Blog

Today, Center for Progressive Reform Member Scholar Robert Verchick published an op-ed in New Orleans’ Times-Picayune entitled, “Gov. Jindal, don’t sign away our legal claims against BP.” The piece notes: Governor Jindal will probably sign SB469, a bill designed to neutralize the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority – East’s lawsuit against oil and gas companies. But does […]

Within the past month, two federal district courts—one in Colorado and one in Minnesota—have issued important decisions on the constitutionality of state clean energy policies. Both cases raised the same legal issue, namely, whether the state laws in question regulate extraterritorially in violation of the dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. But the courts […]

Today, the Seattle Times published an op-ed by CPR scholar and University of Seattle law professor Catherine O’Neill with University of Washington professor and public health officer Frank James entitled, “Protect water and health by updating state’s fish-consumption rate.” According to the piece: GOV. Jay Inslee is currently considering how much fish Washingtonians may safely consume […]

Frank Ackerman is the coauthor, with Joseph Daniel, of (Mis)understanding Climate Policy: The role of economic modeling, prepared for Friends of the Earth (England, Wales & Northern Ireland) and WWF-UK. Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the UK government sets “legally binding” carbon budgets, which cap the country’s total emissions for five-year periods. The size of […]

On April 21, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a proposed rulemaking to clarify the jurisdictional reach of the protections afforded by the Clean Water Act of 1972.  The Clean Water Act is the foundation of our nation’s effort to restore and maintain the biological, chemical, and physical […]

The Supreme Court today upheld, by a 6-2 vote, the EPA’s cross-state air pollution rule. Below are reactions from Center for Progressive Reform scholars Thomas O. McGarity and Victor Flatt. According to McGarity: After two decade’s worth of litigation, the Supreme Court has finally held that EPA may require polluters in one state to protect […]

In a very thoughtful CPRBlog piece, dated April 14, 2014, Rena Steinzor presents a powerful critique of the enforcement aspects of EPA’s 2014-2018 Strategic Plan. As Professor Steinzor rightly points out, EPA’s projected cutbacks in source inspections, civil judicial enforcement, administrative enforcement actions, and other enforcement work will likely encourage air and water pollution by […]

Landowners flooded by the Missouri River in 2011 have sued the Corps of Engineers for a Fifth Amendment “taking” under the U.S. Constitution.  Their attorneys hope to rake in over $250 million in claims for their clients and at least $1 million in expenses and fees for themselves.  They’re likely to be disappointed. Lawsuits seeking […]

Since the year began, the Environmental Protection Agency has resolved enforcement actions against 12 different companies in the Chesapeake region for failure to comply with environmental laws.  In one case, EPA found that the U.S. Army had failed to inspect more than a dozen underground tanks at one of its Virginia military bases containing hundreds […]