James Salzman
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View article: Environmental Tribalism
Environmental Tribalism Open
[W]e have a growing number of leading environmental law and policy scholars calling for a pragmatic, centrist approach. We have a public that seems to widely support just such an approach. Yet environmental advocacy seems to remain largely…
View article: Making Sense of Information for Environmental Protection
Making Sense of Information for Environmental Protection Open
We live in the Information Age. We can peer into our neighbors' backyards through satellite imaging, catch the latest Australian cricket scores on our smart phones, track our loved ones' airline flights online, and correspond with people v…
View article: Connecting ecosystem services science and policy in the field
Connecting ecosystem services science and policy in the field Open
Conservation and provision of ecosystem services (ES) have been adopted as high‐level policy in many countries, yet there has been surprisingly little application of these broad policies in the field; for example, ES are rarely considered …
View article: Introduction to the Symposium on Interstate Disputes Over Water Rights
Introduction to the Symposium on Interstate Disputes Over Water Rights Open
Disagreements over the management and allocation of transboundary freshwater resources have become increasingly prominent in international relations. Serious diplomatic tensions surround management of the Jordan, Mekong, Nile, Rio Grande, …
View article: A Global Assessment of the Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services
A Global Assessment of the Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services Open
This article assesses the approaches that different national governments have employed to provide and conserve ecosystem services, focusing on policy instruments and common-law court decisions. Applying the lessons learned from this review…
View article: What Happens When the Green New Deal Meets the Old Green Laws
What Happens When the Green New Deal Meets the Old Green Laws Open
The multi-faceted infrastructure goals of the Green New Deal will be impossible to achieve in the desired time frames if the existing federal, state, and local siting and environmental protection statutory regimes are applied. Business, la…
View article: Ecosystem Services and Federal Public Lands: A Quiet Revolution in Natural Resources Management
Ecosystem Services and Federal Public Lands: A Quiet Revolution in Natural Resources Management Open
The major federal public land management agencies (the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Park Service, Fish & Wildlife Service, and Department of Defense) have increasingly adopted a language that did not exist twentyfive years ag…
View article: Teacher's Manual for The Past, Present and Future of the Safe Water Drinking Act
Teacher's Manual for The Past, Present and Future of the Safe Water Drinking Act Open
In order to encourage greater understanding and teaching of the Safe Drinking Water Act, I have written a user-friendly 20-page primer, posted on SSRN as The Past, Present and Future of the Safe Drinking Water Act. To aid teachers using th…
View article: Teacher’s Manual for The Past, Present and Future of the Safe Drinking Water Act
Teacher’s Manual for The Past, Present and Future of the Safe Drinking Water Act Open
Thanks for considering teaching this primer on SDWA. I enjoy teaching this in the classroom and there are a lot of different entry points for productive discussion. Rather than provide canned lecture notes, below I describe the key points …
View article: The Past, Present and Future of the Safe Drinking Water Act
The Past, Present and Future of the Safe Drinking Water Act Open
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) has long been "the statute that environmental law courses forgot." It receives scant or no coverage in all but a few environmental law casebooks and is not covered in most environmental law courses. After…
View article: Why Environmental Zero-Sum Games are Real
Why Environmental Zero-Sum Games are Real Open
Most environmental policies have winners and losers. That is one reason why it is such a contested terrain. One might argue that these policies benefit society overall, but it rarely feels like a benefit to the local resource-dependent com…
View article: Currencies and the Commodification of Environmental Law
Currencies and the Commodification of Environmental Law Open
The success of several environmental trading markets (ETMs) has led to proposals for broader use of ETMs in environmental and resource management policy. The successful ETMs all share a basic feature—they exchange units of trade that are f…
View article: Ensuring Safe Drinking Water In Los Angeles County’s Small Water Systems
Ensuring Safe Drinking Water In Los Angeles County’s Small Water Systems Open
California has set laudable goals for ensuring that all residents have access to clean, affordable drinking water. Though the state has taken steps toward achieving these goals, they remain largely aspirational for many communities, partic…
View article: Environmental Tribalism
Environmental Tribalism Open
87 Minnesota Law Review ( 2003)Recent writings by Dan Farber and J.B. Ruhl have put forward a strong case for "eco-pragmatic" and "radical middle" approaches to environmental policymaking. Rather than debate the merits of such an approach,…
View article: Payments for Ecosystem Services: Past, Present and Future
Payments for Ecosystem Services: Past, Present and Future Open
While we don’t tend to think about it, healthy ecosystems provide a variety of critical benefits. Ecosystem goods, the physical items an ecosystem provides, are obvious. Forests provide timber; coastal marshes provide shellfish. While less…
View article: Introduction to the Symposium on Climate Change Localism
Introduction to the Symposium on Climate Change Localism Open
The sheer breadth, scale and rapidity of subnational climate efforts in the United States have been impressive. Politically and economically powerful states, influential cities, massive pension funds, leading companies and others have step…
View article: Regulating Business Innovation as Policy Disruption: From the Model T to Airbnb
Regulating Business Innovation as Policy Disruption: From the Model T to Airbnb Open
Many scholars have invoked the term "disruptive innovation" when addressing the platform (sharing) economy, with sweeping claims about the dramatic changes this development promises for law, regulation, and the economy. The challenges rais…
View article: Legal Risks and Timeline Associated with Increasing Surface Water Storage in California
Legal Risks and Timeline Associated with Increasing Surface Water Storage in California Open
In California, surface water storage has become a hot topic. California's recent drought has fueled the discussion, with a number of agricultural interests forcefully arguing that the state needs to store more water. Their efforts have bee…
View article: The Production Function of the Regulatory State: How Much Do Agency Budgets Matter?
The Production Function of the Regulatory State: How Much Do Agency Budgets Matter? Open
How much will our budget be cut be this year? This question has loomed ominously over regulatory agencies for over three decades. After the 2016 presidential election, it now stands front and center in federal policy, with the Trump admini…
View article: Mineral Estate Conservation Easements: A New Policy Instrument to Address Hydraulic Fracturing and Resource Extraction
Mineral Estate Conservation Easements: A New Policy Instrument to Address Hydraulic Fracturing and Resource Extraction Open
In a few short years, hydraulic fracturing has transformed the oil and natural gas industries and changed the landscape of energy policy, while generating major conflicts over local land use decisions. Individuals and communities have turn…
View article: Some Kind of Justice: The ICTY's Impact in Bosnia and Serbia
Some Kind of Justice: The ICTY's Impact in Bosnia and Serbia Open
This treaty supplement is meant to complement the Fifth edition of International Environmental Law & Policy. It includes the major hard and soft law instruments that embody the field of international environmental law. It thus includes the…