Happy new year, ACOEL colleagues and friends! Following (nearly) four years in the Biden Administration serving as Associate Administrator for Policy at EPA, I am happy to be back in my teaching role at Georgetown University Law Center as a Professor from Practice on the full-time faculty. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to serve at EPA in three different offices and roles over the years (both as career staff and a political appointee), and I hope that those reading this blog will consider public service as part of your career journey. In addition to federal opportunities there are roles in state and local government that allow one person to make a big difference in a relatively short time. Protecting health and the environment where people live, work and play has never been more important!
Like others who have written recently in this forum, I am very concerned about the changes that the Trump Administration will likely bring given early statements regarding shrinking the size of government, moving seasoned managers and even federal departments and agencies out of Washington, DC, and otherwise disrupting progress on issues of great consequence – the safety of our air, water, food, and communities and the stability of our climate. I am grateful for all who are working to preserve information and protect the progress made over the past four years. Fortunately, many major rules providing significant health, ecological, and economic benefits were finalized before the CRA window through the hard work of my EPA colleagues and others across the Administration with great support from fellow ACOEL member Ricky Revesz (on leave from NYU Law) whose public service at OIRA is making a huge positive difference!
I am especially grateful to have the opportunity to return to my alma mater and teach the next generation of lawyers and leaders. At this summer’s excellent Vermont Law and Graduate School environmental law teaching conference, I shared an example that might be of interest to others: US Postal Service truck electrification. Getting the USPS to electrify more has been a journey (see Washington Post article regarding EPA comments on the Postal Service’s initial plan to purchase only 10 percent EVs as an example), but these and other efforts have resulted in trucks that are popular and far superior to the gas-guzzling initial plan from a business, energy, environmental and employee and customer perspective. I’m very disheartened by Reuters reporting that the Trump Transition is seeking to unwind this deal, though it’s hard to see how that can be accomplished (especially if USPS fights it now they’ve embraced these trucks) given the independent nature of the Postal Service, finalized contracts, funding allocated by Congress for this purpose, state/worker equities where these plants are already being manufactured and delivered, and more.
The USPS example and EPA’s updated robust social cost of GHG estimates (that if used in our earlier analysis would make the case for these trucks even more compelling) are important initiatives that should be monitored and supported going forward.
We certainly have our challenges before us, including our bedrock NEPA protections being under threat. I feel privileged to be in a place to be able to continue to work on these important issues, to teach our amazing students, and to be back among colleagues and friends at Georgetown, in academia, and in organizations like ACOEL. I look forward to working with you in the new year!
