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Oliver A. Houck
  • David Boies Chair in Public Interest Law
  • ohouck@tulane.edu
  • Weinmann Hall, Room 255-C
  • 504.865.5946

Selected Publications

Article "Are We Endangered Yet? Artificial Intelligence and the Human Species" The Environmental Institute March/April 2019

Book Review, “Conservation in the Anthropocene”, THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, July/August 2012

Book Review, “1493”, THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, March/April 2012.

Book Review, “The Ducktown Disaster,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, November/December 2011.

Book Review, “The Quiet World: Saving Alaska’s Wilderness Kingdom, 1879-1960”, THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, July/August 2011.

Book Review, “The Big Burn,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, February/March 2011.

Book Review, “Regulating From Nowhere,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, November/December 2010.

“Who Will Pay To Fix Louisiana?”, THE NATION, July 2010. Book Review, “Cleaning Up,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, July/August 2010.

“The Three Katrinas: Hard Cases Make New Law,” NATIONAL WETLANDS NEWSLETTER, July/August 2010

Book Review, “Nudge”, THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, March/April 2010.

Book Review, “The Teapot Dome Scandal,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, November/December 2009.

“Nature or Nurture: What’s Right and What’s Wrong with Adaptive Management,” ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER, October 2009.

“The Messenger,”, THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, September 2009. Book Review, “Roadless Rules”, THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, July/August 2009.

Book Review, “The Si’lailo Way,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, March/April 2009.

Book Review, “The Bridge At The End Of The World,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, November/December 2008

Book Review, “Mother Earth and Uncle Sam,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, July/August 2008.

Book Review, “Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the politics of Possibility,” ENVIRONMENTAL LAW (Lewis and Clark), Spring 2008.

Book Review, “Collapse”, THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, January/February 2008.

Essay: “Written on the Water”, TULANE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNAL, Fall, 2007.

The Scientists Speak: Gaming the Louisiana Coast,” NATIONAL WETLANDS NEWSLETTER, Sept.-Oct. 2007.

Book Review, “The Golden Spruce”, THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, September/October, 2007.

Book Review, “The Worst Hard Time,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, May/June, 2007.

Essay: “Beauty and the Beast Within: On the Special Nature of Natural World Law,” WASHINGTON LAW REVIEW, Summer 2007.

Essay, “The Uncontrol of Nature: Michael Grunwald’s The Swamp and Michael Tidwell’s Bayou Farewell,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, January/February 2007.

Book Review, “Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America,” THE ENVIRONMENTALFORUM, March/April 2006.

“Reflecciones Sobre La EIA,” REVISTA ANDALUZA DE ADMINISTRACION PUBLICA, Spring 2006.

You Can’t Have Your Wetlands and Eat’em Too,” in “After the Storm: Restoring America’s Gulf Coast Wetlands,” ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER, Spring 2006.

Recovering from Katrina and Rita: Environmental Governance Lessons Learned and Applied” (co-author), ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INSTITUTE, February 2006.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Task Force on NEPA: The Professors Speak,” ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER, December 2005. 

“Thinking About Tomorrow: Cuba’s ‘Alternative Model’ for Sustainable Development,” TULANE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNAL, Summer 2003.

“Damage Control: A Field Guide to Important Euphemisms in Environmental Law,” TULANE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNAL, Winter 2001.

Book Review, “Is that all?: A Review of “The National Environmental Policy Act, An Agenda For The Future,” by Lynton K. Caldwell, DUKE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY FORUM, Fall 2000.

“Cuba’s New Law of the Environment: An Introduction,” TULANE INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY, May 1999.

Coming to Grips with BioDiversity,” TULANE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNAL, Winter 1994, reprinted in “Biodiversity and the Law,” supra.

Book Review, ““Breaking the Vicious Circle,” ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER, February 1994.

Peer Review, “Tongass National Forest Land Management Plan,” U.S. FOREST SERVICE, 1994 (multiple-authored).

“The Tulane Environmental Project, Phase 2: Procurement,” TULANE UNIVERSITY, May 1992 (co-authored).

“An Open Letter to EPA Administrator William K. Reilly,” NATIONAL WETLANDS NEWSLETTER (July/August 1991).

“The Tulane Environmental Project, Phase 1: Recycling,” TULANE UNIVERSITY, April 1991 (co-authored).

More Net Loss of Wetlands: The Army-EPA Agreement on Mitigation,” ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER, June, 1990.

“Legal Options to Address the Importation of Hazardous and Solid Waste into Louisiana,” LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, 1990 (co-authored).

“To Restore Lake Pontchartrain”, GREATER NEW ORLEANS EXPRESSWAY COMMISSION, March 1989 (co-authored).

“Right-to-Know Legislation”, La. Legislative Research Project, 1985.

Book Review, “The Second Battle of New Orleans: A History of the Vieux Carre River Front Expressway Controversy”, TULANE LAW REVIEW, December 1982. 

Book Reviews

American Energy, Imperiled Coast, The Environmental Forum, May/June 2015

The Westway War and the Highway Program, The Environmental Forum, January/February 2015

“The Price of Gold: Who Owns Whom?,” THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, November/December 2013

Welcome to the Anthropocene: The Future of Environmental Law and Policy, THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, July/August 2012

Book Review, "1493," THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, March/April 2012

Book Review, "Oil Over Again," THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, July 2010

The Teapot Dome Scandal, The Environmental Forum, November 2009.

Rules Of The Road The Environmental Forum, August 2009.

Salmon Wars, The Environmental Forum, March 2009.

Crossing Over, The Environmental Forum, January 2009.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, 25 ENVTL. F. 6 (2008)

Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility, 38 ENVTL. L. 627 (2008)

Mother Earth and Uncle Sam: How Pollution and Hollow Government Hurt Our Kids, 25 ENVTL. F. 6 (2008)

The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing From Crisis To Sustainability, 25 ENVTL. F. 6 (2008)

Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast, 24 ENVTL F. 28 (2007)

The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise, 24 ENVTL. F. 28 (2007)

The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed, 24 ENVTL. F. 6 (2007)

Book Review, “The Worst Hard Time,” ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FORUM, Summer 2007.

Book Review, “The Uncontrol of Nature:  Michael Grunwald’s The Swamp and Michael Tidwell’s Bayou Farewell,” ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FORUM, Spring 2007.

Book Review, “Babbit’s Goodly Archipelago, A Review of Cities in the 

Wilderness:  A New Vision of Land Use in America,” ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM, Spring 2006.

Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America, 23 ENVTL. F. 4 (2006)

Is that All? A Review of The National Environmental Policy Act, An Agenda for the Future, by Lynton K. Caldwell, 11 Duke Envtl. L. & Pol'y F.173 (2000)

Risk Management: Gone Too Far? A Review of BREAKING THE VICIOUS CIRCLE, by Stephen Breyer, 11 ENVTL. FORUM 8 (March/April) (1994)

The Second Battle of New Orleans: A History of the Vieux Carré Riverfront- Expressway Controversy, by Richard O. Baumbach, Jr. and William E. Borah, 57 Tul. L. Rev. 431 (1982)

Books

“Down On The Batture,” University of Mississippi Press, 2010.

“Taking Back Eden,” Island Press, 2009.

“Environmental Law Stories,” FOUNDATION PRESS, 2005 (co-editor).

"The Clean Water Act TMDL Program:  Law, Policy and Implementation," ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INSTITUTE, 1999 (1st ed., 2002; 2nd ed. 2003).

“Standard Scientific Procedures for Implementing Ecosystem Management on Public Lands,” (multiple-authored), in “The Ecological Basis of Conservation:  Heterogeneity, Ecosystems and Biodiversity,” Chapman and Hall, (1996).

“BioDiversity and the Law,” Island Press, 1996 (forward).

“Science and the Endangered Species Act,” National Research Council, National Academy of Science, 1995, (multiple-authored).

The Role of Technology in Marine Habitat Restoration and Enhancement,” National Research Council, National Academy of Science 1994 (multiple-authored).

Books and Book Chapters

THE CLEAN WATER ACT TMDL PROGRAM: LAW, POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION (Envt'l L. Inst.) (2000)

Standard Scientific Procedures for Implementing Ecosystem Management on Public Lands (co-authored), in THE ECOLOGICAL BASIS OF CONSERVATION: HETEROGENEITY, ECOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY (Chapman and Hall) (1996)

BIODIVERSITY AND THE LAW (foreward) (Island Press) (1996)

SCIENCE AND THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT (National Research Council, National Academy of Science 1995) (co-authored)

THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN MARINE HABITAT RESTORATION AND ENHANCEMENT (National Research Council, National Academy of Science 1994) (co-authored)

General Publications

More than two dozen articles published in, inter alia, THE WASHINGTON POST, HARVARD MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, FIELD AND STREAM, ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY FORUM, NATIONAL WILDLIFE, AMICUS JOURNAL, WASHINGTON TRIBUNE, THE TIMES PICAYUNE/THE STATES ITEM, HIGH COUNTRY NEWS, SIERRA, SOUTHERN EXPOSURE, AUDUBON MAGAZINE, INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE, OUTDOOR AMERICA, WATER SPECTRUM, NEW ORLEANS MAGAZINE, LOUISIANA LIFE, NATIONAL WETLANDS NEWSLETTER, RANGER RICK=S NATURE MAGAZINE (National Education Press Awards 1975, 1976), and GAMBIT MAGAZINE (New Orleans Press Club Award 1983).

Other Legal Writing

"The Three Katrinas", NATIONAL WETLANDS NEWSLETTER, July/August 2010

"Who Will Pay To Fix Louisiana?", The Nation, July 2010

“Nature or Nurture: What’s Right and What’s Wrong with Adaptive Management,” Environmental Law Reporter, October 2009.?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /

The Scientists Speak: Gaming the Louisiana Coast, NATIONAL WETLANDS NEWSLETTER, Sept.-Oct. 2007

"Wrtten on the Water", 21 TUL. ENVTL. L. J. 101 (2007)

“Beauty and the Beast Within: On the Special Nature of Natural World Law,” 82 WASH. L. REVIEW 611 (2007)

“Reflecciones Sobre La EIA,” REVISTA ANDALUZA DE ADMINISTRACION  PUBLICA, Spring 2006.

“You Can’t Have Your Wetlands and Eat’em Too,” in “After the Storm:  Restoring America’s Gulf Coast Wetlands,” ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER, Spring 2006.

“Recovering from Katrina and Rita:  Environmental Governance Lessons Learned and Applied” (co-author), ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INSTITUTE, February 2006.

“The U.S. House of Representatives’ Task Force on NEPA:  The Professors Speak,” ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER, December 2005.

“Thinking About Tomorrow:  Cuba’s ‘Alternative Model’ for Sustainable Development,” TULANE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNAL, Summer 2003.

The Tulane Recycling Project, Phase 2: Closing the Loop (co-authored), TUL. UNIV. (2002)

Damage Control: A Field Guide to Important Euphamisms in Environmental Law, 15 TUL. ENVTL. L. J. 129 (2001)

Cuba's New Law of the Envrionment: An Introduction, TUL. INST. ENVTL L. AND POL. (1999)

In Reality, It May Take Surgery, 12 ENVTL. F. 42 (1995)

Coming to Grips with BioDiversity, 8 TUL. ENVTL L.J. 1 (1994)

Laws Need to Ask the Right Questions, 11 ENVTL. F. 6 (1994)

Peer Review (co-authored), TONGASS NAT'L FOREST LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN (1994)

The Role of Technology in Marine Habitat Restoration and Enhancement (multiple-authored), NAT'L RESEARCH COUNCIL, NAT'L ACADEMY OF SCIENCE (1994)

“The Tulane Environmental Project, Phase 2: Procurement,” Tulane University, May 1992 (co-authored).?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /

An Open Letter to EPA Administrator William K. Reilly, NAT'L WETLANDS NEWSLETTER (July/August) (1991)

The Tulane Recycling Project, Phase 1: A Proposal (co-authored), TUL. UNIV. (1991)

Legal Options to Address the Importation of Hazardous and Solid Waste into Louisiana (co-authored), LOUISIANA DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (1990)

A Report on Legal Options to Address the Importation of Hazardous and Solid Waste into Louisiana, REPORT TO THE LOUISIANA DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (co-authored) (1990)

“More Net Loss of Wetlands:  The Army-EPA Agreement on Mitigation,” Environmental Law Reporter, June, 1990.?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /

To Restore Lake Pontchartrain, GREATER NEW ORLEANS EXPRESSWAY COMMISSION (1989)

The Silent War, GAMBIT MAGAZINE (1982)

Right-to-Know Legislation - 1985, Louisiana Legislative Research Projects Program