NEPA and Remedies
Trying to solve the difficult challenge of reforming remedies for NEPA violations
Earlier this year, the Institute for Progress (a pro-permitting reform organization) published a series of proposals for changing remedies for agency violations of NEPA. There are good reasons to think about the problem. If any NEPA violation can stop an entire project, that can incentivize efforts to fly-speck environmental review documents to strategically stop projects – whether they are beneficial to the environment or not. While this approach can benefit opp...
CONTINUE READINGPaying More to Stay Cool, Super El Niño, Solar Politics
The Drain is a roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet.
Every time I walk by my mailbox these days I dread receiving my electricity bill for this summer, because it’s been hellishly hot and I know our bill is going to be higher than usual. I try to tell myself the good news: After installing an energy-efficient heat pump this year, our home has been cooler — and safer. Sweltering in your house is not just uncomfortable; it makes you cranky, leads to poor sleep, and in extreme situations can kill you. Extreme heat i...
CONTINUE READINGDear 2026 1L
Today's entering law students are preparing to start careers at a critical time for the environment.
Dear Entering 1L: Welcome to law school. You’re beginning your life in the law at a critical time. What we do together between now and 2035 will determine what your lives look like in 2050 and 2080, and what your children and grandchildren will see in the next century. So, grab your books, get yourselves ready, and be prepared to head for the legal trenches when you graduate. No time to waste! The Current Situation It’s no secret that this is a dark time for peo...
CONTINUE READINGDon’t Mess With Solar
A new clean energy PAC has become a big player in GOP primaries. But what happens in November?
Congressmember Andy Ogles of Tennessee is a zit on the face of American politics: a white nationalist and Islamophobe who started out as a flunkie for the Koch Brothers and lied about his credentials when he first ran for Congress. Unsurprisingly, he is also a climate denier, (in)famously stating during a 2024 House debate on an Interior-Environment spending bill that "You know, we may have had a hot summer, but I just went trick or treating with my kids and it was like,...
CONTINUE READINGYou May Have Forgotten About Climate Change. But It Hasn’t Forgotten About You
Denial is a great coping mechanism. Until reality turns around and bites you.
Climate change is, apparently, passé. Democratic politicians are avoiding the topic and dialing back ambitious plans to reduce emissions. The President apparently doesn’t think it exists, and the government’s official position is that its effects are too uncertain to worry about. Amazon and other corporations had solemnly pledged to become carbon neutral. Now Amazon is about to open its own power plant for an AI data center, which will instantly become the l...
CONTINUE READINGTurning Methane Pledges into Action
Inside Canada’s 2025 Enhanced Methane Regulations
While transitioning away from fossil fuels and accelerating renewable energy deployment remains the ultimate goal, we need to minimize the climate impact of the existing oil and gas industry. According to the Global Methane Budget, human activity is responsible for roughly 60% of the 580 million tonnes of methane entering the atmosphere every year. The oil and gas sector alone accounts for more than a fifth of those human-caused emissions, making it the world’s second...
CONTINUE READINGClimate at SCOTUS, Electrification Victories, Media Moves
The Drain is a regular roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
It’s not every year that climate change looms large at the U.S. Supreme Court, but it will this coming term. The Supreme Court will begin its 2026-2027 term with a case brought by a Colorado county seeking millions of dollars from oil and gas companies for their role in exacerbating climate change. The justices announced recently that they will hear argument in Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County on October 5, the first hearing of the term. ...
CONTINUE READING
Interpreting the Clean Air Act After Chevron’s Demise
A recent Ninth Circuit case requires states to do more to achieve clean air goals.
Last week, the Ninth Circuit decided Committee for a Better Arvin v. EPA, which is both a significant air pollution case and an interesting case study in how the Supreme Court has changed judicial review of agency actions. The case was brought by a group in Arvin, CA, a small city near Bakersfield. When an area has failed to attain the air quality required by the Clean Air Act, special “nonattainment” provisions go into effect. In particular, the state is required t...
CONTINUE READINGScience Wins A Skirmish
The Senate's Continuing Resolution Blocks Russ Vought's Odious Politicization of Science -- Temporarily
Thank heaven for small favors: Senators on the Appropriations Committee on Sunday released a stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown by Oct. 1 and temporarily block a White House proposal that would fundamentally change how the federal government awards and manages grants. In late May, the Office of Management and Budget released a proposed rule to overhaul the Uniform Guidance (2 C.F.R. Part 200) that reshapes how billions of dollars in r...
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
