Environmental Law Prof Blog

Oregon Supreme Court Reinstates Law Compensating Landowners for All Losses Associated with Subsequent Land Use Regulations

The Oregon Supreme Court reversed the trial court and reinstated Measure 37.  The Court rejected federal procedural and substantive due process arguments as well as Oregon constitutional arguments against the Measure.

Link: Oregon Judicial Department Appellate Court Opinions.

Reduced food production in Africa expected from climate change

A study by Stige et al using data from the last few decades to predict food production given climate variations suggests that food production in Africa will be seriously reduced by climate change.  The effect of climate variation on agro-pastoral production in Africa - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

States legislatively overruling Kelo

While five states (Texas, Alabama, Delaware, Michigan, Ohio) have already taken some action, another 30 states are considering legislative responses to Kelo.  Michigan has put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.  Ohio put a one year moratorium in place.  Proposed responses range from bans on use of eminent domain for economic development purposes to limitations on the circumstances in which it may be used to requirements that local governments pay a premium for property condemned for economic development. 

I started teaching state and local government just a few years ago, so I likely thought about issues in terms of the conventional wisdom.  From the standpoint of conventional wisdom, Kelo did not even seem cert worthy and the Supreme Court's ultimate decision seemed predictable.  The subsequent widespread and rather virulent reaction to Kelo illustrates both the current fervor for property rights and the level of distrust of government.    Who knows...revision of the public purpose doctrine may be next.

Don't miss this one: Albany Climate Change Conference

Albany Law Environmental Outlook Journal Symposium

Catastrophic Climate Change:
THE SCIENCE, THE SOCIAL COSTS, AND THE RACE FOR LEGAL REMEDIES
April 18, 2006 - 8:30am - 5:00pm / Albany Law School

Presenters:

Elizabeth Kolbert
New Yorker writer, author "Field Notes from a Catastrophe"

Dr. James E. Hansen
NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Amory B. Lovins
CEO of Rocky Mountain Institute, MacArthur Fellow, TIME Hero for the Planet (via video interview)

Dr. Patrick L. Kinney
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

Prof. John Dernbach
Widener University School of Law

Prof. Nicholas Robinson
Pace Law School

Prof. David Driesen
Syracuse Univ. College of Law

Peter Lehner, Esq.
NYS Attorney General's Office

Angus Macbeth, Esq.
Sidley Austin, LLP, Washington, D.C.

Dale Bryk, Esq.
Senior Attorney, NRDC

Donald Goldberg, Esq.
Senior Attorney, Center for International Environmental Law

Andrew Logan,
Directory, Insurance Program, CERES

Larry DeWitt
Senior Policy Advisor, Energy Project, Pace Center for Environmental Legal Studies

James A. Sevinsky, Esq.
Senior Counsel, Environment, Health, & Safety, GE Infrastructure, Energy

Co-sponsored by the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, & Resources, the New York State Bar Association Environmental Law Section, and the Government Law Center of Albany Law School

Contact:
Joshua Oppenheimer at joppenheimer@mail.als.edu / 518-445-5863
Professor Eleanor Stein at estei@mail.als.edu
Professor Joan Leary Matthews at jmatt@mail.als.edu