Environmental Science

MAGA vs NOAA, Executive Orders, and Growing IRA Support

The Drain

The Drain is a new weekly roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet.

Trump wants to “Make Weather a Mystery Again.” The news that started leaking last Friday is that the Trump administration wants to break up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and essentially end NOAA’s climate work by abolishing its primary research office and forcing the agency to instead help boost U.S. fossil fuel production, according …

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Touched by the Keeling Curve

Teaching the Keeling Curve in International Environmental Law has me reflecting on the role of climate science then and now.

Teaching the climate change unit last week in my International Environmental Law and Policy class, I found myself so moved that I started crying at the board. My poor students thought I was in distress. I was simply telling the story of the Keeling Curve. That’s a daily record of global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration devised by …

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168 Years of Climate Science

The scientific evidence for climate change traces back before the Civil War.

Climate change is no fad or Johnny-come-lately in science.  Rather, our knowledge has grown over 168 years, since an American scientist first discovered the heat-trapping properties of carbon dioxide.Over time, it has become more and more certain that humans are causing climate change and that continuing down that road poses great risks.

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Success! Removing the Klamath Dams

A “Good News” Environmental Story (For a Change)

Most of the environmental law and policy matters discussed on Legal Planet–especially over the past few months–have dealt with natural resource crises, environmental rollbacks, hostile political actors and actions in Washington, D.C., etc.  So let me take this opportunity to share an upbeat and inspirational environmental story in these otherwise troubled environmental times. In 2022, …

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Undermining Science in the Name of Ideology

There’s no room in MAGA for free scientific inquiry.

The Trump Administration seemingly views scientific research as a threat.  The result has been a wave of censorship and a general effort to undermine the scientific enterprise. This article compiles examples of anti-science actions.

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Dissecting the Attacks on the Endangerment Finding

EPA has identified four different arguments against the endangerment finding. None have merit.

In late 2009, EPA made a formal finding — often called the Endangerment Finding —that greenhouse gases may endanger human health and welfare.  Undaunted by the overwhelming scientific evidence in favor of that finding, the Trump EPA plans to reconsider that finding.  Few independent observers believe EPA will succeed, but the issue is important enough to warrant a close look. Here’s a deep dive.

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What is Life Like Inside Trump’s EPA?

EPA plaque

Three EPA employees talk about DOGE, work anxiety, regulatory rollbacks, and the impact on protecting health and the environment.

The new head of the U.S. the Environmental Protection Agency — whose mission is to protect human health and the environment by developing and enforcing regulations — this week made what he proudly called the “largest deregulatory announcement in history” in the form of nearly three dozen policy reversals and “reconsiderations.”   EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s …

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EPA Jumps the Shark

Just as a past dictator rejected modern genetics, Trump rejects climate science. For both, evidence was no match for ideology and ego.

Honestly, EPA’s embrace of climate denial is just plain embarrassing.  And the rest of the world will justifiably view it as one more sign that the U.S. has taken leave of its senses.  Trump can change the name of a water body on maps, but he can’t change scientific reality. The scientific evidence about the reality of climate change, its causes, and its harms is incredibly well-established.  It’s based on many different types of data and models, which have been tested and retested. 

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U.S. Resistance to Trump is Alive and Well

Protest scenes

Thousands of people rallied at more than 100 Stand Up for Science events from Missouri to France. Where will the movement go from here?

Several thousands of people took to the streets this past weekend in more than 100 cities to protest the Trump administration’s wide-ranging attacks on vital scientific research, including its attempts to slash funding to the National Institutes of Health and hence local universities and research labs across the country. The result was small but potent …

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Tracking the Trump Administration

Rollbacks of Climate, Energy, and Environmental Policies and Investments

The first month of the Trump Administration has resulted in a dizzying flurry of actions and reactions. Many of us are wondering how to track the status of these actions, including the legal challenges to these actions.  Luckily, a number of institutions are keeping track of the range of policy and legal actions that are …

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