Between 2009 and 2019, West Virginian politicians aligned themselves with the interests of the coal industry to the substantial detriment of the citizens and economy of the state. Despite the undeniable low-carbon transformation that was occurring in the energy industry in the US during this period, state political leaders doubled down on coal. Rather than provide the leadership necessary to manage the transition of the state's economic drivers away from fossil fuels, they largely blamed the demise of the coal industry on the federal government. At every turn, the interests of the coal industry were placed above the economic and environmental health of West Virginians. James Van Nostrand tells the story of why West Virginia now faces overwhelming obstacles to competing in the economic marketplace of the twenty-first century. The book serves as a warning of how a fair energy transition can be derailed by political failure.

Between 2009 and 2019, West Virginian politicians aligned themselves with the interests of the coal industry to the substantial detriment of the citizens and economy of the state. Despite the undeniable low-carbon transformation that was occurring in the energy industry in the US during this period, state political leaders doubled down on coal. Rather than provide the leadership necessary to manage the transition of the state's economic drivers away from fossil fuels, they largely blamed the demise of the coal industry on the federal government. At every turn, the interests of the coal industry were placed above the economic and environmental health of West Virginians. James Van Nostrand tells the story of why West Virginia now faces overwhelming obstacles to competing in the economic marketplace of the twenty-first century. The book serves as a warning of how a fair energy transition can be derailed by political failure.

How do we begin to handle the greatest crisis affecting humanity today? Climate change is already causing droughts, flooding, and famine that are forcing people to leave their livelihoods and communities. In the years to come, millions will find their local areas uninhabitable, as mass displacement of people reaches disastrous levels. Handling Climate Displacement explains how climate change has become recognized as a human rights concern, and how human rights are key to managing the crisis. Local authorities and populations increasingly call for guidance in the absence of an internationally recognized framework. Drafted in 2013 by a committee of experts and practitioners, Hassine uses the Peninsula Principles on Climate Displacement within States to offer concrete solutions to the impending emergency. Enriched by the author's experience working with the victims of climate displacement, this book offers an effective framework to deal with the challenges presented by mass displacement while protecting human rights.

Humans are responsible for biodiversity loss in many related and sometimes conflicting ways. Human-wildlife conflict, commonly defined as any negative interaction between people and wildlife, is a primary contributor to wildlife extinction and a manifestation of the destructive relationship that people have with wildlife. The author presents this 'wicked' problem in a social and legal context and demonstrates that legal institutions structurally deny human-wildlife conflict, while exacerbating conflict, promoting values consistent with individual autonomy, and ignoring the interconnected vulnerabilities shared by human and non-human species alike. It is the use of international and state law that sheds light on existing conflicts, including dingo conflict on K'Gari-Fraser Island in Australia, elephant conflict in Northern Botswana, and the global wildlife trade contributing to COVID-19. This book presents a critical analysis of human-wildlife conflict and its governance, to guide lawyers, scientists and conservations alike in the transformation of the management of human-wildlife conflict.

This book brings together original and novel perspectives on major developments in human rights law and the environment in Africa. Focusing on African Union law, the book explores the core concepts and principles, theory and practice, accountability mechanisms and key issues challenging human rights law in the era of global environmental change. It, thus, extend the frontier of understanding in this fundamental area by building on existing scholarship on African human rights law and the protection of the environment, divulging concerns on redressing environmental and human rights protection issues in the context of economic growth and sustainable development. It further offers unique insight into the development, domestication and implementation challenges relating to human rights law and environmental governance in Africa. This long overdue interdisciplinary exploration of human rights law and the environment from an African perspective will be an indispensable reference point for academics, policymakers, practitioners and advocates of international human rights and environmental law in particular and international law, environmental politics and philosophy, and African studies in general. It is clear that there is much to do, study and share on this timely subject in the African context.

This book is a unique study of the law of contract in a range of South Pacific Island countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, to name a few.Whilst this law has yet to establish its own regional identity, it differs significantly from the law of contract which operates in England and Wales. Incorporating an up to date survey of local jurisprudence, this book discusses the common law principles with reference to both regional decisions and case law from England and Wales. Further, it explains how the law of contract differs from country to country within the South Pacific and highlights the areas where regional courts have chosen to follow national legal developments in other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand. Relevant legislation in operation is also discussed, including local enactments and statutes that have been introduced from overseas. In addition, a separate chapter is specifically dedicated to customary laws, exploring the question of whether there is a customary law of contract. It explains the role of customary laws and their place within State law hierarchies of laws in South Pacific legal systems. Subsequent chapters go on to explore the relationship between customary laws and particular State contract laws.Contract Law in the South Pacific is a valuable resource for students, academics and legal practitioners, both within and outside the region.

Environmental rights, also known as the human rights or constitutional rights that are used for the protection of the environment, have proliferated over the last forty-five years. However, the precise levels of protection that they represent has since been a major question associated with this phenomenon. Environmental Rights: The Development of Standards systematically investigates this question by analyzing the emerging standards of environmental protection that are associated with such rights and the way that those associations are becoming formalized. It covers all of the relevant human rights treaties to illustrate how environmental rights standards are emerging in this dynamic area. Bringing together an elite group of scholars, this book discusses significant new insights into the way that environmental rights are developing, the standards of protection that they confer, and the way that standards in the field of environmental rights can potentially be further developed in the future.

This work offers a multidisciplinary approach to legal and policy instruments used to prevent and remedy global environmental challenges. It provides a theoretical overview of a variety of instruments, making distinctions between levels of governance (treaties, domestic law), types of instruments (market-based instruments, regulation, and liability rules), and between government regulation and private or self-regulation. The book's central focus is an examination of the use of mixes between different types of regulatory and policy instruments and different levels of governance, notably in climate change, marine oil pollution, forestry, and fisheries. The authors examine how, in practice, mixes of instruments have often been developed. This book should be read by anyone interested in understanding how interactions between different instruments affect the protection of environmental resources.

Convening leading scholars to reflect on the practical and philosophical implications of religious values, this volume is an accessible introduction to Catholic social thought on contemporary affairs. Its gracefully written chapters cover three themes - direct environmental policy implications of Laudato Si', philosophical alternatives to dominant policy discourse, and renewed political economy based on robust conceptions of human flourishing. Care for the World offers learned reflections on what it would mean to express an ethic of compassion in an era of climate crises.

This analysis of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation (HRtWS) uncovers why some groups around the world are still excluded from these rights. Leo Heller, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation, draws on his own research in nine countries and reviews the theoretical, legal, and political issues involved. The first part presents the origins of the HRtWS, their legal and normative meanings and the debates surrounding them. Part II discusses the drivers, mainly external to the water and sanitation sector, that shape public policies and explain why individuals and groups are included in or excluded from access to services. In Part III, public policies guided by the realization of HRtWS are addressed. Part IV highlights populations and spheres of living that have been particularly neglected in efforts to promote access to services.

Carceral logics permeate our thinking about humans and nonhumans. We imagine that greater punishment will reduce crime and make society safer. We hope that more convictions and policing for animal crimes will keep animals safe and elevate their social status. The dominant approach to human-animal relations is governed by an unjust imbalance of power that subordinates or ignores the interest nonhumans have in freedom. In this volume Lori Gruen and Justin Marceau invite experts to provide insights into the complicated intersection of issues that arise in thinking about animal law, violence, mass incarceration, and social change. Advocates for enhancing the legal status of animals could learn a great deal from the history and successes (and failures) of other social movements. Likewise, social change lawyers, as well as animal advocates, might learn lessons from each other about the interconnections of oppression as they work to achieve liberation for all. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Plastic pollution is a global problem that defies a singular solution. Our Plastic Problem and How to Solve It considers plastic's harm to the environment, from its production to its disposal, and offers a spectrum of solutions that require action by local and federal governments, businesses and non-profits, and individuals. Using specific examples and case studies, the book describes the history and chemistry of plastic, illustrates its harms, and points toward specific legislation and policies to offer concrete solutions. Plastic pollution is ubiquitous and has impacts on soil, food, air, and water. To solve our plastic problem, collaboration across disciplines will be critical; innovations in science, law, and design will be essential. The book demonstrates the need to approach environmental problems from an interdisciplinary lens, and will benefit anyone interested in learning more about the harms and solutions associated with plastic pollution.

This open access book is the first comprehensive overview of maritime or marine spatial planning. Countries across the globe are beginning to implement maritime spatial plans; however the authors of this collection have identified several key questions that are emerging from this growing body of MSP experience. How can maritime spatial planning deal with a complex and dynamic environment such as the sea? How can MSP be embedded in multiple levels of governance across regional and national borders - and how far does the environment benefit from this new approach? This book actively engages with the problems encapsulated in these questions, and explores possible solutions. Situated at the intersection between theory and practice, the volume draws together several strands of interdisciplinary research, reflecting on the history of MSP as well as examining current practice and looking towards the future. The authors and contributors examine MSP from disciplines as diverse as geography, urban planning, political science, natural science, sociology and education; reflecting the growing critical engagement with MSP in many academic fields. This innovative and pioneering volume will be of interest and value to students and scholars of maritime spatial planning, as well as planners and practitioners.

The Water Quality Act of 1987 ushered in a new era of clean water policy to the US. The Act stands today as the longest-lived example of national water quality policy. It included a then-revolutionary funding model for wastewater infrastructure - the Clean Water State Revolving Fund - which gave states much greater authority to allocate clean water infrastructure resources. Significant differences between states exist in terms of their ability to provide adequate resources for the program, as well as their ability (or willingness) to meet the wishes of Congress to serve environmental needs and communities. This book examines the patterns of state program resource distribution using case studies and analysis of state and national program data. This book is important for researchers from a range of disciplines, including water, environmental and infrastructure policy, federalism/intergovernmental relations, intergovernmental administration, and natural resource management, as well as policy makers and policy advocates.

Initially created as afterthoughts to competitive electricity markets, capacity markets were intended to enhance system reliability. They have evolved into massive, highly controversial, and poorly understood billion-dollar institutions. Electricity Capacity Markets examines the rationales for creating capacity markets, how capacity markets work, and how well these markets are meeting their objectives. This book will appeal to energy experts and non-experts alike, across a range of disciplines, including economics, business, engineering, public policy, and law. Capacity markets are an important and provocative topic on their own, but they also offer an interesting case study of how well our energy systems are meeting the needs of our increasingly complex society. The challenges facing capacity markets - harnessing market forces for social good, creating networks that manage complexity, and achieving sustainability - are very much core challenges for our twenty-first century advanced industrial society.

Initially created as afterthoughts to competitive electricity markets, capacity markets were intended to enhance system reliability. They have evolved into massive, highly controversial, and poorly understood billion-dollar institutions. Electricity Capacity Markets examines the rationales for creating capacity markets, how capacity markets work, and how well these markets are meeting their objectives. This book will appeal to energy experts and non-experts alike, across a range of disciplines, including economics, business, engineering, public policy, and law. Capacity markets are an important and provocative topic on their own, but they also offer an interesting case study of how well our energy systems are meeting the needs of our increasingly complex society. The challenges facing capacity markets - harnessing market forces for social good, creating networks that manage complexity, and achieving sustainability - are very much core challenges for our twenty-first century advanced industrial society.

A distinctive argument of the relevance of Australia to the rest of the world - one which places it more centrally than existing contributions Offers one of the first major contributions on reconstructing what urban planning might draw from indigenous perspectives and relationships to place Unique contributions on the topics of connected cities and zombie suburbs

In Environmental Law and Economics, Michael G. Faure and Roy A. Partain provide a detailed overview of the law-and-economics methodology developed and employed by environmental lawyers and policymakers. The authors demonstrate how this approach can transcend political divisions in the context of international environmental law, environmental criminal law, and the property rights approach to environmental law. Private law solutions and public regulatory approaches are also explored, including traditional command-and-control and market-based forms of regulation. The book not only shows how the law-and-economics framework can be used to protect the environment, but also to examine deeper questions involving environmental federalism and the effectiveness of environmental law in developing economies. In clear, digestible prose that does not require readers to possess a background in microeconomics or mathematics, the authors introduce the theory and practice of environmental law and economics that have been so critical in the creation of robust environmental policy.

There are many people and places connected to rivers: fishermen whose livelihood depends on river ecosystems, farms that need irrigation, indigenous groups whose cultures rely on fish and flowing waters, cities whose electricity comes from hydroelectric dams, and citizens who seek wild nature. For all of these people, instream flow is vitally important to where and how they live and work. Riverflow reveals the diverse and creative ways people are using the law to restore rivers, from the Columbia, Colorado, Klamath and Sacramento-San Joaquin watersheds in America, to the watersheds of the Tweed in England and Scotland, the Fraser in Canada, the Saru in Japan, the Nile in North Africa, and the Tigris-Euphrates in the Middle East. Riverflow documents that we already have the legal tools to preserve the ecological integrity of our waterways; the question is whether we have the political will to deploy these tools effectively.

The book discusses the normative impact of the Aarhus Convention on how England, America and China guarantees the right of access to environmental information. Through this analysis the book identifies each of these jurisdictions' unique conceptualisations of the right which, in turn, influences the design of their respective environmental information regimes. This allows these jurisdictions potentially to act as sources of legal reforms for each other to improve how the right is guaranteed via legal transplant theory, challenging the normativity of the Aarhus Convention. This is not to suggest that the Aarhus Convention exerts no normative influence on how the right is guaranteed; there are core substantive and core procedural elements which have to be met for the right to be effectively guaranteed, and the book shows that the Aarhus Convention does exert a normative influence over the procedural elements of the right.

The commons theory, first articulated by Elinor Ostrom, is increasingly used as a framework to understand and rethink the management and governance of many kinds of shared resources. These resources can include natural and digital properties, cultural goods, knowledge and intellectual property, and housing and urban infrastructure, among many others. In a world of increasing scarcity and demand - from individuals, states, and markets - it is imperative to understand how best to induce cooperation among users of these resources in ways that advance sustainability, affordability, equity, and justice. This volume reflects this multifaceted and multidisciplinary field from a variety of perspectives, offering new applications and extensions of the commons theory, which is as diverse as the scholars who study it and is still developing in exciting ways.

Environmental assessment is a means of counteracting, foreseeing and controlling interference in the environment. All new major developments in Europe and North America are now subjects of scrutiny to prevent them from causing significant harmful effects to the land, sea or air. This book is an essential guide to the process, reviewing the history and background to assessment, summarizing the current legislation and providing useful advice on the skills and management techniques needed for a successful environmental assessment project. Environmental Assessment opens with a review of the US origins of the scheme, definitions and explanations of how the UK has implemented controls. This is followed by the law, rules, regulations and legislation applicable to the UK and the EC directives for the European Community. The author examines management and monitoring, setting up project teams, researching and presenting effective information, as well as calculating and analysing the potential effects of the project. Mitigating measures and alternatives are discussed, as are qualitative assessment techniques. The book has been written for architects, planners and landscape designers, who may be unfamiliar with the techniques, but who are directly involved in shaping the landscape. It would also be a valuable handbook for local planning authority councillors, environmental groups and anyone involved in sensitive development proposals. Although not written as a textbook, environmental students will discover clear jargon-free explanations of and insights into the practice of environmental assessment.

In-depth examination of the inherent tensions and dynamics of transport corridors in Africa: between short-term optics and long-term durability; between regional integration and national interest; between the facilitation of trade and the generation of corridor revenue. The image of the corridor, a central pathway of road and rail carving its way through Africa's interior, has guided the coordination of transport and trade developments on the continent in recent decades. Existing analysis of the "Corridor" - a label with a great capacity to change shape, guiding funding and infrastructural priorities at different times and in different settings - tends to be presentist, technical, and conveyed in the language of transport economics. The chapters collected here showcase a more varied approach, offering perspectives from academics and policy-makers coming from a range of disciplinary backgrounds. They capture the varied forms of the corridor concept (developmental, transport, and trade corridors), the multiplicity of actors (including China and the European Union), as well as the different permutations of the infrastructure itself, in corridors linking coastal states and in others that link coastal states with the hinterland. The breadth of cases allows for a comparative perspective of East, West, and Southern Africa, as well as the basis of comparisons outside of the continent in Europe, South Asia, and elsewhere. The motivations behind corridor initiatives in Africa range enormously, from resource extraction to urban development and poverty reduction. A lot depends on scale, and this collection places the grand designs thrashed out at continental and regional economic forums alongside the individual concerns of drivers and cross-border traders hauling goods across the continent's checkpoints. What emerges are a number of central tensions in the study of transport corridors: between short-term optics and long-term durability; between road and rail as modes of transportation; between regional integration and national interest; between the facilitation of trade and the generation of corridor revenue; between different port configurations; and between local dynamics and the dynamics of long-distance transportation. This book is available as Open Access under the Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC.

This book explores climate services, including projections, descriptive information, analyses, assessments, and an overview of current trends. Due to the pressures now being put on the world's climate, it is vital to gather and share reliable climate observation and projection data, which may be tailored for use by different groups. In other words, it is essential to offer climate services. But despite the growth in the use of these services, there are very few specialist publications on this topic. This book addresses that need. Apart from presenting studies and the results of research projects, the book also offers an overview of the wide range of means available for providing and using climate services. In addition, it features case studies that provide illustrative and inspiring examples of how climate services can be optimally deployed.