Litigation
Unleashing the Lower Courts
Justice Scalia’s death greatly expands the maneuvering room for liberal judges.
There’s already been a lot written about how Justice Scalia’s untimely death will affect pending cases, not to mention speculation about the possible nominees to replace him. Less attention has been given to the effect on the lower courts. Yet Justice Scalia’s departure gives liberal judges in lower courts more freedom than they’ve had in …
Continue reading “Unleashing the Lower Courts”
CONTINUE READINGJustice Scalia and Environmental Law
Scalia’s decisions were almost unremittingly anti-environmental.
Over the past three decades, Justice Scalia did much to shape environmental law, nearly always in a conservative direction. Because of the importance of his rulings, environmental lawyers and scholars are all familiar with his work. But for the benefit of others, I thought it might be helpful to summarize his major environmental decisions. The …
Continue reading “Justice Scalia and Environmental Law”
CONTINUE READINGThe Puzzling Persistence of Takings Litigation
Litigation rates dropped by only a little even when the real estate market collapsed.
Takings litigation is a bit of a puzzle. You would expect the amount of litigation to go up and down depending on the situation in the real estate market. If there’s a lot of new construction, there are more opportunities for conflict between developers and regulators. And if prices are high, so are the economic stakes, …
Continue reading “The Puzzling Persistence of Takings Litigation”
CONTINUE READINGPublic Prosecutors Zero In on SoCal Gas, Porter Ranch Disaster
California Attorney General, L.A. District Attorney File New Enforcement Prosecutions
The massive leak from Southern California Gas Company’s Aliso Canyon natural gas field in northwestern Los Angeles County was discovered on October 23rd of last year and, more than three months later, shows no sign of abating. Public prosecutors have pretty clearly lost patience with SoCal gas and its ineffective remediation efforts to date. This …
Continue reading “Public Prosecutors Zero In on SoCal Gas, Porter Ranch Disaster”
CONTINUE READINGAn Inconvenient Logic
Justice Scalia’s argument in the FERC case contradicts his attack on Obamacare.
They say consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. If so, Justice Scalia is in good shape. His argument last week in the FERC argument was totally inconsistent with his argument against the constitutionality of Obamacare. Both cases involve change in the incentives to enter a market in the first place. In the Obamacare case, …
Continue reading “An Inconvenient Logic”
CONTINUE READINGEPA Wins the First Round in Clean Power Plan Litigation
…But this is just the beginning—and the Supreme Court will have a say
As we reported last week, on January 21st, a D.C. Circuit panel denied Clean Power Plan opponents’ request for a “stay”—or temporary suspension—of the rule pending judicial review. Read the court order here. We have discussed the Clean Power Plan litigation at length on Legal Planet. As a quick refresher, the Clean Power Plan is …
Continue reading “EPA Wins the First Round in Clean Power Plan Litigation”
CONTINUE READINGDC Circuit Denies Stay of Clean Power Plan
The DC Circuit issued a judgment denying the request for a stay in the case challenging the Clean Power Plan, West Virginia v. EPA. The decision simply states that the petitioners failed to meet the “stringent requirements for a stay pending court review.” The court ordered the parties to submit a proposed briefing schedule by …
Continue reading “DC Circuit Denies Stay of Clean Power Plan”
CONTINUE READING2016: The Year of Living Dangerously
2015 was a year of forward movement. Much of that could be in jeopardy this year.
We are at the start of a year of danger for environmental policy. 2015 saw many accomplishments in environmental law: the Administration issued the “waters of the United States” and Clean Power Plan regulations, a Supreme Court ruling in favor of EPA’s cross-state air pollution rule, and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Much of this progress is …
Continue reading “2016: The Year of Living Dangerously”
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Supreme Court Hands Air District, Environmentalists Qualified Win
Justices’ Unanimous Opinion Addresses Key “Scope of CEQA” Issue
In a closely-watched case, the California Supreme Court today issued a unanimous decision on the scope of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California’s most important and heavily-litigated environmental statute. That decision is unlikely to fully satisfy either side in the litigation, though over the long-term it would seem to favor local regulators and their …
Continue reading “California Supreme Court Hands Air District, Environmentalists Qualified Win”
CONTINUE READINGRoy Cohn and the Trans-Pacific Partnership
“Who Are Those Guys?”
I don’t care what the law says. I want to know who the judge is. — Roy M. Cohn I basically agree with Jim’s and Dan’s assessments of the substantive provisions of the TPP when it comes to environmental issues. (I have real problems with the Intellectual Property provisions, but that is another matter). For …
Continue reading “Roy Cohn and the Trans-Pacific Partnership”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
