This is an interesting report commissioned by the United States Army’s London office. It assumes 2 feet of ocean rise over the next 100 years, and while it mentions subsidence, it does change its calculations based on subsidence in Louisiana. Since coastal subsidence may be a meter or more over the next 100 years, this [...]
Ocean rise and subsidence make the Louisiana Coast one of the most climatologically dangerous places in the world. This blog explores whether the Louisiana Coastal Restoration Plan can mitigate this risk or is just a multi-hundred billion dollar boondoggle. The blog is presented by Edward P. Richards, Professor of Law, LSU Law Center.
Is Mississippi River Water Toxic Waste?
March 26, 2012
Mississippi River Water Quality and the Clean Water Act: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities, National Research Council (2008) This report focuses on water quality problems in the Mississippi River and the ability of the Clean Water Act to address them. Data needs and system monitoring, water quality indicators and standards, and policies and implementation are addressed [...]
5th Circuit Upholds Ruling in Katrina Levee Breaches Litigation
March 2, 2012
The 5th Circuit just affirmed the lower court decision in the Katrina Levee Breaches Litigation. The Court basically rejected Flood Control Act immunity unless the “damages result from waters released by flood control activity or negligence therein.” The opinion If this case is not overruled en banc, or by the Supreme Court, it will have [...]
Study of the Economic Effects of Charging Actuarially Based Premium Rates for Pre-FIRM Structures
February 1, 2012
This report presents the results of a study on the economic effects of charging actuarially based premiums for pre-FIRM (Flood Insurance Rate Map) structures. The study was performed in response to Section 578 of the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994, which required FEMA to “conduct a study of the economic effects that would [...]
The Regulation of Geoengineering – HC 5th Report
December 20, 2011
Rayner, S., Redgwell, C., Savulescu, J., Pidgeon, N. & Kruger, T. in The Regulation of Geoengineering: Fifth Report of the Session 2009–10 HC 221 (House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, 2010) - original link
Atlas of Shoreline Changes in Louisiana From 1853 to 1989
December 16, 2011
S. Jeffress Williams, Shea Penland, Asbury H. Sallenger, Donald W. Davis, Louisiana Barrier Island Erosion Study : Atlas of Shoreline Changes in Louisiana From 1853 to 1989 (U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series I-2150-A) 1992
Climate and large scale scale human crisis
October 3, 2011
http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/climate/docs/PNAS-2011-Zhang-1104268108.pdf (original link) Recent studies have shown strong temporal correlations between past climate changes and societal crises. However, the specific causal mechanisms underlying this relation have not been addressed. We explored quantitative responses of 14 fine-grained agro-ecological, socioeconomic, and demographic variables to climate fluctuations from A.D. 1500–1800 in Europe. Results show that cooling from A.D. [...]
Climate Change Adaptation and the Structural Transformation of Environmental Law
October 3, 2011
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1517374 or http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/climate/docs/ssrn-id1517374.pdf The path of environmental law has come to a cliff called climate change, and there is no turning around. As climate change policy dialogue emerged in the 1990s, however, the perceived urgency of attention to mitigation strategies designed to regulate sources of greenhouse gas emissions quickly snuffed out meaningful progress on the formulation of [...]
States plan to develop land most vulnerable to ocean rise
September 28, 2011
Rising sea level threatens existing coastal wetlands. Overall ecosystems could often survive by migrating inland, if adjacent lands remained vacant. On the basis of 131 state and local land use plans, we estimate that almost 60% of the land below 1 m along the US Atlantic coast is expected to be developed and thus unavailable [...]
Florida’s Financial Exposure from Its “Self-Insurance” Programs
September 26, 2011
Florida’s current homeowner’s insurance system is broken. One major hurricane has the potential to bankrupt private insurers, and the State’s self-insurance programs, devastating Florida’s already weakened economy (Miami Herald, 21 Sept 2009). State officials are certainly aware of the problem, as voiced in an op-ed by State Senator J.D. Alexander (Tallahassee Democrat, 25 Oct 2009). [...]
Healing a Broken World
September 22, 2011
The Society of Jesus on the environment: Society of Jesus, HEALING A BROKEN WORLD: Task Force on Ecology (2011)
GAO Reports on Geoengineering
August 26, 2011
Climate Engineering: Technical Status, Future Directions, and Potential Responses. GAO-11-71, July 28. http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-71 Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1171high.pdf Podcast – http://www.gao.gov/podcast/watchdog_episode_69.html
EPA Green House Gas Regs
August 14, 2011
Denial of Petitions for Reconsideration of the Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act Related Links Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act Climate Science Assessment reports (IPCC, NAS, NOAA, USGCRP) Recent inquiries and investigations [...]
Supreme Court rejects federal common law claims over green house gasses
August 9, 2011
American Elec. Power Co., Inc. v. Connecticut, 131 S.Ct. 2527 (2011) - Supreme Court rejects common law claims against green house gas emitters as preempted by federal regulatory law. State nusiance claims were not brief by the parties and were remanded for review.
U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)
August 9, 2011
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society. The USGCRP began as a presidential initiative in 1989 and was mandated by Congress in the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-606), which called for “a comprehensive and integrated United States research program which will assist the Nation and the world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change.”
