Adjudicating Climate Change

William C. G. Burns is the Class of '46 Visiting Professor with the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College. Most recently, Dr Burns was a Senior Fellow with the Center for Global Law and Policy at the Santa Clara University School of Law. Additionally, he serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy and co-chair of the International Environmental Law Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association. He received his B.S. in political science from Bradley University and his Ph.D. in international law from the University of Wales - Cardiff College of School of Law. Prior to his academic career, he spent more than twenty years in the nongovernmental sector, including as executive director of the GreenLife Society/Pacific Center for International Studies, a think tank that focused on implementation of international wildlife law. He has published more than 70 articles in a range of law, policy and science journals, including the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, the Journal of the American Medical Association and Global Change and he has served as the co-editor of three books. Hari M. Osofsky is an Associate Professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law. She received her B.A. and J.D. from Yale University. She currently is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography at the University of Oregon. Her articles have been published in a variety of journals, including the Washington University Law Quarterly, Villanova Law Review, Chicago Journal of International Law, Stanford Environmental Law Journal, Stanford Journal of International Law, Virginia Journal of International Law and Yale Journal of International Law. Her advocacy work has included assisting with Earthjustice's annual submissions to the U.N. Human Rights Commission on environmental rights and with the Inuit Circumpolar Conference's petition on climate change to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. She also has taught climate change litigation courses that assisted the Southern Environmental Law Center and Western Environmental Law Center.

'Climate change stands as the critical environmental issue of our era. Yet governmental efforts to respond … have been halting at best, particularly in the United States. In the face of inaction and an inadequate response by legislatures and executive branch officials, the judiciary has stepped into the breach. As Burns and Osofsky – and the extraordinary team of authors they have assembled – explain, the most effective push for climate change policy action has come from courts. With a review of key cases at the state, national, and international levels, [this book] tells the story of these lawsuits, exploring the underlying legal theories, the litigants who pursued the actions, the decisions rendered, and the resulting policy impact. Bravo! A 'must-read' for students, policymakers, environmental group advocates, business leaders, and researchers.' Dan Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, Yale University

• Preface Peter E. Roderick; 1. Introduction: the exigencies that drive potential causes of action for climate change William C. G. Burns and Hari M. Osofsky; Part I. Subnational Case Studies: 2. State action as political voice in climate change policy: the Minnesota environmental cost valuation regulation Stephanie Stern; 3. Limiting climate change at the coal mine Lesley K. McAllister; 4. Cities, land use, and the global commons: genesis and the urban politics of climate change Katherine Trisolini and Jonathan Zasloff; 5. Atmospheric trust litigation Mary Christina Wood; Part II. National Case Studies: 6. The intersection of scale, science, and law in Massachusetts v. EPA Hari M. Osofsky; 7. Biodiversity, global warming, and the United States Endangered Species Act: the role of domestic wildlife law in addressing greenhouse gas emissions Brendan R. Cummings and Kassie R. Siegel; 8. An emerging human right to security from climate change: the case against gas flaring in Nigeria Amy Sinden; 9. Tort-based climate litigation David A. Grossman; 10. Insurance and climate change litigation Jeffrey W. Stempel; Part III. Supranational Case Studies: 11. The world heritage convention and climate change: the case for a climate-change mitigation strategy beyond the Kyoto protocol Erica J. Thorson; 12. The Inuit petition as a bridge? Beyond dialectics of climate change and indigenous peoples' rights Hari M. Osofsky; 13. Bringing climate change claims to the accountability mechanisms of international financial institutions Jennifer Gleason and David B. Hunter; 14. Potential causes of action for climate change impacts under the United Nations Fish Stock Agreement William C. G. Burns; 15. Climate change litigation: opening the door to the international court of justice Andrew Strauss; 16. The implications of climate change litigation: litigation for international environmental law-making David B. Hunter; 17. Conclusion: adjudicating climate change across scales Hari M. Osofsky.