permitting reform
The Green-State Playbook
Here are five ways states can save climate policy despite Trump.
Trump’s election is a body blow to U.S. climate policy, but there are ways that those states can fight Trump and move forward on their own plans. To cut to the chase, here are five key strategies for green states — starting with lawsuits against the Trump Administration, which were highly successful in Trump’s first term.
CONTINUE READINGCollecting useful data on NEPA
A 2024 study falls fall short in shedding light on the impacts of NEPA litigation
As I’ve recently posted, permitting reform is (appropriately) in the news right now. That means there’s also a reason for various think tanks, NGOs, academics, and others to release studies that might inform the policy debate. One such study from 2024 that has gotten some coverage on social media recently is a report by the …
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CONTINUE READINGA Way Forward?
Reducing the Number of Decisions Could Accelerate Fire Management
This is the third of a series of three posts on how to do more to reduce fire risks on federal lands. The first post is here, the second post is here. In addressing the increasing risks of wildfire, we certainly need to scale up the resources we apply to the problem, doing more prescribed …
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CONTINUE READINGFire and Permitting Reform
Addressing the difficult parts, regulation and litigation
This is the second of three posts on proposed legislation to address the fire crisis on federal lands (the first post is here). Last post, I talked about why this legislation is essential, and the strengths of the bill that the House passed last Congress. In this post, I’ll talk about the parts of the …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Urgent Need to Address Fire Risk
We need legislative action to accelerate fire risk reduction in general
The Manchin-Barrasso energy permitting bill that I’ve posted about is not the only permitting reform bill that died with the last Congress. The House had passed the “Fix Our Forests Act,” legislation sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Arkansas, with a focus on trying to reduce fire risks on federal (and other) lands. …
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CONTINUE READINGTowards Better Permitting Reform
What are we trying to achieve?
This is the third in a series of posts on permitting reform. The first post is here. The second post is here. How could we realistically achieve permitting reform that will advance climate and environmental goals? Answering that question requires recognizing the political realities of a sharply divided Congress and country. Any significant change to …
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CONTINUE READINGDeal or No Deal?
Should Congress pass EPRA?
This is the second in a series of posts on permitting reform. The first post is here. Given the provisions of the Energy Permitting Reform Act (EPRA), should Congress enact it as it stands now? Answering that question is tricky, in part because it depends both on uncertain political and administrative action, as well as …
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CONTINUE READINGShould We Do Permitting Reform?
What is at stake with the Manchin bill.
As Congress wraps up its lame duck session before the new Congress and President arrive in January, there is a lot of debate about whether to move forward on permitting reform within a quickly shrinking window of time. The basis of debate is the Energy Permitting Reform Act (EPRA) co-sponsored by Senators Manchin and Barrasso. …
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CONTINUE READINGNEPA in the Supreme Court (Part III)
Our guide to understanding how causation applies for NEPA reviews.
Overall, the Supreme Court has articulated a functional approach that is based on the purposes of NEPA, based on the structure and text of the statute. Today’s post will lay the foundation by discussing NEPA’s purposes and how they differ from those of another area of law often used as an analogy, tort law
CONTINUE READINGNEPA in the Supreme Court (Part II)
Here’s why the Supreme Court should reject radical arguments for limiting environmental impact statements.
Our last post explained the background of the Seven Counties NEPA case, which is currently pending in the Supreme Court. Today, we discuss the radical arguments that have been made in the case and why they should be rejected. NEPA requires that agencies consider the environmental effects of their projects, but the petitioners raise hairsplitting arguments to exclude obvious effects due to technicalities. Pleas for revising the law should be made to Congress, not to the Supreme Court.
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