When the New York Court of Appeals agreed in May 2021 to hear the habeas corpus case of an Asian elephant named Happy, it marked the first time that the highest court of any English-speaking jurisdiction agreed to hear a habeas corpus case brought on…
What is it? Biodiversity–a metric that accounts for the number of distinct species of flora and fauna on Earth–is greater now than ever before.[1] However, scientists expect that to change. Historically, there have been five mass extinction events…
With the consequences of forest fires being felt on both local and global levels, more needs to be done to mitigate these events – domestic government action is essential.
The proposed US-Mexico border wall may stop the migration of people, but what happens when it does stop the migration of animals?
How does the Endangered Species Act’s “Distinct Population Segment” policy apply to the iconic grizzly bear? Read more in this analysis posted via the Environmental Law Review Syndicate.
By Max Chaffetz, Managing Editor, Virginia Environmental Law Journal
Biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining the overall health of the Arctic, but climate change poses a major threat as temperature increases have disrupted the region's ecosystem. What legal regime is currently in place to protect the Arctic?
China has been one of the largest contributors to reforestation efforts through its Grain for Green Program. However, have all of their efforts actually helped the environment? One fatal flaw in the program is severely limiting the programs impact on the environment.
On February 15, 2019, President Trump declared a national emergency in order to secure funds to construct a border wall on the Mexican-American border.[i] The President claims the wall will prevent illegal immigrants from entering the United States, and…
The fight over the U.S.-Mexico border wall has sparked a very public debate in the United States. One lesser-known issue surrounding President Trump’s border wall, however, is its effect on the environment. The Supreme Court recently denied certiorari to three conservation groups seeking to halt border wall construction projects that failed to comply with long-standing environmental laws and harmed existing habitats. But why was this construction permitted in the first place?
The Endangered Species Act, passed in 1973, was intended to “provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved, to provide a program for the conservation of such endangered and threatened…
