The mission of the Georgetown Environmental Law & Policy Institute (GELPI) is to conduct research and education on legal and policy issues relating to protection of the environment and conservation of natural resources.
Latest News
The Eleventh Annual Conference on Litigating Regulatory Takings Claims Will be Held in Stanford, California on November 6-7, 2008
View the brochure.The Track Record on Takings Legislation: Lessons from Democracy’s Laboratories
This new GELPI report examines the experiences of Florida, Oregon, and several other states with takings compensation legislation and seeks to identify the lessons based on these experiences that might be useful to other jurisdictions considering similar legislation in the future.View the report.
Coastal Disaster Insurance in the Era of Global Warming: The Case for Relying on the Private Market
This GELPI report examines the various proposals before Congress for the federal government to take on an expanded role in providing insurance to property owners threatened by hurricanes and other coastal storms. It concludes that most of the pending proposals are misguided and, to the extent possible, the United States should stay out of the insurance business and allow private companies to provide disaster coverage that reflects its true market cost.View the report.
On September 6, John Echeverria testified on H.R. 3355, the Homeowners Defense Act of 2007, before the House Committee on Financial Services.
View the testimony.
Walker v. United States
On June 21, 2007, the New Mexico Supreme Court, on certification of this case from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, ruled that a New Mexico water right does not include a right to forage and, therefore, public land ranchers in New Mexico cannot claim that their water rights include a property right to graze cattle on federal public lands.View the opinion.
Property Values and Oregon Measure 37: Exposing the False Premise of Regulation's Harm to Landowners.
This GELPI report debunks the premise of Measure 37 and other takings measures that regulation of land use necessarily reduces the market value of regulated parcels.View the report.