Ongoing Climate Litigation in the ECHR
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recently conducted a hearing for an ongoing climate litigation case that may have significant impact around the world. The case was brought by six Portuguese youths against the 33 member states of the Council of Europe, and accuses the governments of failing to protect against the increasing impacts of climate change. Complainants assert that this failure to address human-caused climate change has violated their fundamental rights as guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights (“the Convention”). Respondents have challenged the admissibility of the case, as well as the Complainants’ status as victims of climate change.
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What Can Geothermal Energy Do for Colorado?
Geothermal energy in Colorado has gained traction through innovative initiatives like the “Heat Beneath Our Feet” campaign and notable projects such as the Mt. Princeton geothermal plant. These endeavors signify the state's commitment to exploring and leveraging its abundant geothermal resources for sustainable energy production.
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What is the Role for Heat Pumps?
Heat pumps are revolutionary devices that leverage the principles of thermodynamics to transfer heat from one location to another. Contrary to traditional heating systems that generate heat, heat pumps extract warmth from the environment – air, ground, or water – and channel it into buildings for heating purposes, this can lead to 2 to 3 times the efficiency of ordinary heaters. Operating in a manner akin to a refrigerator, they use a refrigerant to absorb heat from a low-temperature area and release it at a higher temperature.
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Subsidence: The Problem of Sinking Land
Groundwater supplies 38% of the drinking water in the United States, and nearly half of the drinking water in the world. Groundwater is a freshwater source contained in aquifers that is extracted for human consumption by wells that are drilled into the aquifer.
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Colorado’s Persistent Ozone Problem
Colorado has a looming problem. A problem visible most days in the form of a giant smog cloud that hugs the skyline of the Front Range. This smog cloud, caused mostly by emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, is an ozone cloud.
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Is the Public Trust Doctrine a Potential Vehicle for Climate-Change Litigation?
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.”
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The Impact of the Renewable Energy Rush on Indigenous Peoples
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?
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Wildlife Services: The Inappropriately Named Government Agency
To one unfamiliar with the work of Wildlife Service, the name may lead one to believe the division aims to serve and benefit the interests of wildlife; that notion could not be further from the truth. Wildlife Services is a division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) responsible for the death of 1.85 million animals in 2022.
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When Worlds Collide: Developing Bird-Friendly Cities
On October 5th, more than 1,000 birds collided into McCormick Place in downtown Chicago, IL. While Chicago has historically been one of the most dangerous cities for migratory birds, this catastrophe in the worst in recent history.
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Looking for US Involvement in the Fight Against Single-Use Plastic Pollution
In 1907, arguably one of the most transformative inventions of the modern world was born; synthetic plastic. Since that time, every object known to man likely contains polyethylene, the world’s most abundant plastic.
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10(j)-Rules: The Cost of Quieting the Oppositions Howling
Wolves are returning to Colorado, and with them comes a 10(j)-rule. Many may wonder what exactly a 10(j)-rule is, whether they are effective, and how it will affect wolf reintroduction in Colorado.
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Lahaina: The Catastrophic Consequences of Climate Change
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.
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Making Waves/The Wave of the Future: Floating Photovoltaic Arrays
Water and solar energy are the building blocks of life—especially in the arid West. An emerging technology takes advantage of both has the potential to provide 50% of the world’s ongoing energy needs through a clean, green new technology: Floating photovoltaics (FPVs). Alternatively known “aquavoltaics”1 (AVs), “floating solar arrays,” or “floatovoltaics,” FPVs can increase sustainable energy production while decreasing the costs and ecological concerns related to terrestrial solar arrays.
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Sustainability Paradox: The Price of Electric Vehicles Batteries to the Ocean's Deepsea Floor
The prospect of deepsea mining provides a predicament for environmental activists and policymakers globally. It has largely been accepted that a transition from gas to electric vehicles would help decrease the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Despite this fewer than one percent of vehicles on the road today are electric vehicles.
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Limiting Tribal Environmental Protections
On August 4th, 2021, wild rice sued the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the White Earth Tribal Court. Wild Rice sued the Minnesota DNR for its issuance of a permit to the Canadian corporation Enbridge to construct a tar sands oil pipeline from Alberta, Canada to Lake Superior. The pipeline was proposed to cross lands ceded to the United States government by the Chippewa Tribe and lands that the Chippewa tribe still retained treaty rights on to gather wild rice and other aquatic plants.
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Renewable Energy Gained Significant Ground in 2022, But Is It Enough?
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.
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Protecting Global Health by Restricting PFAS
PFAS are a class of dangerous ‘forever chemicals’ that pose a serious risk to public health around the world. Governments need to take swift action to restrict PFAS production in order to prevent further accumulation of these chemicals in our environment and protect public health.
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Do we have a Human Right to a Clean Environment?
Is the right to a clean environment a protected human right? According to the United Nations and a collection of youth plaintiffs in lawsuits across the U.S., the answer is yes. If so, then the door is opening to a new approach to climate justice litigation, based on pre-existing treaties and state constitutions, that could change the way environmental justice advocates approach their work. This spring and summer, several important cases will be tried that could set the precedent for whether or not this approach will work.
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The Hydrogen Rainbow
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.
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Should Colorado really sequester carbon?
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.
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