Renewable Energy Policy After the Federal Retreat
Which states are stepping up to fill the void?
With little resistance from Congress, the Trump administration is doing what it can to discourage the further development of renewable energy resources, showing a special lack of affection towards solar and wind. Through various executive orders and through direct payouts to some potential developers, the administration has worked to block and reverse permits on federal land and in federal waters. In its one Big Bill last year, Congress dramatically reduced access to fed...
CONTINUE READINGWhich way is the wind blowing in wind energy litigation?
The latest court decisions and legal challenges are shaping the future of wind energy development across the United States
Guest contributor Adelaide Duckett, Legal Fellow at the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at NYU School of Law Across the country, wind developers and state governments are successfully navigating new legal challenges facing wind energy, fighting to keep projects moving forward despite mounting obstacles. Hostility to wind development has manifested in various ways over the last couple of years, including delays in government permitting for ...
CONTINUE READINGEscalating the War on Science
Now the National Academies are in the cross-hairs.
The National Academics of Science, Engineering, and Medicine are at the pinnacle of American science. Only the most distinguished researchers qualify for membership. These constellations of talent and expertise are natural targets for the Trump Administration. Trump recently demanded a suspension and debarment investigation into the National Academies, which would cut off all federal support, for what is a supposedly “fraudulent, biased, and misleading” report on c...
CONTINUE READINGCanada in Flames
What’s causing the fires? What harm do they do? What should we do?
One of the world’s great disasters is unfolding, as fires have covered millions of acres in Canada, destroying pristine ecosystems and poisoning the air for millions of people. Something like seven million acres have already burned. The U.S. government’s response is to threaten Canada with tariffs, apparently as punishment for allegedly having poorly managed its forests. Instead, we should be partnering with Canada on forest management, and we should cut the greenh...
CONTINUE READINGTrying to Create Permit Certainty
A new permitting reform bill does a good job of managing tradeoffs for a difficult problem
Last month two Senators proposed another permitting reform bill, the FREEDOM Act. This is a revised version of a bill that was introduced in the House earlier this year, which I wrote about before. (And yes, if you are having trouble keeping up with all the permitting reform bills floating around, you are not alone.) This bill is very similar to the House version, but it omits some of the provisions that I thought were most problematic. The basic concept is that...
CONTINUE READINGShould we be data center YIMBYs?
Photo by Geoffrey Moffett on Unsplash
Nobody likes data centers. Still, banning them in blue states alone may be a bad idea.
Monterey Park is not often called the New York of California, but the city resembles New York—the state, that is—in one big way: Both have passed moratoria on data center development. When Monterey Park passed its ban in 2025, it was the first municipality in California to do so. Nationwide, however, hundreds of localities have passed bans or moratoria on data centers. New York secured another first by becoming the inaugural state to impose a statewide moratorium...
CONTINUE READINGOff the Road Again?
Trump Administration revocations of ORV Executive Orders won’t have direct effects on the ground, yet.
Last month the Trump Administration revoked two executive orders over forty years old that directed federal agencies to restrict off-road vehicle use (ORV) on public lands in order to protect those lands’ environmental value. The revocation is, of course, controversial, and of a piece of a scorched earth approach to environmental regulation this Administration has taken. But does it matter on the ground? The short answer is, not yet. The reason has to do with ...
CONTINUE READINGRough Sailing
The Clearwater, the Coast Guard, and the First Amendment
Last week, environmental law professor Rob Verchick interviewed me about a First Amendment controversy involving the Clearwater, a ship that the Coast Guard excluded from a maritime parade for displaying environmental slogan.(Actually, I think it’s technically a “boat” rather than a “ship,” but let’s not get hung up on that.) The dialogue below is reposted from his Blue Tomorrow substack, and you can find the recording here. Rob Verchick: Welcome to Blue...
CONTINUE READINGIn Harm’s Way
Agency’s efforts to repeal harm definition for the ESA carries significant legal risks
The Trump Administration has finalized a rule that would eliminate the definition of harm from the regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Harm is one component of the definition of take in the ESA, and Section 9 of the ESA prohibits take of members of endangered species. As I noted last spring, when the rule was first proposed, the upshot of this change would be to eliminate protections of ESA-listed species from habitat modification under Section...
CONTINUE READINGCan We Avoid Another Day Zero?
From Texas to the Global South, Local Governments Need New Tools To Protect Their Water
You might recall "Day Zero," when in 2018, the City of Cape Town came perilously close to running out of water entirely. Only severe rationing and a good rainy season saved the Mother City. Now it looks like Corpus Christi Texas might be the next victim. Two years ago, I received a Fulbright Scholarship to study how Cape Town was changing its water policies in order to avoid a new Day Zero. The Palisades Fire and the Trump Administration meant that I was unable to...
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