Region: National

The Seven County Case and the Limits of Causation Under NEPA

Analysis of causation under NEPA should be driven by the statute’s purpose of informed decisionmaking.

Our final article on the Seven Counties case before the Supreme Court, and how to think about causation and NEPA, is now out with the on-line companion to the Administrative Law Review, Accord.  For those who don’t have time for the whole paper, here’s the abstract: This spring, the Supreme Court will decide Seven County …

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How to Grow a Victory Garden out of Trash

A pile of trash at a landfill

Private recycling subscription services are helping my family divert our waste, though I wish we didn’t need them.

While unelected billionaires and sycophant cabinet members are pretending to get rid of waste in Washington, I’ve declared war on waste, fraud, and abuse in my own Los Angeles home. My family is fighting food and plastic waste using a pair of recycling subscription services. Yes, I realize it’s just a small ripple in the …

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The Top-Ten Lower Court Decisions on Environmental Law

Don’t let the headlines deceive you. It’s not just the Supreme Court that shapes environmental law.

The Supreme Court tends to get all the attention, but for every Supreme Court opinion on environmental law there are probably fifty opinions in the lower federal courts. Collectively, the lower courts have done fat least as much to shape the law than the Supreme Court’s occasional interventions. 

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Congress Lacks Authority to Review California’s Car Waiver

It’s a complicated issue but the answer is clear: the Congressional Review Act does not apply.

States get many kinds of waivers from the federal government. For example, many states (including quite a few Red states) have received waivers from some Medicaid requirements. Overturning the EPA vehicle waiver would expose all state waivers to the risk of being overturned under the Congressional Review Act, contrary to the plain language of that statute.

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New Tools for Communities Seeking to Leverage Energy Infrastructure Projects for Community Priorities

Local action becomes even more important under a new federal regime

The Biden Administration placed substantial emphasis on community benefits mechanisms in federal climate infrastructure investments, building on years of legal and community advocacy work that laid the foundation for federal community engagement standards for project developers. With the Trump Administration taking a different approach at the federal level, the role of stakeholders at the local …

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Trump’s Seven Most Anti-Environmental Moves — and How to Push Back

There were dozens of actions, all harmful to the environment. These are the worst of the worst.

In the month since he reentered the White House, Trump has dedicated himself to knee-capping environmental protection through a series of executive orders. These orders aim to eliminate crucial environmental regulations, eviscerate key agencies like EPA, arbitrarily halt government funding, and eliminate environmental restraints on the private sector. But these are not done deals, and there are ways of pushing back.

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The California Car Waiver and the Congressional Review Act  

Trump has found a possible way to end run California’s legal arguments for the waiver. But there’s no reason to give up.

If the CRA resolution does go through, California should wait until after the midterms, when Democrats are favored to take the House, and then try again with different formulated regulations. When the Trump Administration rejects them, it could then litigate whether the new versions were “substantially the same” as the old ones.

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The Trump Administration Is Trying an End Run Around Revoking California’s Car and Truck Rules

Zeldin’s actions face a major problem: the Congressional Review Act doesn’t apply to California waivers.

Last Friday, EPA’s Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a new and unprecedented way to try to prevent California from implementing its ambitious program to move toward 100 percent zero emission vehicles. This time around, the Trump Administration is trying a new tactic.  Rather than revoking EPA’s decision (called a waiver) to allow California’s program to move …

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All the President’s Men

The people occupying environment and energy positions will be anti-regulatory and pro-fossil fuel.

There will be a lot of dramatic fireworks on Day One of Trump’s second term, literally and figuratively. Yet his ability to achieve his agenda will depend on the people he’s chosen to run the government.  His energy and environment picks will follow the party line of expanding fossil fuels.  Yet they may not be as extremist as their predecessors in the first Trump Administration or as some of Trump’s advisors.

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What Happens If EPA Revokes the Endangerment Finding?

The action would mean full-blown warfare against all things climate.

We are likely to learn next week if the Trump Administration will eviscerate the most important climate regulations the Biden Administration issued over the last four years. Under Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is supposed to recommend by February 19 whether to reverse the central basis for much of the …

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