Professor Rock Pring Interviewed Regarding Environmental Courts in Hawaii

Professor Rock Pring

Hawaii is considering the benefits of establishing an environmental court. Advocates of the environmental court system feel that environmental crimes, such as pumping pool water into the ocean or dumping trash on the roadside, etc. would be better prosecuted in an environmental court.

"Nearly 500 jurisdictions around the world, including dozens of U.S. cities, maintain environmental courts and tribunals," said George Pring, a professor emeritus at Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver and the co-author with his wife, Kitty Pring, of "Greening Justice," a study of environmental courts.

Hawaii Senate Bill 632, which recently survived committee and will head to the senate floor, would create an environmental court within the state's circuit courts. If the bill passes, it would make Hawaii the second state to create a court specifically for dealing with environmental matters (the other state being Vermont).

Professor Pring stated, "We have a real proliferation of environmental courts around the world, and it's not just the rich countries doing it, by any measure. We watched them in Bangladesh, for heaven's sakes. Such courts work better in some jurisdictions than in others. When they do work, the special courts save money and get complex cases through the system faster."

For more information about the benefits and call for an environmental court in Hawaii, visit the following Associated Press article: Hawaii Considers Establishing an Environmental Court

Obama Administration Pushes for More Efficient Delivery Trucks

Safeway Delivery Truck
Photo Courtesy Paul Sullivan 

 

President Barack Obama spoke on Tuesday regarding climate change and linked it to a need for reduced fuel consumption. He stated that his administration intends to create stronger fuel-efficiency standards in March of 2016 for delivery trucks.


Heavy-duty, delivery trucks currently comprise just 4% of the vehicles on the nation's roadways, yet are responsible fore about 20% of the climate changing gases created by the transportation sector. President Obama sees this as an opportunity to enact meaningful climate change.

He outlined three powerful benefits/incentives for the reduced emission standards during his speach on Tuesday: 1) The U.S. will become less dependent on imported oil. 2) The reduced shipping costs will translate into savings for consumers. 3) The reduced emissions will reduce the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, which is blamed for global warming.

Safeway has set itself as a leader on the issue; spending money on cleaner, more efficient trucks.The company has also improved truck aerodynamics and is using better tires and trailers. Safeway has long been committed to operating its business in the most environmentally responsible and fuel efficient manner.

The Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency are currently developing new standards for the 2018 vehicle model year. The new, March 2016 emission standards would exist in addition to the yearly model standards.

Professor DuVivier Honored by the American Association of Law Schools

In January of 2014, Professor K.K. DuVivier received a new honor at the annual meeting of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS). First elected by her peers as a Section officer in 2010, Professor DuVivier is now the Chair of the AALS Section on Natural Resources and Energy Law.  

The AALS is a non-profit corporation created with the goal of “improv[ing] the legal profession through legal education.” In its role as “legal education’s principal representative,” the AALS advocates before the federal government and other national associations the interests of its over 170 member law schools and approximately 25 schools that are not members but who pay AALS dues. Another service the AALS has provided since 1922 is its Directory, which lists biographical and contact information for over 10,000 teachers in law schools across the United States.

The Section on Natural Resources and Energy Law includes over 300 law professors in AALS schools. One of Professor DuVivier’s primary responsibilities as chair is to coordinate the 2015 program for the Section at the next AALS annual conference scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C. from January 2 through 5, 2015. She will lead the section in scheduling the program, making a call for proposals from potential panelists, reviewing submissions, coordinating additional high-profile speakers, and arranging for publication of program papers. Other major responsibilities include coordinating a day-long field trip along with the AALS Section on Environmental Law and any other of the Section on Natural Resources and Energy new initiatives this year, including the possibility of additional Section networking opportunities and an award for leaders in the Natural Resources and Energy law fields.  

Rumor has it that Sturm College of Law Professor Jan Laitos was the founder of the AALS Section on Natural Resources and Energy in 1992. According to Professor Laitos, “The AALS did not have any sections that sufficiently covered the research interests of professors who worked in the area of natural resources law. DU’s expertise in this area made us natural leaders to give it more attention with its own AALS section. I’m excited that natural resources and energy law has gained more converts and the Section has prospered. I’m also delighted that Professor DuVivier is carrying on the DU tradition of leading in this area.”

K.K. as a geologist in 1967.

ProfessorDuVivier has a long history in natural resources. She worked as a field geologist before law school, and she practiced natural resources law for eight years, much at national law firms such as Sherman & Howard and Arnold & Porter, before entering academia. Her book, THE RENEWABLE ENERGY READER, was released by Carolina Academic Press in 2011. 

Professor DuVivier says, “I am most excited about making the Section more vibrant and inclusive and about using my leadership role in as prestigious an organization as the AALS to help raise the profile of the Sturm College of Law’s outstanding Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program.”

New Poll Reveals Public Lands of High Importance to Western Voters

Yellow Stone National Park, Wyoming
Photo Courtesy Latham Jenkins

A bipartisan team, Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Mertz & Associates together with Public Opinion Strategies, surveyed 2,400 registered voters in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Montana in January. The poll was designed to gauge Western voters' preferences regarding congressional candidates' environmental stances.

Fewer than 20 percent of respondents said that a congressional candidate's position on air, land, and water conservation was inconsequential to their voting decisions. Those polled also demonstrated that they are more likely to vote for candidates willing to protect nature and public lands. However, the majority of people surveyed are in favor of energy development.

The poll found strong agreement that the closure of national parks last fall economically hurt Western communities. This correlated to the poll's finding that voters are more likely to support candidates who increase public land protections.

"Westerners believe there's a time and place for everything and that there are some places that are so important they ought to be protected permanently," poll director Lori Weigel said. 

Delays Concerning Protecting Wolverines in the West

Photo of a Wolverine
Photo Courtesy of Marie Hale

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (US FWS) is delaying its decisions on whether to protect wolverines under the Endangered Species Act. The agency was expected to release a ruling by next Tuesday regarding the status of the wolves. Instead, the US FWS announced it would delay its decision until August 4th.

The delayed decision comes during disputes over the soundness of the science that would be used to make the decision. Specific concerns take issue with the impacts of climate change on the wolverines' snow-covered habitat.

The delay corresponds to the trend of western states slowing the process of Endangered Species listing. However, there are fewer than 300 wolverines in the lower 48 states and are located in remote locations from Washington state to Colorado.

For more information about the history and threats facing the wolverine, visit the US FWS website here.

Colorado Forest Health Survey Released

Colorado Forests

Every year, the US Forest Service, in coordination with Colorado State Forest Service perform an Aerial Health Survey. The survey monitors insect and disease-caused tree mortality and damage across Colorado forests.

This year's survey was released just yesterday. The study showed that the spread of the mountain pine beetle epidemic has slowed dramatically. The survey revealed that 97,000 acres had pine beetle activity in 2013. The first signs of outbreak were in 1996; to date, 3.4 million acres have been infested. The new report highlights the lowest acreage of active infestation observed in 15 years.

However, the spruce beetle outbreak continues to expand by 216,000 new acres of forestland in 2013. The first signs of spruce beetle in Colorado was also in 1996; more than 1.1 million acres have been affected to date.

Dan Jirón, Regional Forester for the Rocky Mountain Region of the US Forest Service shared in a statement: “Through our collaborative efforts we are improving the health of our public lands. Our continuing work on the land, together with other agencies, partners and the wood products industry will allow for the treatment of more acres in need of restoration at an increased pace.”

Mike Lester, State Forester and Director of the CSFS stated, “Bark beetles and other forest health concerns don’t recognize property boundaries, so it’s critical for land managers and private landowners to work together to address forest management across federal, state and private lands."


For more information about the Annual Aerial Forest Health Survey in Colorado, visit the US Forest Service Press Release.

For information directed at private landowners to help manage for healthier forests, visit the Colorado State Forest Service website.

Adjunct Professor William Brady Discusses Oil Spills Resulting from Train Derailments

William Brady

William J. Brady, an adjunct professor of Environmental and Natural Resources Law, currently teaching Law of Hazardous Waste and Toxic Substances, was interviewed for the national broadcast of Al Jazeera America News regarding the rash of oil spills from train derailments in the US and Canada, which have spiked dramatically this past year.

During the interview, Professor Brady provided commentary about potential environmental and health impacts, and compared the relative safety of moving oil by rail (99.99% safe) with both the undetected, and at times open and obvious, spillage from recent releases of oil from pipelines, as has occurred recently in Arkansas, Michigan and Texas.

He pointed out that both processes, while not without risk, are heavily regulated and provide a relatively safe method of transport for the oil industry.  Given increased production from fracking and subsequent transport fate, however, the number of spill incidents may be expected to increase marginally, perhaps necessitating rerouting of trains away from densely populated areas and greater emphasis on railroad safety measures, also heavily regulated by DOT.

Overall, both rail and pipelines have good safety records. Spills from rail cars occur more frequently than from pipelines but tend to be smaller. Pipelines can also be built to avoid population centers and fragile ecosystems, while crude-carrying trains frequently travel through large cities. Most of the crude currently being moved by rail is light crude from the Bakken region, not tar-sands oil from Canada.

Tar-sands oil is heavier and more expensive to move by rail, but energy companies in the Bakken region embrace rail since it is more flexible than pipelines. North Dakota produces nearly a million barrels of oil a day, a majority of it shipped by rail.  Recent meetings with government regulators and railroad representatives on proposed rail safety measures have resulted in agreement in principle to impose further regulations, such as rerouting of train shipments, as well as speed reduction, through less populous areas.  

To watch the video of Professor Brady's interview, follow this link. (Coming Soon)

For more information about this topic, read this Wall Street Journal article.