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

astein@law.ufl.edu

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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