The Environmental Forum

Volume 38 Issue 6

November-December 2021

This issue's articles are available below.

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Sacrifice Zones

LEAD FEATURE People of color and low-income communities living in areas with extreme pollution contribute the least to these problems, but suffer the most. Nothing short of federal environmental justice legislation is needed to address these severe inequities.

By Barry E. Hill
Environmental Law Institute

With SIDEBARs from the National Wildlife Federation and a scholar on Indian law

A Clear and Present Danger

BOOK EXCERPT During the Carter presidency, the scientific community was increasing the alarm about climate change resulting from carbon dioxide. The seeds planted by the administration to stimulate efficiency and renewables could have yielded a smooth transition toward sustainable energy and climate security. This is the story of how that didn’t happen.

By James Gustave Speth
Former Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality
Pushing the Legal Limits

COVER STORY The Chesapeake Bay restoration faces big challenges on multiple fronts. Some of the thoughtful response measures are stretching the Clean Water Act creatively. The results provide lessons for complex environmental problems elsewhere.

By Ridgway M. Hall
Chesapeake Legal Alliance

With SIDEBARs from Virginia's resources chief and the Chesapeake Bay Commission

Greening State Constitutions

TESTIMONY Activists and lawmakers are leading the charge to amend state charters to protect environmental rights. Pennsylvania is one success story — but the road to green amendments won’t be easy.

By Jeremy Cox
Bay Journal
The Debate: The New Toxic Substances Control Act Is Now Five Years Old: A Report

President Biden’s infrastructure plan aims to replace all lead service lines in the United States — a long overdue undertaking to resolve a legacy of lead contamination disproportionately affecting low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, Although replacement of lead service lines receives bipartisan support, even if funding is approved upgrading the country’s aging drinking water system will be no easy feat.

By: David P. Clarke

The Public Supports Clean Energy but Politics Is Preventing Win-Wins

By: Craig M. Pease

IPCC Ignores That Institutions Are the Creatures of Fossil Fuels

By: Linda K. Breggin

Cities Collaborate With Businesses on Climate Plan Implementation

By: Sally R. K. Fisk

Bridge Private, Public Governance to Enhance Environment Protection

By: Bethany A. Davis Noll

Instead of 'Hot Summer' for FERC, Commission Lands in Hot Water

By: Ethan Shenkman

It's Deja Vu All Over Again With Storm Waters of U.S. Rule

By: Joseph E. Aldy

The Potential Role for Emission Offsets in Climate Change Policy

By: Bob Sussman

Setting Some Expectations for the Glasgow Climate Summit

By: Lisa Benjamin

On Environmental Justice and Agencies

By: Akielly Hu

Using Liability Lawsuits to Protect Biodiversity.

By: Scott Fulton

On the values ELI holds as eternal.