LAND USE LAW CENTER
PACE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
W H I T E
P L A I N S
P ROF . J OHN R. N OLON
T: 914.422.4090
F: 914.422.4011
E: JNOLON @ LAW . PACE . EDU
N E W
Y O R K
L AND U SE L AW C ENTER
P ACE U NIVERSITY S CHOOL OF L AW
78 N ORTH B ROADWAY
W HITE P LAINS , NY 10603
A LAW STUDENT’S GUIDE TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LAW
March 24, 2012
Introduction
This guide was prepared for presentation to students and faculty attending the 25th Annual
Conference of the National Association of Environmental Law Societies at the University of
Michigan Law School. It contains a definition of sustainable development law, a chart of the
topics it comprises, abstracts of five of Professor Nolon’s articles on the topic, and a
description of the Land Use Law Center at Pace University School of Law where he works
with students on projects, policies, courses, research, and writing on these topics. As the
consequences of climate change become apparent on the ground, at the shore, and in our
atmosphere and waters, law firms are forming sustainable development law practices,
agencies are adopting related policies, and students are studying the topics discussed in this
guide to prepare for their careers, which will be dramatically affected by the economic,
environmental, and equity issues covered by the emerging Law of Sustainable Development.
Pace Law School offers an LL.M. degree track on Land Use and Sustainable Development
Law. For more information, go to www.law.pace.edu/graduate.
Sustainable Development Law
“Sustainable development law … focuses on shaping land and economic development to have
a lighter impact on the environment, including, but not limited to climate change mitigation
and adaptation. Sustainable development uses less material, avoids consuming wetlands or
eroding watersheds, consumes less energy, emits less carbon dioxide (CO2), lessens
stormwater runoff, reduces ground and surface water pollution, and creates healthier places
for living, working, and recreating.” JOHN R. NOLON & PATRICIA E. SALKIN, CLIMATE CHANGE AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LAW IN A NUTSHELL XV-XVI (2011).
In Prof. Nolon’s Nutshell, the authors start by describing the international background of
sustainable development law and climate change efforts. The authors then explore the
existing legal systems of the U.S., highlighting the differences and interactions between the
federal, state, and local levels. The authors then further focus on the local level, discussing
various climate-smart development techniques. To learn more about this publication, visit:
http://store.westlaw.com/nolon-salkins-climate-change-sustainable-development-law-in-anutshell/163535/41009840/productdetail.
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Scope of Sustainable Development
A. Conservation Topics:
1. Local Environmental Law
2. Natural Resource Conservation
3. Agricultural Land Preservation &
Environmental Regulation
4. Green Infrastructure
5. Sustainable Sites
6. Habitat Conservation
7. Regulating Hydraulic Fracturing
8. Energy Sprawl
9. Environmental Impact Review of
Development
10. Public Health Impact Review of
Development
11. Urban Farming
12. Repurposing Landscapes
13. Historic Building & Landmark
Preservation
C. Energy Conservation:
28. Energy Codes & Conservation in
Buildings
29. Building Orientation &
Commissioning
30. Local Wind Turbine & Wind Farm
Regulation
31. Local Solar Panel & Array
Regulation
32. District Energy Systems
D. Climate Change Topics:
33. Climate Change Mitigation &
Adaptation
34. Carbon Emission Reduction
Through Human Settlement
35. Sea Level Rise
36. Community Resiliency
37. Disaster Planning & Response
38. Biological Sequestration: Forest
Preservation & Enhancement
39. Tree Canopy Management &
Expansion
B. Development Topics:
14. Smart Growth & Sustainable
Development Certification
15. Compact, Mixed-Use Development
& Priority Growth Districts
16. Urban Revitalization
17. Urban Renewal and Eminent
Domain
18. Repurposing of Buildings
19. Brownfield Redevelopment
20. Transit Oriented Development
21. Community Economic
Development
22. Urban Revitalization
23. Workforce Housing
24. Managing Shrinking Cities &
Suburbia
25. Vacant and Distressed Property
Remediation
26. Sustainable Neighborhood
Development
27. Green Buildings
E. Decision-Making & Diffusion of
Innovation:
40. Collaborative Decision-Making &
Facilitation
41. Public Policy Formulation: Civil
Discourse
42. Diffusion of Innovation: Change
Agents
F. Equity Topics:
43. Fair and Affordable Housing
44. Environmental Justice
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Climate Change & Sustainable Development Articles

The Land Use Stabilization Wedge Strategy: Shifting Ground to Mitigate Climate Change,
34 WM. & MARY ENVTL. L. & POL’Y REV. 1 (2009), available at
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1520629.
This article describes how local governments, through the application of existing land use
techniques, can mitigate climate change. This strategic path follows one developed by
professor Robert Socolow, who identified fifteen categories for organizing society’s climate
change mitigation efforts. Five of Socolow’s categories fall within the reach of local land use
authority: reduced use of vehicles, energy efficient buildings, vegetative carbon
sequestration, wind power, and solar power. Through the aggregation of these land use
techniques, significant energy savings and CO2 reduction can be achieved. This article
describes how local governments are attacking the causes of climate change and how state
and federal policies can be used to launch a coordinated attack on perhaps the greatest
challenge our nation faces.

Land Use for Energy Conservation: A Local Strategy for Climate Change Mitigation, 27 J.
LAND USE & ENVTL. L. (forthcoming 2012), available at
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1951905.
Land use techniques have impressive potential to reduce energy consumption, improve the
economy, and mitigate climate change. This article explores the little understood influence
local land use decision-making can have on energy conservation, sustainable development,
and climate change mitigation, if properly assisted by federal and state governments. The
construction and use of buildings combined with extensive vehicular travel throughout the
nation’s settlements inefficiently consume large amounts of energy. By enforcing and
enhancing energy codes, encouraging the use of combined heat and power and district
energy systems, properly orienting and commissioning buildings, incorporating renewable
energy resources, and reducing vehicle miles travelled, local land use law’s potential to
achieve energy conservation and sustainable development can be unlocked. The article
proposes new federal and state policies, combining features of both the Coastal Zone
Management Act and the Enterprise Zone initiative, which can facilitate local land use
initiatives that will guide human settlements down a new path toward energy efficiency and
climate change mitigation.

Managing Climate Change Through Biological Sequestration: Open Space Law Redux, 31
STAN. ENVTL. L.J. (forthcoming 2012), available at
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1951907.
Climate change management involves strategies that mitigate its causes and adapt human
communities to its consequences. In light of those goals, a national biological sequestration
policy will increase the amount of CO2 emissions that biologically sequestered and will
enable human settlements to adapt to the harsh effects of a changing climate, while
promoting open space preservation. The article sketches the influences of international and
national climate change law, which largely ignore the benefits of biological sequestration on
privately owned land in developed countries. It then turns to an analysis of climate change
and its consequences before exploring how mitigation and adaptation can be accomplished
by preserving and enhancing the natural landscape in both rural and urban areas. The local
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and state initiatives that have evolved to preserve and enhance open space provide the basis
for a broader sequestration policy, one that builds on available legal technology and existing
norms to respond to the looming global perturbation of climate change.

Regulatory Takings and Property Rights Confront Sea Level Rise: How Do They Roll, 21
WIDENER L. REV. (forthcoming 2012), available at
This article discusses GHG emissions, global warming, sea level rise, and the ferocity of
coastal storms associated with climate change. It then explores the tension between these
movements in nature and the policy of the State of Florida to fix property boundaries, which
under common law would move landward as sea level rises. The article contrasts the Florida
coastal policy regarding beach and shore protection with the policies and programs of
federal, state, and local governments that use other approaches such as accommodating
rolling easements, prohibiting shoreline armoring, requiring removal of buildings,
purchasing development rights or the land itself, and imposing moratoria on rebuilding after
storm events. These may be more realistic approaches to long-term coastal erosion, avulsive
events, and the inevitability of sea level rise. The article concludes with a recommendation
that the framework for federal, state, and local cooperation in coastal management be
revised so that the critical resources and knowledge are brought to bear on this critical issue.

The Law of Sustainable Development: Keeping Pace, 30 PACE L. REV. 101 (2010), available
at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1586942.
This article describes the field of sustainable development law and then considers the
relationship between change in society and the evolution of relevant legal principles,
strategies, and practices. Documented in this review is the steady change exhibited in the
common law applicable to natural resources, the rapid spread of zoning, and the current
explosion of climate change litigation and regulation. The first half of the article
demonstrates that the law can and does evolve in response to crises in society, particularly
when lawyers, judges, professionals, and policy makers are trained to understand that law is
an instrument for positive change. The article then turns to why law schools matter by
drawing lessons from the author’s personal experience at Pace University School of Law.
Land Use Law Center Mission
Established in 1993, the Land Use Law Center at Pace Law School is dedicated to fostering
the development of sustainable communities through the promotion of innovative land use
strategies and collaborative decision-making techniques, as well as leadership training,
research, education, and technical assistance. Its activities provide opportunities for
students of Pace Law School to gain in-depth experience that allows them to become
practice-ready attorneys serving private, public, and non-governmental clients.
The Land Use Law Center is the preeminent center of its kind offering extensive research
and consulting services; practitioner and citizen-leader training programs; continuing legal
education programs; multimedia resources; and frequent publications on sustainable land
use and community development. For more information on the Land Use Law Center, visit:
http://www.pace.edu/school-of-law/centers-and-special-programs/centers/land-use-lawcenter-0.
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