David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, said: “This compelling new report solves the mystery of why problems such as pollution, biodiversity decline and climate change persist despite the proliferation of environmental legislation in recent decades. If the environmental rule of law is not strengthened, even seemingly strict rules are doomed to fail and the fundamental human right to a healthy environment will remain unrespected. Economic theory suggests that pollution taxes and cap-and-trade regulations may be functionally equivalent. Environmentalists tend to favor fixed caps on emissions in cap-and-trade programs, while economists and business interests tend to favor price certainty in tax programs. But both may overlook the differences in behavior between the two policies. Using a new randomized case experiment, this article tests whether framing changes negotiated guidelines. He notes that negotiators are adopting a greener policy on the tax than on cap-and-trade, a finding consistent with real-world observations that carbon taxes tend to be higher than allowable prices in cap-and-trade programs. The findings have two important implications. First, negotiators treat the environmental tax and emissions trading rules differently – they are not psychologically equivalent. Second, contrary to environmentalists` general preference for cap and trade, taxes can lead to better environmental protection.
The United Nations Environment Report found that despite a 38-fold increase in environmental laws introduced since 1972, failure to fully implement and enforce these laws is one of the biggest challenges to mitigating climate change, reducing pollution and preventing the loss of widespread species and habitats. While there are still gaps in many laws, the significant growth in environmental laws has been dramatic. NAIROBI – 24 January 2019 – The first global assessment of the environmental rule of law reveals that weak enforcement is a global trend that exacerbates environmental threats, despite the sharp increase in environmental laws and authorities worldwide over the past four decades. Read the press release: German | | Portuguese | Spanish Chinese publisherLyndsay Walker – lyndsay.walker@thomsonreuters.com House EditorParisa Zare – parisa.zare@thomsonreuters.com Buy this title as an eBook to start reading today: Inflation Reduction Act boosts federal climate spending. NMFS proposes new protection for the North Atlantic Right Whale. Illinois has proposed changes to its performance standards for surface mining and underground mining operations. With ProView, you can connect and interact with the content you rely on in new ways, whenever and wherever you want. Learn more about ProView. Thomson Reuters ProView™ is designed specifically for lawyers like you.
The third circuit refers climate liability lawsuits to state court. Superfund practitioners are waiting to see if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will designate perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate, two chemicals in the Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) grouping, as CERCLA hazardous substances. Such designation may result in the modification of certain appeals and the need to continue work on Superfund sites where appeals have been deemed complete. This article explores possible future liability by reviewing the provisions of the 2021 Model Design/Corrective Action (RD/RA) Consent Order. It helps potentially liable parties (PRPs) who have completed RD/AR consent orders understand what their future liability might be and provides guidance to PRPs considering entering into RD/AR consent orders so that they can obtain the greatest possible security and resolve in advance. Progressive cities and states have begun adopting policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, one of the main sources of these emissions in the United States. The same jurisdictions have also generally committed to pursuing decarbonization equitably without exacerbating discrimination against historically marginalized communities. Electrification is currently a preferred policy for the decarbonization of buildings. This article explores the potential of building electrification to impact tenants` energy costs through a New York City case study.
It seeks to determine whether there are gaps in current coverage for low- and middle-income tenants and identifies several loopholes that make tenants of unregulated housing, in particular, vulnerable to cost increases. At the same time, a survey of industry stakeholders suggests that few multi-family homeowners are likely to electrify their properties under the current policy framework. These findings suggest that creative reforms are needed both to catalyze the electrification of New York City`s housing stock and to protect the most vulnerable households from cost increases.