Environment & Energy

Our planet faces unprecedented environmental challenges, threatening ecosystems, species, coastal communities, and all too often, human life itself. Heading the list of threats is climate change, with its promise of drastic environmental, economic, and cultural upheaval. But we also face persistent problems of air and water pollution, toxic wastes, cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and other Great Waters, and protecting natural resources and wildlife.

Central to the environmental health of the nation and the planet is decreasing our dependence on energy derived from burning fossil fuels. Our continued reliance on these sources is literally endangering the planet's ability to sustain life as we know it. Yet many policymakers, with the financial and rhetorical support of energy companies bent on making a profit at the cost of the planet's health, continue to resist desperately needed reforms. Read about CPR’s work protecting the environment in reports, testimony, op-eds and more. Use the search box to narrow the list.

An Accountability Mechanism for the Chesapeake Bay: Interview Findings

An Accountability Mechanism for the Chesapeake Bay: Interview Findings, by CPR Member Scholar Rena Steinzor and Policy Analyst Shana Jones, CPR White Paper 808.

Type: Reports (Nov. 19, 2008)
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Author(s): Rena Steinzor, Shana Campbell Jones
Protecting Public Health and the Environment by the Stroke of a Presidential Pen: Seven Executive Orders for the President's First 100 Days

Protecting Public Health and the Environment by the Stroke of a Presidential Pen: Seven Executive Orders for the President's First 100 Days, By CPR Member Scholars Rebecca M. Bratspies, David M. Driesen, Robert L. Fischman, Sheila Foster, Eileen Gauna, Robert L. Glicksman, Alexandra B. Klass, Catherine A. O’Neill, Sidney Shapiro, Amy Sinden, Rena Steinzor, Robert R.M. Verchick, and Wendy Wagner, and CPR Policy Analyst James Goodwin

Type: Reports (Nov. 13, 2008)
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The Clean Water Act: A Blueprint for Reform

The Clean Water Act: A Blueprint for Reform, by William Andreen and CPR Policy Analyst Shana Campbell Jones, White Paper 802, July 2008.

Type: Reports (July 16, 2008)
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Author(s): William Andreen, Shana Campbell Jones
Conservatives Flip-Flopped on Cap and Trade

Conservatives Flip-Flopped on Cap and Trade, op-ed by Robert Glicksman

Type: Op-Eds (June 28, 2008)
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Author(s): Robert Glicksman
Cooperative Federalism and Climate Change: Why Federal, State, and Local Governments Must Continue to Partner

Cooperative Federalism and Climate Change: Why Federal, State, and Local Governments Must Continue to Partner, by multiple CPR Member Scholars

Type: Reports (May 29, 2008)
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April 16, 2008, CPR's Buzbee Urges Action on Clean Water Restoration Act.

April 16, 2008, CPR's Buzbee Urges Action on Clean Water Restoration Act.

Type: News Releases (April 16, 2008)
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Exxon should just pay its penance

Exxon should just pay its penance. It wants to wriggle out of punitive damages, but those are the ones that make a difference

Type: Op-Eds (Feb. 29, 2008)
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Author(s): Alexandra Klass, Sandra Zellmer
Thrown back: Judges stand up for our health, the rule of law by rejecting Bush mercury stance

Thrown back: Judges stand up for our health, the rule of law by rejecting Bush mercury stance, op-ed by Rena Steinzor

Type: Op-Eds (Feb. 21, 2008)
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Author(s): Rena Steinzor
Toxic Torts: Science, Law, and the Possibility of Justice

The U.S. tort, or personal injury law, cloaked behind increased judicial review of science, is changing before our eyes. But we cannot see it.  U.S. Supreme Court decisions beginning with Daubert v. Merrell-Dow Pharmaceutical altered how courts review scientific testimony and its foundation in the law. Mistaken reviews of scientific evidence can decrease citizen access to the law, increase incentives for firms not to test their products, lower deterrence for wrongful conduct and harmful products, and decrease the possibility of justice for citizens injured by toxic substances. Even if courts review evidence well, greater judicial scrutiny increases litigation costs and attorney screening of clients, and decreases citizens’ access to the law. Carl Cranor's Toxic Torts: Science, Law, and the Possibility of Justice introduces these issues, reveals the relationships that can deny citizens just restitution for harms suffered, and shows how justice can be enhanced in toxic tort cases.

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Author(s): Carl Cranor

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