Mary Wood: Climate Crisis Resources
Lawyers:The Atmospheric Trust Doctrine
The atmospheric trust doctrine provides a means by which courts can hold governments at the national and sub-national level accountable for reducing carbon emissions. Such litigation rests on the premise that all governments hold natural resources in trust for their citizens and bear the fiduciary obligation to protect such resources for future generations. The courts have the ability to enforce this fiduciary obligation to reduce carbon at all levels of government. Whether they will do so or not depends largely on you. While atmospheric trust litigation bears the risk of any untested strategy, it is perhaps the only macro approach that can empower courts to effectuate the reductions in emissions within the limited time frame afforded to us before critical climate thresholds are exceeded.
Speeches
 "Perfection v. Survival: A Lawyer's Role in the Age of Global Warming," Address, Environmental and Land Use Section of the Lane County Bar Association (February 25, 2009).
"The Climate Victory Speakers," Address, League of Women Voters, Eugene, Oregon (February 19, 2009).
The Planet on Your Docket," Keynote Address, Montana Trial Lawyers Association, Flathead Lake, MT (August 7, 2008).
"Government's Atmospheric Trust Responsibility," Keynote Address, J.E.L.L. Climate Change Conference, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR (October 19, 2007).
Click here for more speeches. For a complete list, please refer to Professor Wood’s curriculum vitae.
Publications
"Introduction to Nature's Trust: A Paradigm for Natural Resource Stewardship," Natural Resources Law Journal (introductory chapter to book forthcoming by Cambridge University Press, Spring 2010) (Fall 2009).
Comments on Nature's Trust Approach submitted to Office of Management and Budget, Federal Regulatory Review, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Request for Comments, 74 Fed. Reg. 8819 (February 26, 2009).
"Atmospheric Trust Litigation," in Climate Change Reader (W.H. Rodgers, Jr. and M. Robinson-Dorn, eds.) Carolina Academic Press (forthcoming 2009).
Atmospheric Trust Litigation, chapter in Adjudicating Climate Change: Sub-National, National, And Supra-National Approaches (William C.G. Burns & Hari M. Osofsky, eds.) (2009, Cambridge University Press). To read an abstract of this article, click here. For Word document of chapter, click here.
"Nature's Trust: A Legal, Political and Moral Frame for Global Warming," 34:3 Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review (May 2007).
Click here for more publications. For a complete list, please refer to Professor Wood’s curriculum vitae.
Media Coverage
“The Politics of Climate Change,"interview with Laurie Mercier, KBOO
90.7FM,http://kboo.fm/node/12479(March 2, 2009).
Wise, Carla, "Green All the Lawyers," UTNE Reader, http://www.utne.com/2008-09-01/Environment/Green-All-the-Lawyers.aspx (August 19, 2008).
Hall, Bennett, "Law Professor Wants to Use Courts to Fight Global Warming," Corvallis Gazette Times, http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2008/06/01/news/community/1aaa01_law.txt (June 1, 2008); also posted by Climate Crisis Coalition, (June 1, 2008).
Interview with Jason Bradford, "NPR's The Reality Report," KZYX, http://www.kzyx.org/joomla/, Mendocino County, CA (April 14, 2008), available at http://globalpublicmedia.com/the_reality_report_mary_wood_on_government_as_the_trustee_of_common_assets.
Click here for more media coverage. For a complete list, please refer to Professor Wood’s curriculum vitae.
Please click here for an extensive list of resources regarding atmospheric trust litigation. Research is ongoing, so please continue to check back for updates.
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