869, after almost a year of western exploration, geologist John Wesley Powell reported to Congress that there was not enough water in the west to support significant settlement.
This fall, the Western U.S. saw an unprecedented—and currently inexplicable—massive bird die-off. Two coinciding events are top suspects for potential explanations: an early cold snap and record-breaking wildfires.
Why is 2020 the most active wildfire year in history for the Western United States? Climate change.
On August 13, 2020, the Colorado Cameron Peak fire began. As of October 23, the fire is only 57% contained and has burned 206,977 acres; it is now the largest wildfire in Colorado history. The magnitude of the Cameron Peak fire is minuscule, though, when
A look back at the final year of the decade brings images of global movements against climate change with activists and youth from around the globe taking to the streets to demand action from their governments.
“I have no doubt that the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society.” Ann Aiken, former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, said this in…
In classic science fiction, buildings are imagined as towering skyscrapers made of either glass-like materials or perhaps something that has not yet been developed. A recent push for the…
The earth’s climate is drastically changing due to the release of Greenhouse Gas (“GHG”) emissions, which contributes to an enhanced greenhouse effect. Globally…
In today’s world, many products are more easily replaced than repaired.
