Abstract
Thousands of acres of land have been lost to climate change. Additional thousands, if not millions, of acres will become uninhabitable because of floods, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, and a host of other known and unknown climate impacts. Yet people continue to build in such areas, adding homes, businesses, infrastructure, and so on, guaranteeing that state and local governments will be perpetually engaged in emergency management and salvage operations into the indefinite future. From a climate change perspective, such construction reduces our resiliency while it increases our vulnerability to the demands of climate change. To prevent this extremely dangerous and expensive future, this Article proposes a new land use approach to regulate highly at-risk areas. Applying several existing zoning tools in new ways, such as overlay zones and floating zones, and one newer zoning tool, called environmental justice zones, this Article proposes “Sacrifice Zones.” A Sacrifice Zone identifies areas where new and existing construction will exacerbate already dangerous climate conditions. Within these areas, certain regulations apply, such as a moratorium on building, the relocation of existing residents, and regenerative tools to limit dangerous and expensive development while building adaptive capacities. Designating a Sacrifice Zone can help enhance, restore, and regenerate ever-decreasing biodiversity and wildlife habitats, while moving toward a more sustainable and environmentally safe future.
Recommended Citation
Jonathan Rosenbloom,
Sacrifice Zones,
24
Nev. L.J.
891
(2024).
Available at:
https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/nlj/vol24/iss3/6