General
How Difficult Will It Be for the Trump Administration to Replace the Clean Water Rule?
The Administration is Poised to Act, But Legal Challenges, Procedural Hurdles, and Internal Conflict Are Likely to Make It Difficult
On Monday, I posted a quick summary of the Trump administration’s recent action to start rolling back the Clean Water Rule, a joint rule by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that defines the range of waterways the Clean Water Act protects. The proposed action the agencies announced last week, …
CONTINUE READINGClimate Policy Canadian-Style
Canada is setting a great example to its southern neighbor.
Despite our geographic proximity and close economic ties, Canada doesn’t get a lot of press attention in the U.S. But unknown to many, Canada has been taking aggressive steps forward in climate policy. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected Trump’s decision in no uncertain terms: We are deeply disappointed that the United States federal government has …
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CONTINUE READINGThe EPA Sets in Motion its Plan to Rescind the Waters of the United States Rule
This Action is Just the First Step Towards Reducing Clean Water Act Protection for Many Waterways and Wetlands
With much fanfare, the Trump administration announced last Tuesday that it is proposing to rescind the Clean Water Rule, also known as the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule. This rule is intended to govern determinations of which waterbodies and wetlands are “waters of the United States,” protected under the Clean Water Act. The …
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CONTINUE READINGYikes, Is It Pledge Week Already?
Yes, this is your biannual opportunity to invest in our work.
Like everyone else, I’m sure you find fundraising appeals annoying. That’s why we hardly ever do them. But twice a year doesn’t seem like too much of an imposition, and this is a really important time. This is our first “ask” since the new Administration took office. There’s an especially critical need today for policy-driven research …
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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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CONTINUE READINGProfessor William Boyd Joins UCLA Faculty
Leading Energy and Environmental Law Scholar Will Bring Key Expertise to Emmett Institute
We are very excited to announce that Professor William Boyd of the University of Colorado Law School is joining the UCLA Law faculty effective July 1, 2018. He will hold a joint appointment with the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Professor Boyd is one of the nation’s leading scholars of energy and environmental …
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CONTINUE READINGFencelines
The Supreme Court rules on how to define a parcel of property under the Constitution
The Supreme Court ruled today on Murr v. Wisconsin, a takings case that could have potentially had a major effect on land use regulation. The Supreme Court has ruled that a “taking” of private property exists if the state prohibits all economically beneficial use of property. Naturally, lawyers have gleefully litigated the question of how …
CONTINUE READINGPublic Lands Watch: BLM Methane Rule
BLM delays compliance date for certain provisions of the rule
As we reported earlier, the Obama Administration promulgated a regulation restricting the emissions of methane from oil and gas operations on federal public lands. Efforts to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn that regulation failed last month. Now the Interior Department is delaying compliance with certain provisions of the rule indefinitely, citing pending litigation …
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CONTINUE READINGTrump Administration Seeks Ninth Circuit Review in Pioneering “Atmospheric Trust” Case
U.S. District Judge Has Denied Government’s Effort to Dismiss Cutting-Edge Public Trust/Climate Change Case
Back in August 2015, I blogged on a then newly-filed federal lawsuit in which a coalition of children and their legal guardians sued the federal government to challenge the government’s proposed approval of a controversial liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal proposed to be located on the Oregon coast. That lawsuit contends that approval of the project would …
CONTINUE READINGNational Monuments Update
Interior Department releases interim report, recommends changes to Bears Ears National Monument
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke released his interim report yesterday on Bears Ears National Monument, recommending that President Trump re-draw the monument’s boundaries. Secretary Zinke’s report misreads both the Antiquities Act and President Obama’s 2016 Proclamation that created Bears Ears National Monument, and any move by President Trump to downsize the monument without an act of Congress …
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