Constitutional Law: 2008 Annual Report

Abstract

Environmental, energy, and natural resources law continues to be shaped by the U.S. Constitution. While perhaps not as prevalent as in 2007, constitutional issues continue to play first fiddle in more than one-half of all federally reported decisions within the scope of our Section’s namesake. Key issues at the intersection of constitutional and environmental, energy, and natural resources law in 2008 include Standing, the dormant Commerce Clause, Preemption, and the Takings Due Process and Free Speech Clauses, as discussed herein. Other constitutional issues will remain instrumental in the years to come, including those respecting the jurisdictional reach of the Commerce Clause, the political question doctrine, sovereign immunity, and federalism, as well as a host of emerging lower profile constitutional issues, such as those under the Property and General Welfare Clauses, and the Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Amendments.

Keywords: environmental law, constitutional law

JEL Classification: K32