Alyson Flournoy, J.D.
Professor of Law
Levin College of Law
2010 Awardee
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Flournoy’s research has developed a new approach to protecting publicly-owned natural resources, that is, public lands and waters, and the ecosystems, minerals, and biodiversity found in or on publicly-owned lands and waters. This approach is embodied in a proposal for a National Environmental Legacy Act, a statute that would require the American public, for the first time, to define the environmental legacy they wish to leave to future generations and provide a mechanism to ensure its protection.
Flournoy has developed this idea in articles recently published in the Texas Law Review and the Nebraska Law Review, a policy paper published by the Center for Progressive Reform, and in a contribution to a collaborative Climate Legacy Initiative Report. Her research addresses questions such as how the statute can use information more effectively than current law, how it can incorporate the ecological concept of resilience to achieve better outcomes, and how it can address the challenges of climate change and ecosystem migration. She also co-edited the book Beyond Environmental Law: Policy Proposals for a Better Environmental Future, recently published by Cambridge University Press, in which the Environmental Legacy Act is one of two core proposals.
An outgrowth of Flournoy’s work on the Environmental Legacy Act is a project to synthesize insights from environmental psychology, management theory, and behavioral economics that may facilitate the design of new laws that operate effectively, enhance the likelihood of support for and compliance with the laws, and facilitate implementation by agency officials. This project builds on Flournoy’s legal research and promises to generate a broader set of principles to guide the design of the next generation of environmental law.