CLIMATE CHANGE LAW PROFESSOR AMY STEIN
SPRING 2016 – LAW 6936 – 2 CREDITS U. OF FLORIDA LEVIN COLLEGE OF LAW
SYLLABUS
Time/Location: Tuesdays, 9:00 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.
Room 350
Contact Information: Professor Amy L. Stein
Office 311, 352-273-0953
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m., or by appointment
Course Description:
This seminar will focus on contemporary issues associated with climate change law, including
international ramifications, domestic actions, litigation strategies, and the legal tools available to
address the multiplicity of topics related to climate change. Students will be expected to
complete background reading independently and then take turns leading the class in critical
analyses of climate change documents. There will be a collaborative element to this seminar,
with a focus on helping each other with topic and paper development and review. Each student
will have an opportunity to explore areas of specific interest with the completion of one
substantial written legal analysis and presentation to the class. The paper completed for this
course will satisfy the Writing Requirement.
Learning Objectives:
The goals of this course include the following:
Learn to recognize and comprehend the terminology, scientific basis, and major issues
related to climate change, and be able to communicate them to others;
Explore various theoretical and analytical frameworks for evaluating the policy choices
inherent in climate change, assess their efficacy, and understand their limitations;
Introduce you to certain current “hot topics” that arise in climate change policy debates; and
Develop your research, writing, and editing skills by undertaking a substantial research paper
on a climate change policy-related topic of your choosing.
Required Reading Materials:
The readings will be available electronically on Westlaw, Lexis, the Internet, or TWEN.
Please obtain a copy of the assigned readings, read them, and bring them to class.
Please register on the course TWEN site.
Attendance & Class Participation:
Participation and attendance are an important part of any seminar course, and your participation
and attendance in class will constitute a significant portion of your final grade for this course, as
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described below. This seminar will culminate in your writing a 25-page double-spaced scholarly
paper on a topic of your choosing relating to climate change law.
(1) Attendance Policy: You are expected to attend and participate in class. I am assuming that each
student that enrolls in this course is committing to attend every class to the best of their abilities.
Nevertheless, to allow for exigencies in life, students are permitted three absences during the
semester without impacting their final grade. For each absence beyond three, a student’s final paper
grade will be reduced by one-third of a grade (e.g., A- to B+). There is no distinction between
excused or unexcused absences, but this allowance is designed to accommodate for illness, job
interviews, and family emergencies. For this reason, there are no exceptions beyond the three
absences, even for very valid illnesses or emergencies that may occur at the end of the semester.
Please budget accordingly. Nevertheless, as a courtesy, please let me know when you are going to
be absent from class.
(2) Research Paper. You will “workshop” your work-in-progress idea to the class on an assigned day
and be responsible for providing written feedback on a colleague’s paper and oral feedback on the
rest. Your 25-page final research paper is due no later than 5 pm on Tuesday, April 19, 2016.
Pages should be in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins. Footnotes
should be in 10-point font and single-spaced. Please send your papers to me via EMAIL. I reserve
the right to reduce your grade if your research paper is turned in late. If your paper is longer than 30
pages, I will stop reading after page 25, unless you have specifically sought my permission to turn in
something longer. Permission will only be granted if there is a very good reason why you need more
than 25 pages to present your research and argument.
(3) PLAGIARISM AND HONOR CODE: Please note that I will take honor code violations and/or
plagiarism very seriously – your research paper must constitute your own independent work.
Plagiarism or unattributed use of another’s work may result in a grade reduction, and I may
report any such violations to the Honor Board.
**FINAL GRADE: Your final grade for the course will be determined as follows:
Attendance and Participation:
- Attendance and class participation (including being present and prepared for
class, and participating in classroom discussion):
10%
- Serving as discussant for one of your classmates’ papers and providing written
feedback on their draft:
15%
Drafts and Paper Presentation:
- Discussing your proposed paper with me by February 10; preparing
draft/outline of paper; timely circulating draft/outline and accompanying
background documents to the class:
15%
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**I reserve the right to impose penalties for work submitted late and blown deadlines.
This is a rapidly changing field with new information available daily. This syllabus is offered as a guide
to the direction of the course, but I reserve the right to change or supplement the readings along the
semester. It is your responsibility to check TWEN and any e-mails you may receive from me regarding
this course. Do not let the number of readings scare you. Many of them are only a few pages. Place
priority on the scholarly works, cases, and government documents. Remember that learning to skim and
pull out the salient pieces of a document is a key skill for your eventual practice.
- Oral presentation of your paper to the class; respond to questions and feedback: 10%
Final Research paper (due April 19): 50%
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1 1/5
INTRODUCTION & COURSE OVERVIEW: SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC UNCERTAINTY
W. Collins, et al., The Physical Science Behind Climate Change, Scientific American
(2008), http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=science-behind-climate-
change
J. Achenbach, Why Do Many Reasonable People Doubt Science?, National
Geographic, http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/science-doubters/achenbach-
text
C. Mooney, Forget “bans” on talking about climate. These Florida Republicans are
too busy protecting their coasts, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-
environment/wp/2015/03/31/the-unlikely-group-of-republicans-who-are-preparing-
florida-for-climate-change/
Citibank, Energy Darwinism II: Why a Low Carbon Future Doesn’t Have to Cost the
Earth, pp. 1-27,
https://ir.citi.com/E8%2B83ZXr1vd%2Fqyim0DizLrUxw2FvuAQ2jOlmkGzr4ffw4Y
JCK8s0q2W58AkV%2FypGoKD74zHfji8%3D
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2013, The Physical
Science, click on Summary for Policymakers, http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/
2 1/12
INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK
The International Approach to Climate Change,
http://unfccc.int/essential_background/items/6031.php
The Paris Agreement (December 12, 2015),
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf
R. Meyer, A Reader’s Guide to Paris Agreement,
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/12/a-readers-guide-to-the-paris-
agreement/420345/
C. Davenport, A Climate Deal, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/14/world/europe/a-
climate-deal-6-fateful-years-in-the-making.html?_r=0
Skim INDCs,
http://www4.unfccc.int/submissions/indc/Submission%20Pages/submissions.aspx
[read at least the U.S.]
3 1/19
CLIMATE CHANGE FEDERALISM AND COMMON LAW CLAIMS
TWEN, J. Lin, First Successful Negligence Case: Urgenda
Skim Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands,
http://edigest.elaw.org/sites/default/files/urgenda.pdf
American Electric Power v. Connecticut, 131 S.Ct. 2527 (2011)
M. Gerrard, What Litigation of Climate Change Lawsuit May Look Like,
http://yalelawjournal.org/the-yale-law-journal-pocket-part/scholarship/what-litigation-
of-a-climate-nuisance-suit-might-look-like/
Southeast Florida Climate Compact,
http://www.southeastfloridaclimatecompact.org/who-we-are/
A, Carlson, Iterative Federalism and Climate Change, 103 Nw. U. L. Rev. 1097
(2009)
Skim M. Vandenbergh, The Carbon-Neutral Individual, 82 N.Y.U.L. Rev. 1673
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(2007)
4 1/26
CLIMATE CHANGE AND FLORIDA National Climate Assessment, Southeast,
http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights/regions/southeast#intro-section
Florida Leads Nation in Property at Risk,
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article29029159.html
Sea Level Rise, pp. 1-14, http://www.southeastfloridaclimatecompact.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/10/2015-Compact-Unified-Sea-Level-Rise-Projection.pdf
Miami Herald, Beyond the Tides,
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article41416653.html
Florida Oceans and Coastal Council, Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise in Florida,
http://www.floridaoceanscouncil.org/reports/Climate_Change_and_Sea_Level_Rise.p
df
How the New Flood Insurance Reforms Makes Costly Future Climate Disasters More
Likely, http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/25/3418323/flood-insurance-
program-reforms/
G. Oldehoff, Florida’s Beach Restoration Program,
http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/JN/JNJournal01.nsf/c0d731e03de9828d8525745
80042ae7a/80b1e04e426a3a9c852577c9005539ce!OpenDocument&Highlight=0,beac
h,access*
5 2/2
PUTTING A PRICE ON CARBON - CAP AND TRADE V. CARBON TAX
The World’s Worst Market Failure: Greenhouse Gas Emissions,
http://uchicagogate.com/2015/06/01/the-worlds-worst-market-failure-
greenhouse-gas-emissions/
EPA, http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/EPAactivities/economics/scc.html
China cap and trade, http://thediplomat.com/2015/09/what-you-need-to-know-
about-chinas-cap-and-trade-announcement/
New Jersey,
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/03/rep_pallone_says_christies_withdrawal
_from_regiona.html
EU, http://www.climatecentral.org/news/europe-reforms-cap-and-trade-lays-out-
climate-vision-18706
Reliability, Trading Options Favored in Federal Climate Plan,
http://news.bna.com/clln/CLLNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=82161501&vname=ccrn
otallissues&wsn=497347000&searchid=26792132&doctypeid=1&type=date&mode=
doc&split=0&scm=CLLNWB&pg=0
R. Avi-Yonah, Combating Global Climate Change: Why a Carbon Tax is a Better
Response to Global Warming than Cap and Trade, 28 Stan. Envtl. L.J. 3 (2009)
U.S. Steps Up Its Effort Against a European System,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/business/energy-
environment/10emit.html?_r=1&ref=airlines_and_airplanes
Optional:
Aldy, Joseph E. and Robert N. Stavins. The Promise and Problems of Pricing
Carbon: Theory and Experience. Discussion Paper 2011-30, Cambridge, Mass.:
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Harvard Environmental Economics Program, October, 2011,
http://www.nber.org/papers/w17569.pdf?new_window=1
Masur and Posner, Climate Regulation and the Limits of Cost-Benefit Analysis, 99 Cal
L. Rev. 1557 (2011)
Designing a Fair Carbon Tax, http://www.rff.org/research/publications/designing-fair-
carbon-tax
It’s official – CA Cap and Trade,
Cold, hard cash from cap and trade draws lawmakers' interest,
'Resource swapping' could cost BC Hydro under Calif.'s new air rules,
Anti-EU ETS Legislation
Nordhaus, Economic Issues in Designing a Global Agreement on Global Warming,
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rg9WbaM5qI4J:www.econ.y
ale.edu/~nordhaus/homepage/documents/Copenhagen_052909.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct
=clnk&gl=us
6 2/9
EXECUTIVE INVOLVEMENT – REGULATION OF GHGS UNDER THE
CLEAN AIR ACT
EPA, Light-Duty Vehicles Fact Sheet, http://www3.epa.gov/otaq/climate/regs-light-
duty.htm (click on Fact Sheet: EPA and NHTSA Set Standards to Reduce Greenhouse
Gases and Improve Fuel Economy for Model Years 2017-2025 Cars and Light Trucks
(PDF))
Clean Air Act, Section 111(b) and 111(d),
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/7411
EPA, Clean Power Plan, http://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-
existing-power-plants#rule-summary (Click on Clean Power Plan Final Rule and read
pp. 64511-64515, 64529-64531 (Part IIIA);
EPA, http://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/fact-sheet-components-clean-power-plan
West Virginia v EPA, Motion for Stay, TWEN, pp. 1-20
West Virginia v EPA, EPA’s Opposition to Stay, TWEN, pp. 1-50
California Executive Order B-30-15: https://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18938
OPTIONAL:
Massachusetts v. U.S. EPA, 127 S. Ct. 1438 (2007) [be sure to read all majority and
dissenting opinions]
EPA, Endangerment Finding, 66497-66499; 66505-66509 [optional to skim the rest]
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment/downloads/Federal_Register-EPA-
HQ-OAR-2009-0171-Dec.15-09.pdf
7 2/12 ROOM
285C 12:30-2
CLIMATE AND OCEANS
PIEC ROUNDTABLE
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8 2/16
ALTERNATIVE STATUTORY STRATEGIES CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT – LITIGATION STRATEGIES
Wash. Envtl. Council v. Bellon, 732 F.3d 1131 (9th Cir. 2013) [Think about
why this was such a blow to private parties wanting to litigate based on climate
change related injuries]
E. Russell, Superfund and Climate Change: Lessons from Hurricane Sandy, NR&E
(2014),
http://www.americanbar.org/publications/natural_resources_environment/2013-
14/winter-2014/superfund_and_climate_change_lessons_hurricane_sandy.html
Safari Club Int’l v Salazar (In re Polar Bear Endangered Species Act Listing &
Section 4(d) Rule Litig.), 709 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2013)
CBD Petition re. TSCA,
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2015/ocean-acidification-06-
30-2015.html (pp. 1-3 of the “petition” link) SKIM AND SELECT THREE COMMENTS/QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES
THAT INTEREST YOU: CEQ Revised Draft NEPA Guidance on Considerations of
the Effects of Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2014),
http://energy.gov/nepa/downloads/revised-draft-guidance-consideration-greenhouse-
gas-emissions-and-climate-change-nepa
Keystone XL Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement, (through E-6),
http://www.keystonepipeline-
xl.state.gov/clientsite/keystonexl.nsf/03_KXL_FEIS_Executive_Summary.pdf
Optional:
D. Markel, An Empirical Assessment of Climate Change in the Courts: A New
Jurisprudence or Business as Usual? 64 Flor. L. Rev. 15 (2012)
J.B. Ruhl, Climate Change and the Endangered Species Act: Building Bridges to the
No-Analog Future, 88 B.U. L Rev. 1 (2009)
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Anna T. Moritz et al., Biodiversity Baking and Boiling: Endangered Species Act
Turning Down the Heat, 44 Tulsa L. Rev. 205 (2008)
9 2/23
ENERGY POLICIES
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Synthesis Report,
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/ [only pp. 20-25, 28-29 on mitigation]
The 21st Century Grid, http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/07/power-
grid/achenbach-text
GAO, Climate Change: Energy Infrastructure Risks and Adaptation Efforts (2014),
http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/660558.pdf [only pp. 12-32]
Natural Gas Leak, http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=24772
Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media, Black Carbon’s Grey Areas,
http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2010/07/black-carbons-grey-areas-pt2/
Energy Supply, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-solve-global-
warming-its-the-energy-supply/
10 3/8
PAPER PRESENTATIONS – GROUP 1:
PRESENTER 1: BRIAN
DISCUSSANT: JORDAN
PRESENTER 2: JILLIAN
DISCUSSANT: HANNAH
REQUIRED READINGS:
ALL THE PAPER DRAFTS BEING PRESENTED
ALL THE BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS PROVIDED BY PRESENTERS
11 3/15
PAPER PRESENTATIONS – GROUP 2:
PRESENTER 3: JORDAN
DISCUSSANT: BRIAN
PRESENTER 4: HANNAH
DISCUSSANT: JILLIAN
REQUIRED READINGS:
ALL THE PAPER DRAFTS BEING PRESENTED
ALL THE BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS PROVIDED
12
3/22 ADAPTATION , GEOENGINEERING, AND CARBON CAPTURE
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Synthesis Report (2014),
https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/syr/AR5_SYR_FINAL_SPM.pdf
[only pp. 17-20, 26-27 on adaptation]
Vicki Arroyo, Let’s Prepare for our new climate,
https://www.ted.com/talks/vicki_arroyo_let_s_prepare_for_our_new_climate?languag
e=en [Watch 10 minute video]
Columbia Climate Center, Potential Liability of Governments for Failure to Prepare
for Climate Change (2015),
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http://web.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/climate-change/klein_-
_liability_of_governments_for_failure_to_prepare_for_climate_change.pdf
A THREE-LEGGED STOOL ON TWO LEGS: RECENT FEDERAL LAW
RELATED TO LOCAL CL...IENCE PLANNING AND ZONING, URBLAW47 Urb.
Law. 525 (2015)
Columbia Law School, Public Service Commission Approved Con Ed Rate Case,
http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2014/02/21/public-service-commission-
approves-con-ed-rate-case-and-climate-change-adaptation-settlement/
THE RED DAWN OF GEOENGINEERING: FIRST STEP TOWARD AN
EFFECTIVE GOVERNANC... STRATOSPHERIC INJECTIONS, DUKELTR14
Duke L. & Tech. Rev. 157 (2015)
§ 127:56.Carbon sequestration overview, 11 Bus. & Com. Litig. Fed. Cts. § 127:56
(3d ed.)
Politico, Billions Over Budget, http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/05/billion-
dollar-kemper-clean-coal-energy-project-000015
**** Find one example of a successful or failed adaptive strategy to share with the
class.
13 3/30 4PM
SAVE THE DATE: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30 – 4PM FOR A DISCUSSION WITH FORMER CONGRESSMAN BOB
INGLIS (R) ON CLIMATE IN LIEU OF OUR CLASS. DETAILS TO FOLLOW.
Readings TBA
14 4/5
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOVEREIGNTY AND MIGRATION (LAST CLASS)
Pope, http://www.climatecentral.org/news/pope-climate-human-rights-19493
UNEP, Climate Change and Human Rights (TWEN), pp. 11-43
Human Rights Must be at the Heart,
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/why-human-rights-must-be-at-the-
heart-of-climate-change-decisions/
Washed Away,
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/washed_away_as_sea_levels_rise
_island_nations_look_to_the_law/
Exxon, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-mobil-shareholders-
exclusive-idUSKCN0WP2TG
4/19 5PM
FINAL PAPER DUE
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Appendix A - Suggested places to find news or current events articles. (These are also good
resources for researching your final paper.)
Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis, http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, http://www.c2es.org/
Columbia Climate Change Center: http://www.law.columbia.edu/centers/climatechange
EPA, http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/
EIA, http://www.eia.gov
Energy and Environment Daily, available at the Tulane library website:
http://www.law.tulane.edu/tlslibrary/Research.aspx. You can also sign up to receive a
daily email with climate news and alerts.
Florida Climate Institute, https://floridaclimateinstitute.org/
Global Change, www.globalchange.gov
National Climate Assessment, U.S. Global Change Research Program, available at http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
http://unfccc.int/meetings/durban_nov_2011/meeting/6245.php
World Resources Institute:
http://www.wri.org/climate?gclid=CLvErqWhsK0CFUOQ7QodI2TFoA
Mainstream news media, including nytimes.com, cnn.com, Wall Street Journal, and
Google news.
RESOURCES ON WRITING AN ARTICLE, http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/lawrev.html
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