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Showing 2,911 results

Daniel Farber | July 12, 2018

What Hath FERC Wrought?

At the end of June, in a vote divided along partisan lines, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) handed down a sweeping order that will impact electricity markets in a wide swath of the country – likely at the expense of renewable energy and nuclear power. Unfortunately, like Trump's power plant bailout, the result may […]

Matt Shudtz | July 10, 2018

If Confirmed, Kavanaugh Would Tilt Supreme Court against Public Protections

This post is part of a series on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Last night, President Donald Trump set the stage for a contentious debate about American social and economic welfare in the decades to come, nominating a Washington insider with a narrow worldview to the Supreme Court. Brett Kavanaugh's opinions on issues […]

David Driesen | July 9, 2018

Senate Must Preserve Rule of Law When Considering Benczkowski and Pruitt’s Successor

In addition to deciding the fate of a Supreme Court nominee, the Senate must soon consider whether to approve Brian Benczkowski as head of criminal enforcement for the Department of Justice and a nominee to replace Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator. In early 2017, I urged senators to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities by only approving […]

James Goodwin | July 5, 2018

Borrowing from CPR Playbook, Small Business Administration Brings New ‘Win-Win’ Approach to Regulations

When it comes to regulatory protections for health, safety, and the environment, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its Office of Advocacy don't always put the public interest first. Falling in line with industry and small-government conservatives, it often opposes public protections, particularly where small businesses are concerned. So I was delighted to see a […]

Daniel Farber | July 2, 2018

The Chevron Doctrine: Is It Fading? Could That Help Restrain Trump?

Cross-posted from LegalPlanet. In June, the Supreme Court decided two cases that could have significant implications for environmental law. The two cases may shed some light on the Court's current thinking about the Chevron doctrine. The opinions suggest that the Court may be heading in the direction of more rigorous review of interpretations of statutes by […]

James Goodwin | June 28, 2018

Scott Pruitt Wants to Pick Winners and Losers by Cooking the Books at EPA

UPDATE (July 2, 2018): EPA has granted a one-month extension to its original comment period. Public comments on the advance notice of proposed rulemaking are now due on August 13. Soon after his confirmation, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt quickly set out to take a "whack-a-mole" approach to advancing his anti-safeguard agenda, attacking particular rules designed […]

Evan Isaacson | June 22, 2018

EPA Releases Expectations for Chesapeake Bay States

This is an update to an earlier post explaining why the release of EPA’s TMDL expectations is important. These posts are part of an ongoing series on the midpoint assessment and long-term goals of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort.  This week, EPA’s Mid-Atlantic regional office released its final expectations for how states and their federal […]

Katie Tracy | June 22, 2018

Nothing to Celebrate as TSCA Reform Turns Two

June 22 marks the two-year anniversary of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (colloquially referred to as TSCA reform or new TSCA). The 2016 law provided some hope that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would finally address the potential risks from tens of thousands of untested and unregulated chemicals […]

James Goodwin | June 21, 2018

At Small Business Hearing, CPR’s Ristino Will Connect the Dots between Strong Safeguards and Strong Small Farms

This morning, CPR Member Scholar and Vermont Law School Professor Laurie Ristino will testify at a hearing before the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy, and Trade of the House Small Business Committee. The majority's not-so-subtle objective for the hearing is to apply familiar conservative talking points against federal regulations to the specific context of small farms.  […]