John C. Dernbach et. al., Recognition of Environmental Rights for Pennsylvania Citizens: Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 70 Rutgers U.L. Rev. 803 (2018). John C. Dernbach writes about the Environmental Rights Amendment and the landmark case Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealth. He notes the case could have implications for other states and around the world.
Marie Loiseau, Revived Authority in Article I, Section 27 of The Pennsylvania Constitution: The Commonwealth’s New Affirmative Duty to Protect the Atmosphere, 91 Temp. L. Rev. 183, 2018. Marie Loiseau argues that residents of Pennsylvania may use new case law under Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution to force the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Robert B. McKinstry, Jr. & John C. Dernbach, Applying the Pennsylvania Environmental Rights Amendment Meaningfully to Climate Disruption, 8 Mich. J. Envtl. & Admin. L. 49 (2018). Robert B. McKinstry, Jr. and John C. Dernbach write that the logic of the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealthdecision leads to the conclusion that the Environmental Rights Amendment creates a duty for the Commonwealth to address climate change disruption caused by Green House Gas emissions. The authors also find that this application of the amendment will have positive consequences beyond Pennsylvania’s borders.
Luis José Torres Asencio, Greening Constitutions: A Case for Judicial Enforcement of Constitutional Rights to Environmental Protection, 52 Rev. Jur. U.I.P.R. 277 (2018). Luis José Torres Asencio explains the arguments surrounding judicial enforcement of constitutional environmental protection provisions. He argues that the objections to environmental protection, which range from claims about ambiguity and technicality of these rights to concerns about democracy, serve only to limit the extent to which these rights can be enforced in a liberal constitutional setting not to provide content to these rights.
Joshua Ulan Galperin, Pennsylvania Gas: Trusts, Takings, and Judicial Temperaments, 4 Oil & Gas, Nat. Resources & Energy J. 531 (2018). Joshua Ulan Galperin explains the decision in Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealthand notes the controversy surrounding the decision.
Nat Stern, Don’t Answer That: Revisiting the Political Question Doctrine in State Courts, 21 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 153 (2018). Nat Stern explains the juxtaposition of federal and state courts when ruling on whether partisan-gerrymandering claims are justiciable. Drawing upon League of Women Voters v. Commonwealth, Stern notes that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court briskly dismissed the concern of justiciability.
Joseph Kanefield, Partisan Gerrymander Claims Are State Constitutions the New Frontier? Ariz. Att’y, (2018). Joseph Kanefield examines many challenges to partisan gerrymandering claims brought under state constitutions. Among these is League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth where the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania struck down a gerrymandered map as a violation of the Free and Equal Elections Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Charles Eppolito III, Leading the Way in Service, Pa. Law. (2018). Charles Eppolito acknowledges that this year marks the 230th anniversary of the U.S. Constitutionand the 50th anniversary of the PennsylvaniaConstitution.
Mark D. Christiansen, Legal Developments in 2017 Affecting the Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Industry, 55 Rocky Mountain Min. L. Found. J. 23 (2018). Mark Christiansen examines the PennsylvaniaSupreme Court’s landmark decision in Pa. Envtl. Def. Found. v. Commonwealth, 161 A.3d 911 (Pa. 2017). This case addressed the issue of whether certain statutory enactments related to funds generated from the leasing of forest and park lands owned by the Commonwealth for oil and gas exploration and extraction were constitutionalunder Article I, Section 27 of the PennsylvaniaConstitution, known as the Environmental Rights Amendment.
Riley Bauer, “Works for Me”: What’s Next for Pennsylvania Corporate Income Tax Liabilities After Nextel Communications of the Mid-Atlantic v. Commonwealth, 63 Vill. L. Rev. 477 (2018). Explaining the Uniformity Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution and the impact of Nextel Communications of the Mid-Atlantic, Inc. v. Commonwealth, Riley Bauer explains the far-reaching implications of this case and its impact on corporate tax, small businesses, and legislation.
Jason MacLean, You Say You Want an Environmental Rights Revolution: Try Changing Canadians’ Minds Instead (of the Charter), 49 Ottawa L. Rev. 183 (2018). Jason MacLean uses Article I, Section 27of the Pennsylvania Constitution as an example of constitutional environmental rights at the state level that have generally failed to protect the environment.
Alison Peck, Identity-Based Conflicts in Public Policy: Hydraulic Fracturing in Pennsylvania, 79 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 437, 2018. Alison Peck details the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent decision interpreting the Environmental Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution in Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In this case, the Court held that the Environmental Rights Amendment required the Commonwealth to act as trustee of the state’s natural resources and prohibited the government from using proceeds from oil and gas leases for any purpose apart from natural resource conservation.