Biodiversity & Species
A Major Defeat for Property Rights Advocates
Hardly anyone noticed a decision last June limiting the rights of property owners against regulators.
Murr v. Wisconsin was a sleeper case decided by the Supreme Court last June. But it deserves a lot more attention than it has gotten. As I discuss in a new paper, Murr was a major defeat for property rights advocates and a big win for land use planners and environmentalists. Murr has escaped much …
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CONTINUE READINGPublic Lands Watch: Sage grouse
Interior Dept. considering revisions to protection for iconic species
The greater sage-grouse is the largest grouse species in North America, about the size of a domestic chicken. Estimates for its historic population are that it numbered 1.1 million across the sagebrush plains throughout the Western United States and Canada. The grouse depends on sagebrush habitat, but that habitat is declining due to a range …
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CONTINUE READINGPublic Lands Watch: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Senate budget resolution being considered this week could open refuge to oil drilling
One of the longest lasting fights over the federal public lands has been whether to open up portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas development. The Refuge is one of the most important and largest protected areas in North America – it is unusual in that it protects the …
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CONTINUE READINGRyan Zinke’s Troubling Remarks Undercut Dept. of Interior’s Core Mission
Comments to Oil Trade Association Attack Agency Staff, Dismiss Environmental Safeguards
At a recent meeting of the American Petroleum Institute (the national oil company trade association), Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke made clear some of his plans for the Department of the Interior. According to AP reporting, he called almost 1/3 of employees disloyal, said he plans to speed up oil and logging permits, and revealed a …
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CONTINUE READINGZinke’s Report Recommends Downsizing or Loosening Restrictions in 10 National Monuments
Report Lacks Details on Boundaries but Recommends Management Changes to Permit Wider Range of Uses
Late last night, the Washington Post reported that Secretary Ryan Zinke had recommended making changes–by downsizing and/or by loosening restrictions–to a total of 10 national monuments. The list of monuments goes beyond what had been reported last month. The Post released a leaked copy of Zinke’s recommendations that were submitted to President Trump on August …
CONTINUE READINGState of Play: Trump v. the Environment
Here’s a roadmap to what he’s done — and how things will probably unfold.
How has Trump impacted environmental law? What’s going to happen next? CLEE has issued a new report assessing the state of play in environmental law seven months of the Trump presidency. The report, 200 Days & Counting, reviews the Administration’s environmental proposals and offers a glimpse into what may be coming down the pike. The report focuses …
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CONTINUE READINGGuest Bloggers Rob Verchick and Matt Shudtz: Law Professors from Every Coast Ask SCOTUS to Weigh in on Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Case
Professors Argue Fifth Circuit Decision Upsets Federal/State Court Balance, Will Prevent States from Relying on Their Own Laws to Protect Important Natural Resources
Last month, more than two dozen law professors from around the country filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging a fresh look at a lower court decision with sweeping implications for the balance of power between states and the federal government. The issue is vital to Louisiana because it affects whether oil and gas …
CONTINUE READING200 Days & Counting: Environmental Threat Assessment
The Trump Administration presents a barrage of threats to the environment. Which threats are worst?
This is the last in our series on the state of play concerning U.S. environmental protection at this point of the Trump Administration. We can classify threats along three dimensions: the likelihood of harm, the seriousness and irreversibility of the harm, and the irreversibility of the institutional or legal change. Here’s an assessment of our …
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CONTINUE READINGPublic Lands Watch: HR 2936
Resilient Federal Forests Act would reduce or eliminate environmental protections for logging projects on National Forests
The House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 2936, the “Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017,” out of committee on June 27th and the bill is now waiting in the House for debate. The bill would expedite National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) review for U.S. Forest Service projects in order to improve forest management on federal …
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CONTINUE READINGFrance Pushes for Global Pact on the Environment
President Macron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and others support proposal for global environmental treaty
In Paris this past Saturday, a high-level group of legal experts endorsed a new proposal for a worldwide environmental treaty: the Global Pact on the Environment. President Emmanuel Macron of France gave the concluding speech at a launch event for the Pact (text and video in French); other speakers included former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Laurent Fabius …
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