public lands
Justin Pidot: Manchin’s Latest and Last Run at Promoting Fossil Fuels through a Permitting Reform Bill
His proposal is a bad deal on climate and an afront to environmental justice
Last week, Senator Manchin unveiled his latest permitting bill, negotiated with Senator Barrasso and set to be marked up by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Wednesday. After recently completing a 3 ½ year stint as general counsel at the White House Counsel of Environmental Quality, I recognize that continuing to improve …
CONTINUE READINGA New Era of Conservation on the Horizon
Lessons from philanthropist and conservationist Kris Tompkins after a visit to the UCLA Emmett Institute.
“Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.” That line by writer Edward Abbey is a favorite quote of Kris Tompkins. She’s the legendary conservationist and philanthropist who recently visited UCLA Law at the invitation of the Emmett Institute and the Lowell Milken Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofits. Ever since Thompkins’s visit with …
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CONTINUE READINGNEPA in the Ninth
Can an agency just shortcut the whole process? The 9th Circuit says no.
On Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit decided a NEPA case that discusses two interesting issues. But what’s most striking isn’t what the court did discuss but what it didn’t mention : the fact that last year’s NEPA amendments speaks directly to one of those issues. Apparently the word that NEPA was extensively amended a year ago …
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CONTINUE READINGA New Era for Protecting Public Lands
The Bureau of Land Management has always prioritized extraction activities. Now the agency has announced a rule that could elevate conservation.
In August, 2021, I blogged on Legal Planet about a piece in Science I had co-authored arguing for an end to prohibiting “nonuse” rights to bid on public land use. The article helped popularize the issue and the Bureau of Land Management today announced a final rule that, as the BLM press release describes, “recognizes …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Wilderness Act and climate change
Changing the Wilderness Act to respond to climate change is a terrible idea
The Wilderness Act is one of the iconic pieces of environmental legislation, and it is 50 years old this year. It created a process and management standard by which millions of acres of relatively undeveloped federal land were protected from development and most forms of active human management. These lands are to be managed, as …
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CONTINUE READINGU.S. Supreme Court Deals Blow to National Rails-to-Trails Movement
Justices Hand Property Owners Another Important Win, With Public Access the Loser
Some U.S. Supreme Court decisions blow through American jurisprudence like a hurricane. Others slip into the law books quietly, like the proverbial cat’s paws. Today’s Court decision in Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States falls into the latter category: largely overlooked by Court followers and the media, but with the potential to have …
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CONTINUE READINGBreaking News: Interior Nominee Blocked
HuffPost reports: Republicans have blocked President Barack Obama’s pick for the No. 2 job at the Interior Department because of a flap over oil leases in Utah. In a 57-39 Senate vote, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes they would have needed to advance the nominee past GOP obstacles. It’s the first time Republicans …
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