Permitting Wars
Environmental groups should engage constructively with permitting reform
The permitting reform bill now being considered in the Senate has provoked fairly vicious fights between “abundance” advocates and at least some environmental groups. I think that there are valid critiques of many of the arguments that each side is making, and I think unpacking those critiques can be helpful in trying to find a path forward for environmental law. In this blog post, I will start with what I think many environmental groups get wrong about permittin...
CONTINUE READINGHey Kids, It’s National Energy Dominance Month!
This October, we officially celebrate the coal and oil industries. Says President Trump.
“Children, big news. President Trump made it official: October is National Energy Dominance Month. (For you older kids, that 's "dominance" not "dominatrix." It does NOT mean Melania in leather!) The name of the month is hard for a lot of kids to say, so we’re using the initials and calling it N.E.D. Can you draw a picture of Ned? There’s a national contest for the best picture, with lots and lots of prizes. You can win a bag of coal or a gallon of motor o...
CONTINUE READINGBlue Leaders in Red States
What can we expect if Dems flip the governorships in red states?
How much would it matter if Democrats flip the governorships in Red States? States are significant players in energy and climate policy, so the answer matters. Right now, the Democrats have 50/50 odds in Georgia and Ohio, and maybe better than 50/50 in Alaska and Iowa. Governors are only one branch of state government, which obviously limits their sway. Still, like Presidents, they have some real maneuvering room. To get some sense of the possibilities, I took...
CONTINUE READINGHow to Deconstruct Federal Regulation
Section 1401 of the Permitting Reform Bill is a stealth repeal of a wide swath of federal regulatory law, not just environmental law
I want to write separately to emphasize how sweeping the permit certainty provisions of Section 1401 of the permitting reform bill likely are. Again, these are provisions that apply if an agency takes an “action” (which is undefined) against a “project” (also undefined) that “would revoke, rescind, withdraw, terminate, suspend, amend, or alter a Federal authorization or permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026, or take any other action to interfere wit...
CONTINUE READINGImproving permitting reform
Suggestions to make the permitting reform bill work better and avoid unintended results
I’ve written a bunch about the Senate’s permitting reform bill. My basic takeaway is that I want this bill to pass, but that there are some serious flaws in the bill, particularly in the permit certainty provisions, that must be addressed. And in general, there are areas where greater clarity about the scope of the bill would be helpful – clarity that I think would align with what the drafters likely wanted anyway (so the clarity would reduce the risk of uninte...
CONTINUE READINGNEPA Remedies Revisited
Guest contributor Justin Pidot writes that the permitting bill known as BAAJA would end judicial review of most NEPA claims — but it sure is hard to figure that out.
Guest contributor Justin Pidot is co-director of the environmental law program at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Eric Biber’s recent posts have done a terrific job providing an overview of many of the Senate permitting bill’s provisions. I want to revisit the issue of NEPA remedies he discussed here, and the bill’s broader approach judicial review of NEPA claims, because I think there are dramatic implications hiding unde...
CONTINUE READINGA Major Problem with “Permit Certainty”
The permit certainty provision in the permitting reform bill appears to (inadvertently) change the basic standard for enforcement of most federal law
I’ve flagged an additional issues from the permit certainty provision (Section 1401 of the bill) that I think are quite important and worth considering in assessing the merits of the permitting reform bill. As I noted in my prior post on Section 1401, it has potentially sweeping scope because it prohibits any federal agency action that would “interfere with or prevent the construction or operation at full capacity of a project that has secured all necessary Federa...
CONTINUE READINGThese 3 Numbers Explain Earth System Interventions in 2026
Concerns about passing 1.5C and ‘global dimming’ are driving attention to the prospect of large-scale interventions in Earth systems.
On October 12th and 13th, more than 250 people gathered in Reykjavik, Iceland, for the “Global Risk and Stabilization Summit,” to talk about the new level of risk the planet is facing as we pass 1.5C degrees and potential ways to address it. UCLA’s ESI Project, which I help direct, was a convening partner of the summit and participated in the discussions. In a nutshell, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate impacts, and removing carbon from ...
CONTINUE READINGBlowing in the Wind
The Trump Administration once again proves shortsighted and spiteful.
Just as sponsors are making a push to get a bipartisan permit reform bill through the lame duck session of Congress, the Trump Administration has apparently decided to sabotage the process. Democrats have worried that it does no good to streamline permitting for clean energy projects if the government simply yanks the permits later. That's exactly what the Administration is planning to do, yet again, in a case where it has repeatedly lost in court. The backstory invol...
CONTINUE READINGFDA’s Worrisome Proposal on Toxins in Food Additives
Part of it is a move in the right direction. But one provision raises serious questions.
According to the Guardian news site, a proposed new FDA regulation will “expand a controversial loophole to allow some of the world’s most toxic chemicals to be added directly to food without a safety review.” The proposed regulation does two other, seemingly reasonable, things along with the one that raises real concerns. The worrisome part of the proposal may have been shoehorned into an otherwise innocuous proposed rule, with very little explanation of th...
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