Come September in a presidential election year, the policy world feels like a “winner take all” scenario with the election’s outcome determining how — or this year whether — we are regulated. While, of course, the election...more
9/12/2024
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Chevron Deference ,
Corner Post Inc v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
FERC ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Popular ,
Presidential Elections ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Sustainability
Below, we break down three recent decisions and explain why the regulated community should pay attention to them: the first from the Southern District of New York in City of New York v. Exxon Mobil Corporation; the second...more
5/24/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
False Advertising ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Human Rights ,
New York ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
SCOTUS ,
Sustainability ,
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
A Texas federal judge recently permitted an environmental, social, and governance- (ESG) related Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case filed by an airline pilot against his employer and its benefits plan to...more
3/5/2024
/ 401k ,
American Airlines ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Management ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Proxy Voting ,
Risk Management ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Sustainability
As we move into 2024, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concepts continue to feature prominently in policy debates. While ESG still drives policy, the last year has seen “ESG” factors recast from being perceived as...more
Everyone loves recycling. However, when it comes to plastic, questions about how recycling occurs and whether it can meaningfully occur generate a fair amount of controversy.
...more
Costs to clean up environmentally impacted real estate have continued to increase. A variety of factors have caused this trend including: listing of new contaminants, enhanced focus on contamination pathways like vapor...more
More so than any other issue, environmental justice (EJ) remains a central pillar of the Biden Administration’s regulatory agenda. Below, we’ll answer three EJ-related questions that the regulated community may struggle with...more
8/25/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sustainability
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards have joined the climate-disclosure reporting frameworks that take a financial materiality-led approach. While the ISSB standards seek to streamline reporting...more
In recent years, “sustainability” has gone from being a niche product approaching, in some quarters, a religion. Few would argue with the proposition that issues like climate- and carbon-neutrality and recyclability have...more
The war on plastics and petrochemicals has ramped up in 2023. The first two months of the year have seen the petrochemical supply chain under stress....more
A new set of environmental policies embraced by the Biden Administration ― environmental justice (EJ) ― may soon spur litigation in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) space....more
2/21/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Business Operations ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Investors ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Risk Management ,
Sustainability
Americans have been “recycling” since colonial times. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s that Americans began viewing recycling ― often provided alongside rubbish removal ― a more formal solution to problems posed by consumer...more
What buzzwords define the environmental space in the past two years? Both “ESG” and “environmental justice” (EJ) are strong contenders. This post outlines how these concepts relate and provides guidance as to how companies...more
US environmental policy changes tend to occur at a glacial pace, particularly at the federal level. Frustrated with the pace of change, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and state regulators are increasingly...more
12/12/2022
/ Compliance ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
NGOs ,
Petrochemicals ,
Plastics ,
Sustainability ,
Transparency