Pollution & Health
The Legal Underpinnings of EPA’s Climate Rules
The Clean Air Act is a formidably technical and complex statute — I often tell my students that it’s like the Internal Revenue Code except not as clearly written. But even those who know the statute may have been surprised by a couple of provisions that EPA is using to address greenhouse gases.
CONTINUE READINGThe Incoming Congressional Freshmen
Politico has a nice posting about the incoming freshman GOP in the House and their views on environment and energy issues. The bottom line: House Republican freshmen looking to make names for themselves on energy issues in the next Congress have some goals in common: Ramp up domestic energy production, roll back the Obama administration’s …
Continue reading “The Incoming Congressional Freshmen”
CONTINUE READINGObama, the GOP, and the Environment
The NY Times has a Christmas Day editorial about the need for the President to take a strong stance in defense of EPA: Republicans in the next Congress are obviously set on limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate a wide range of air pollutants — even if it …
Continue reading “Obama, the GOP, and the Environment”
CONTINUE READINGHappy Birthday, EPA!
Forty years ago, President Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency by Executive Order. Here are some of the achievements that EPA lists on its EPA@40 website: [W]e’ve reduced 60% of the dangerous air pollutants that cause smog, acid rain, lead poisoning and more. clean air innovations like smokestack scrubbers and catalytic converters in automobiles have …
Continue reading “Happy Birthday, EPA!”
CONTINUE READINGA big news week for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
This has been a significant news week for California’s delta. On Wednesday, California’s Natural Resources Agency endorsed a plan for a water tunnel system to bypass the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, coupled with a habitat restoration plan for the Delta. Bettina Boxall’s story in today’s Los Angeles Times has the details. Many environmental groups …
Continue reading “A big news week for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta”
CONTINUE READINGBP spill lawsuit complaint and link to early analysis
Here’s the complaint in the newly-filed lawsuit the United States filed against BP today, which I summarized earlier in this post. And NRDC’s David Pettit has written an interesting blog post with some initial thoughts about timing and choice of defendants in the lawsuit.
CONTINUE READINGU.S. sues BP, eight other defendants for violations of Oil Pollution Act in Deepwater Horizon blowout
Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States, announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit alleging that BP, Transocean, and seven other firms caused or contributed to the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill earlier this year. The lawsuit seeks response costs, natural resource damages, and economic damages under the …
CONTINUE READINGThe Supreme Court and CERCLA
Following up on yesterday’s post, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the trajectory of Supreme Court cases dealing with CERCLA liability. In the federal courts generally, CERCLA cases began slowly, with one in 1981 and 11 in 1982. The number of cases per year then built steadily until at peak …
Continue reading “The Supreme Court and CERCLA”
CONTINUE READINGThe (Somewhat Puzzling) Trajectory of CERCLA Litigation
The pattern of reported CERCLA opinions is puzzling — a steady rise until 1995, followed by a decline until 2002, followed by another rise through 2010. The explanation for the final period is unclear.
CONTINUE READINGHappy Birthday, CERCLA!
Thirty years ago today, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Clean-up and Liability Act (a/k/a CERCLA or Superfund). CERCLA’s primary thrust is to create liability for cleanup of leaking waste disposal sites. The statute was Congress’s response to a number of high profile incidents, including the Love Canal debacle, that increased public awareness of the …
Continue reading “Happy Birthday, CERCLA!”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
