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Showing 24 results

A family exiting their electric vehicle

Daniel Farber | September 14, 2023

Vehicle Regulations on Trial

This week, the D.C. Circuit hears three cases challenging the use of federal regulations to push adoption of electric vehicles and to allow California to forge a path toward zero-emission cars. If all three cases go badly, the regulatory system would be disabled from playing a role in this area. This would be a huge setback, though there are reasons to think that it would only delay, rather than prevent, the transition to clean cars.

Daniel Farber | September 12, 2023

Upcoming Regulatory Cases in the Supreme Court

In three weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court starts its 2023 Term. There are two blockbuster cases on the docket. In one case, the issue is whether to overrule the Chevron case, which has been foundational to administrative law for the past four decades. In the other, the issue is agency power to sanction violations of the law. Given the Court’s conservative supermajority, there’s a real threat to the power of agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue regulations and enforce the law.

Faith Duggan | August 23, 2023

Youth Standing Up for Their Rights and Their Planet

How would I describe the world we live in? Well, the world we live in has molded me into an activist. I am of a generation that has been required to stand up and demand our rights, as our future is uncertain. More than perhaps any time in human history, our planet and the life it supports are struggling mightily. Because not enough has been done quickly enough on these issues, youth activists must pick up the torch and push to get things done.

Robert Fischman | August 22, 2023

Montana Court Gives Youth Their First Legal Relief in Climate Case

Last week, in the capital of the state holding the largest recoverable coal reserves and the fifth-highest per capita combustion emissions in the country, a trial court shook the fossil fuel establishment by invalidating legislation that helps sustain the dominance of fossil fuels in Montana.

Daniel Farber | August 8, 2023

What Next for the Climate Tort Cases?

With the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to take up the issue, lawsuits against the oil industry are heading back to state court. That’s where the plaintiffs wanted those cases from the beginning, but it’s by no means the last of the issues they will confront. The oil companies will fight a scorched earth campaign, spending millions to contest every possible issue. Here are some of the major issues we can expect them to raise.

Michael C. Duff | July 11, 2023

Sick Workers, Sick Families, Employer Immunity: California Picks a Pyrrhic Victory in Kuciemba

Nero fiddled, and I really don’t know how white powder made its way into the White House. But I do know that the California Supreme Court just issued an opinion in Kuciemba v. Victory Woodworks that will be incredibly hurtful to the working class during the next pandemic. I wonder how the California legislature will react.

A scientist tests water quality in a marsh

Daniel Farber | July 10, 2023

After Sackett: A Multi-Prong Strategy

The U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Sackett v. EPA dramatically curtails the permitting program covering wetlands. We urgently need to find strategies for saving the wetlands the Court left unprotected. We have a number of possible strategies and need to start work on implementing them immediately.

Daniel Farber | June 22, 2023

CEQ and Permitting Reform

In the recent debt ceiling law, Congress extensively revamped the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the law governing environmental impact statements. An obscure White House agency, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), will have the first opportunity to shape the interpretation of the new language.

Robert L. Glicksman | May 30, 2023

Supreme Court Delivers Another Massive Blow to Federal Environmental Law

The following post provides detailed analysis of the recent Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Supreme Court decision. It was originally posted to The George Washington Law Review and is  cross-posted with permission.  The current Supreme Court is not a friend of the administrative state. A majority of its members seem to take particular umbrage at administration of the regulatory programs […]