U.S. Congress

The U.S. Supreme Court & Environmental Law in 2024

Numerous Key Environmental Issues and Doctrines Will Confront the Justices This Year

As we begin 2024, it’s useful to identify and assess the many environmental issues that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide this year.  It seems likely that the conservative majority of the justices will erode or, perhaps, dramatically jettison longstanding principles of environmental law and policy in the coming months. Summarized below are …

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California Courts Foil Westlands Water District’s Grinch-Like Water Grab

Westlands’ Efforts to Permanently Privatize California Water Opposed by Unique Coalition & Rejected by Skeptical Judges

While there’s a great deal that’s dysfunctional and downright wrong about water law and policy in California, occasionally there are positive developments to report.  So it’s most satisfying to end 2023 with some good news regarding water in the Golden State. This is the saga of how the Westlands Water District tried to privatize a …

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Public Lands Watch: Omnibus Appropriations

No significant new policy riders in the Omnibus Appropriations bill

Late last night, a bipartisan agreement was reached for funding the federal government through the rest of Fiscal Year 2017.  These omnibus appropriations bills often are a tool for inserting riders that impose significant restrictions on how agencies manage the public lands.  However, this year there are no new significant policy riders inserted in the …

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Some Worried Thoughts About Congressional Paralysis

Congress seems on the point of collapse as a viable branch of government.  The budget crisis in Washington may yet cause a government shut-down and interrupt basic obligations such as payment of Social Security. In the past, raising the debt ceiling has been routine, but such routine activities have now become nearly impossible.  Nate Silver …

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