VJEL Newsroom

Announcing VJEL’s 2024 White River Writing Competition Winner

By VJEL

April 15, 2024

The Vermont Journal of Environmental Law (VJEL) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2024 White River Writing Competition. This year’s winner is Dawson Vandervort, with his submission “Using Contingent Valuation to Bridge the Gap.” Dawson’s winning submission will be featured in the upcoming Volume 26 of The Vermont Journal of Environmental Law during the 2024-2025 publication cycle. In addition, Dawson’s bio will be featured on our Writing Competition page until next year’s winner is announced.

The White River Writing Competition, sponsored by VJEL and Vermont Law and Graduate School, is an annual writing competition that seeks law students with a passion for environmental law to illuminate creative solutions to current legal frameworks at the local, state, federal, and international levels. The competition, named after the White River that flows through VJEL’s home in South Royalton, Vermont, embraces the broad view of environmental law, just as the river brings the local community together, flowing through the state of Vermont, until finally connecting to a larger river system progressing through many other states to ultimately reach the Atlantic Ocean. The competition is announced annually in the early spring semester and is available to all students pursuing a Juris Doctorate (JD) or Master of Laws (LLM) degree at an accredited law school within the United States. Winners are awarded a $1000 cash prize and an offer of publication in The Vermont Journal of Environmental Law.

Meet the 2024 Winner: Dawson Vandervort

Dawson Vandervort is a 3L dual JD and Master of Energy Regulation and Law (MERL) candidate at Vermont Law and Graduate School, graduating in May 2024. While Dawson is originally from Vandalia, Ohio, he plans to move to Washington D.C. after graduation to pursue a career with the federal Internal Revenue Service working with tax law. With this career path, he hopes to have a healthy mix of renewable energy, tax, and animal law, and hopes to use his experience and knowledge with the law to lobby Congress to create more animal rights legislation.

Using Contingent Valuation to Bridge the Gap

Dawson’s winning submission, “Using Contingent Valuation to Bridge the Gap” evaluates the differences between how the law treats damages for harm to companion animals versus environmental damages. While environmental statutes allow for the use of contingent valuation (CV) to account for non-use or non-economic values, the common law approach to companion animal damages has generally limited recovery to the animal’s fair market value. It further asserts that this is a flawed approach because companion animals provide significant non-economic value to their families that is not accounted for in fair market valuations. It draws a parallel to how the law treats environmental damages, where statutes have recognized the need to account for non-use values through methods like contingent valuation.

The submission then shifts to highlighting that animal advocates could leverage a more flexible approach used in environmental law to push for reforms in how companion animal damages are calculated. Just as the allied forces under Wellington were able to overcome Napoleon’s forces, this submission analyzes an environmental law approach that could be used to overcome the limitations of the current companion animal damages framework.

Dawson concludes by calling on the law to evolve to better account for the true value of companion animals. Recovery that is limited to their fair market price fails to capture their full worth to their human families.

VJEL would like to thank all the authors for their submissions to the 2024 White River Writing Competition. There were many strong submissions, and VJEL had a difficult decision in deciding a winner. Nonetheless, VJEL is grateful for their contributions to creating rigorous, exemplary, and accessible work to the environmental law field.

VJEL Newsroom

Published: Volume 25, Issue 3 of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law

By VJEL

April 4, 2024

The Vermont Journal of Environmental Law (VJEL) is pleased to announce the publication of Volume 25, Issue 3. Issue 3 features two Articles and one student Note. Professor Mary Christina Wood’s article proposes Regional Frameworks to organize land-based, natural climate solutions for atmospheric carbon drawdown, emphasizing the need for global collaboration and financing. Professor Anastasia Telesetsky’s Article advocates for a communitarian approach to nature-based solutions (NBS), arguing that an economic rationale alone may dilute the effectiveness of NBS projects. The Article further suggests implementing an “ecological education and service” model akin to jury duty to foster public engagement. Finally, Elizabeth Beairsto’s Note discusses strategies for states to align a clean energy transition with equity and justice principles, highlighting legislative changes and offering recommendations for facilitating a just transition. VJEL publishes exclusively online, and this Issue may be accessed on our website by clicking this link to view our Volume 25, Issue 3 Publication or accessing our Volume 25 Publications from the navigation header.

Articles:

Sky Carbon Cleanup and Biodiversity Restoration: Devising Regional Frameworks

By Mary Christina Wood

Professor Wood’s Article proposes Regional Frameworks aimed at organizing the land-based, natural climate solutions (NCS) necessary to meet humanity’s need to reduce excess carbon in the atmosphere. The Article first explains the scientific need for atmospheric carbon drawdown. It then introduces a meta-strategy for catalyzing drawdowns worldwide by implementing an interlocking, “three-gear” approach comprised of (1) developing Regional Atmospheric Recovery Frameworks; (2) financing those Frameworks; and (3) organizing Regional Sky Trusts to carry out drawdown projects. The Article then outlines which components the Regional Frameworks should include and discusses significant stakeholders and contributors before summarizing ongoing efforts to develop such a framework in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Professor Wood concludes by proposing the establishment of Regional Atmospheric Recovery Institutes to sustain efforts at implementing NCS in a globally comprehensive and collaborative way.

Nature-Based Solutions: Applying a Legal Principle of Solidarity to
Protect Human and More-than-Human Communities Through an
“Ecological Education and Service Program”

By Anastasia Telesetsky

Professor Telesetsky’s Article summarizes the concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) and attempts to provide a novel solution to increase public engagement in NBS work. The Article begins by exploring the variety of ways in which NBS are characterized and then explains why that expansiveness of that definition dilutes the potential for effective financing of true NBS projects. In particular, the Article argues that NBS should not operate on a predominantly economic rationale but should instead incorporate communitarian principles of solidarity and “care ethics.” Professor Telesetsky concludes by outlining one potential approach for approaching NBS in a communitarian way: by implementing an “ecological education and service” mechanism of community participation modeled after the practice of jury duty.

Student Note:

Clean Energy and Justice for All: The Federal Government’s Influence on
State Energy Justice Legislation

By Elizabeth Beairsto: 3L at Vermont Law and Graduate School and VJEL’s Public Relations Editor.

Elizabeth Beairsto’s Note seeks to outline strategies for states to harmonize newfound opportunities to advance the clean energy transition with their ongoing obligations to uphold overarching principles of equity and justice. The Note begins by describing the complex energy “trilemma” of energy security, affordability, and environmental sustainability. Against this backdrop, it then describes the ways in which the legislative framework created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 altered the clean energy landscape by providing novel opportunities for implementing clean energy. The Note concludes by summarizing certain strategies that states may undertake as they seek to develop legislation that helps facilitate the necessary just transition.

VJEL would like to thank the authors for their submissions, as well as the Editorial Staff for their hard work to produce Volume 25, Issue 3. Their contributions continue to add exemplary and accessible work to the environmental law field.

Vermont Journal of Environmental Law
Vermont Law & Graduate School
164 Chelsea Street | P.O. Box 96 South Royalton, VT 05068 vjel@vermontlaw.edu

February 12, 2024

Dear Students, Faculty, and Members of the Environmental Legal Community,

The Vermont Journal of Environmental Law (VJEL) is thrilled to announce our tenth-annual White River Environmental Law Writing Competition. This Competition aims to encourage academics nationwide to contribute their voices and insights to the ongoing debates and conversations within the environmental law community. The annual writing Competition supports VJEL’s mission to provide the legal community with premier scholarship in environmental law.

All submissions must be in Word format and be emailed to ArticlesVJEL@vermontlaw.edu with the subject line: “White River Submission” by 5:00 PM EST on Monday, March 18, 2024. The submission must include a cover page that includes your name, address, phone number, email address, law school, and year of graduation to ensure anonymity and impartiality for the judging process. Do not include your name or any other personal information in any other part of your submission. The winning author will be notified in Spring 2024 and will receive a $1,000 cash prize along with a publication offer from VJEL. At the discretion of our senior editors, additional entries may receive publication offers.

Please share these Competition details with any current ABA-accredited J.D., LL.M., or Masters student(s) that may be interested.* Any questions regarding the Competition may be directed to VJEL@vermontlaw.edu and/or MonicaNerz@vermontlaw.edu. For general questions about VJEL, please visit our website at https://vjel.vermontlaw.edu/.

*Please note that current VJEL and Vermont Law Review Staff Editor Notes are not eligible for submission. However, Staff Editors may submit works other than their Note. Senior Staff may apply with their Note or any other work.

All of us at the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law look forward to reading your submissions!

Sincerely,

Monica Nerz
Editor-in-Chief, Vol. 25
Vermont Journal of Environmental Law

VJEL Newsroom

Published: Volume 25, Issue 2 of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law

By VJEL

January 3, 2024

The Vermont Journal of Environmental Law (VJEL) is pleased to announce the publication of Volume 25, Issue 2. Issue 2 features one two Articles and one student Note ranging from land use issues in small-scale agriculture through the western United States; to applying Vermont’s Environmental Justice Act to Tennessee; and finally, land use regulation in Vermont’s outdoor industry. VJEL publishes exclusively online, and this Issue may be accessed on our website by clicking this link to view our Volume 25, Issue 2 Publication or by accessing our Volume 25 Publications from the navigation header.

Articles:

Land Use Law Analysis to Empower Small-Scale Agriculture in Teton County, Wyoming

By Rachael Romsa et al.

Several western regions, including Teton County, Wyoming, face challenges of meeting food demands via small-scale agriculture. By having vast swaths of public land, available land for local agriculture is limited. Mountain ranges and forests make food importation difficult, especially during winter months. All the while tourism demands for food continue to grow. This Article focuses on legal frameworks to empower local or regional food supplies in western states, using Teton County, Wyoming, and its Conservation District as a case study for feasibility with its unique conditions.

To tackle these problems, Romsa et al. propose small-scale agriculture to not only limit further development on private lands, but also produce food for local communities—all the while supporting local farmers. But policy planning is lacking in Teton County. Instead, the authors analyzed three existing land use planning and regulatory frameworks that could supplement this development:

• • The Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan
  • The Teton County land development regulations (LDRs)
  • The Town of Jackson LDRs.

For each policy framework, the authors first analyze where small-scale agriculture could be supported or challenged. The authors then highlight how other communities have used their own comprehensive plans for small-scale agriculture. For each regulatory framework, the authors give their recommendations as to how the frameworks may better support agricultural production.

Romsa et al. conclude by finding that the Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive plan would need a new chapter or amendments to existing chapters to better support small-scale agriculture. For the Teton County and Town of Jackson LDRs, they would need to incorporate a more expansive definition of “agriculture.” This would allow for agriculture in more zoning districts coupled with additional policy and regulatory tools such as Planned Resort Zones and Planned Unit Development Zones. Last, Teton County could find support in these revisions from other communities that have used similar strategies and the growing support from local residents.

A Comparative Look: Applying Vermont’s Environmental Justice Act in Tennessee

By K. Ashley Eshleman

In 2022, Vermont enacted the Environmental Justice Act. Vermont’s EJ Act includes impact analyses, community engagement, and an online mapping tool centered around environmental effects on certain groups of citizens. This Article focuses on key points for a potential environmental justice bill drafted in the Tennessee legislature, using Vermont’s Environmental Justice Act as a model. The federal government, much like Vermont, has been looking at legislative and regulatory action to address EJ concerns, including many programs created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The author first looks at federal initiatives to address EJ concerns through legislation, executive orders, and agency indicatives by the EPA. Following that, Eshleman provides background to Vermont’s EJ Act, noting that it is more comprehensive than the EPA’s recognition and emphasis of fairness and equity in government decision-making. Additionally, Vermont offers more classes such as race, color, income, and English language proficiency.

Following the analysis of federal and Vermont initiatives, the author then details Tennessee’s background, which does not currently have any EJ legislation, with only minimal mentions of EJ perspectives from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Tennessee boasts a much larger and more diverse population than Vermont, many of which work in agriculture and who have been historically discriminated against, which was only worsened by Trump-era policies that encouraged non-citizen deportations. In addition, much of the lower-income population is among these diverse groups. Diverse and poor groups are more vulnerable to poor water quality and flooding after large rain events, while redlined communities suffer the most from the effects of climate change.

From there, Eshleman discusses how Tennessee can implement and adapt a similar bill for the state. She focuses on addressing pollution, agriculture, community engagement, and improving language access, all to secure greater protections than Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 in Tennessee. Eshleman concludes that Vermont’s Act is not perfect, and would need modification, especially for identifying focus populations and implementations of impact analyses. But nonetheless, she explains, Vermont’s Act would theoretically work if implemented in Tennessee if disparities within the state are better identified—first starting with defining what “environmental justice” is.

Student Note:

Givings and Takings: Challenges to Regulation Under Vermont’s Act 250

By Taylor Scott Berkley: 3L at Vermont Law and Graduate School and VJEL’s Senior Articles Editor.

Focusing on ski area development, Berkley proposes a constitutional analysis of federal takings doctrine under Act 250, a comprehensive environmental law focused on land use and development that has far-ranging regulations and restrictions. Berkley highlights the contrasting nature of competing interests: state consistency over local control, economic growth against ecological preservation, and entrenched interests against emerging needs.

Berkley first begins by looking back at the historical and ecological roles of land-use regulations in Vermont, as well as some context behind takings jurisprudence, all while focusing on the unique need for the state’s regulation and renewal. Following the background discussion, this Note moves into how Act 250 interplays with the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Vermont Constitution, analyzing legal decisions between the two frameworks by the state’s supreme court.

The author concludes by stating that with the growing environmental-focused climate amongst Vermonters, the courts are likely to hear more takings challenges to Act 250. Thus, calling for more specificity in regulations to reduce friction between private land rights and state regulations.

VJEL would like to thank the authors for their submissions, as well as the Editorial Staff for their hard work to produce Volume 25, Issue 2. Their contributions continue to add exemplary and accessible work to the environmental law field.