CLIMATE CHANGE LAW
LAW 5397
Spring 2013
215 TUII

COURSE SYLLABUS

Introduction - Orientation and Overview

Climate Science - background

Osofsky and McAllister, Climate Change Law and Policy (draft 2012), Chapter 1, pp. 1-4 to 1-22 ("Osofsky")

Climate Outlook Looking Much the Same, or Even Worse, 334 Science 1616 (Dec. 23, 2011)

EPA Greenhouse Gas Emission Mapping System (just explore; we'll use it in class)

No Need to Panic About Global Warming, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 27, 2012 (opinion article)

Trends in America's Climate and Environmental Attitudes: 2011, ecoAmerica (2011)

Background:

NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA Finds 2011 Ninth Warmest Year on Record (Jan. 19, 2012) and temperature animation

Climate Science Legal Defense Fund

Labor Day - no class

D. Kahan et al, Cultural Cognition of Scientific Consensus, Cultural Cognition Project Working Paper No. 38 (Feb. 7, 2010), pp. 1-28

Where did global warming go?, New York Times news analysis, Oct. 16, 2011

Class PowerPoint

Background reference material:

J. Schmandt (ed.), The Impact of Global Warming on Texas, chap. 10 (Policy Options) (June 2011)

D. Kahan et al., Geoengineering and the Science Communication Environment: A Cross-Culture Experiment, Cultural Cognition Project Working Paper No. 92 (draft; Jan. 9, 2012)

Responding to Climate Change - Mitigation

Osofsky, Chapter 1, pp. 1-22 to 35

Background:

R. Socolow and S. Pacala, A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check, Scientific American at p. 50 (Sept. 2006)

McKinsey GHG Cost Abatement Curve (see page 8)

McKinsey & Co., Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy, Executive Summary (July 2009)

R. Socolow, Wedges Reaffirmed, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (Sept. 27, 2011)

Exercise - review of Texas wedge strategies

Executive Summary of N. Stern, The Economics of Climate Change (2006)

Texas No-Regrets Strategies Report (2010)

J. Williams, et al.
The Technology Path to Deep Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050: The Pivotal Role of Electricity, 335 Science 53 (Jan. 6, 2012)

Responding to Climate Change - Adaptation

Osofsky, Chapter 1, pp. 35-56

International law - Montreal Protocol and UNFCCC

Osofsky, Chapter 2, pp. 1-16, 33-37

Excerpts from Louis Henkin, Foreign Affairs and the United States Constitution(1998)

Full text of U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change

Osofsky, Chapter 2, pp. 16-32, 37-46

Full text of Kyoto Protocol (skim)

Powerpoint on Introduction to Kyoto Protocol

Cancun Agreements (skim only for general sense of coverage)

Report of Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments by Annex I Parties to Kyoto Protocol, Durban COP17 (Dec. 2011) (skim)

United Nations, The Future We Want, Jan. 10, 2012 (planning document for Rio+20 conference)

International law - Impact of Kyoto Protocol and international climate change conventions on U.S. citizens and companies

D. Goldberg, The Impact of the Kyoto Protocol on U.S. Business (2007) (excerpts)

D. Bodansky, Implications for U.S. Companies of Kyoto's Entry into Force Without the United States (2002)

Compliance and Dispute Settlement in Multinational Agreements -- focus on pp. 322-333

Revisit the prior readings on Human Rights from our Feb. 20, 2012 class on Other International Agreements (Osofsky, Chapter 2, pp. 46-49)

Petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Seeking Relief From Violations Resuling From Global Warming Caused by Acts and Omissions of the United States (Dec. 7, 2005)

Agreement in Principle for Submission to Doha Conference of Parties

11.

International Trade and Development, Alan Miller (pp. 277-310) from Global Climate Change and U.S. Law (M. Gerrard, ed.)

Comparative law - responses by other nations

Justice Kumar's guest lecture

T. Hester, Private Claims for a Global Climate: U.S. and Indian Litigation Approaches to Climate Change and Environmental Harm (July 2011)

R. Lord ed., Climate Change Liability: Transnational Law and Practice (2012) (chapter on India)

Osofsky, Chapter 4, pp. 1-62

Atlas of Pollution: World in CO2 Emissions, The Guardian, Jan. 31, 2011

Estimated 2010 Greenhouse Gas Emissions

U.S. law and policy - statutory initiatives and the Clean Air Act

Osofsky, Chapter 3, pp. 1-11 and 46-63

Final Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule

U.S. law and policy - clean air act regulations and permitting

Osofsky, Chapter 3, pp. 11-45

Final Tailoring Rule (read only pp. 31516-522)

U.S. law - climate change litigation overview

Matt Paulson's PowerPoint

D. Markell and J.B. Ruhl, An Empirical Assessment of Climate Change in the Courts

Letter from Bryan Shaw, TCEQ, and Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General, to EPA Region 6 Administrator Al Armendariz (Aug. 2, 2010)

U.S. Climate Change Litigation Chart (Columbia Law School)

U.S. law - climate change litigation and tort liability

American Electric Power v. Connecticut

Comer v. Murphy Oil Co. panel opinion (5th Cir.)

Kivalina v. ExxonMobil

Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc. (district court decision on re-filing)

Bonser-Lain v. TCEQ (201st Dist. Ct., Travis Co., filed July 22, 2011)

Kivalina Oral Argument in 9th Circuit

A New Front Blowing In: State Law and the Future of Climate Change Nuisance Litigation, T. Hester

U.S. law - NEPA

Wold, Climate Change Under Existing Federal Statutes (chap. 13 excerpt)

Wold, Climate Change Under Existing Federal Statutes (chap. 13 excerpt)

State and local initiatives -- California, NY, Houston

Regional Initiatives -- RGGI, WCI and compacts

Osofsky, Chapter 5, pp. 6-32, 38-46, 50-58

Chart of states with renewable portfolio standards

Rocky Mountain Farmer's Union v. Goldstene

Osofsky, Chapter 5, pp. 32-38, 46-50

V. Flatt, Adapting Laws for a Changing World: A Systematic Approach to Climate Change Adaptation, 64 Fla. L. Rev. 269 (2012)

Climate Adaptation law

Climate Adaptation Clearinghouse

Washington State Climate Adaptation Strategy:

     -  Executive Summary

     -  pp. 25-31

Climate Engineering Concepts PowerPoint

SPICE Opposition Letter

Climate engineering and other technology-based proposals

Osofsky, Chapter 7, pp. 21-47

Osofsky, Chapter 6, pp. 1-31

SEC Guidance on Climate Change Disclosure

AES Annual Report 2011, pp. 65-72 (disclosure on climate risk)