Environmental Law

This Article addresses the growing nexus between climate change and various conceptions of security with a particular emphasis on climate change’s national security impacts. This Article ultimately argues that it is far better to proactively acknowledge and address climate change’s national security impacts today rather than waiting for catastrophe to strike. Indeed, upon closer examination, climate change is not just a complex collective action environmental problem—it also is a challenging national security issue with far-reaching impacts.

In 2023, the Supreme Court decided Arizona v. Navajo Nation, finding that the United States government does not have an affirmative duty to ensure the Navajo Nation’s water security. The decision offers the Navajo two paths forward for relief: the tribe can either litigate specific water rights claims in the Colorado River Basin or lobby the President and Congress to amend an 1868 treaty, the language of which served as the basis for the holding in Navajo Nation. This Comment offers a path forward for change via the executive branch, specifically through the President’s emergency powers. Ultimately, this Comment identifies the Stafford Act as the best prospect for the Navajo to advance their water rights, given that there is a specific process in place for tribal leaders to request an emergency declaration from the President that would release federal funds.