Podcast - Diamond Alternative Energy, LLC v. EPA: The Intersection of Constitutional and Environmental Law
SCOTUS Clean Air Act Cases: What’s New?
Unpacking California's 2024 Zero Emission Fleet Mandate
West Virginia vs. EPA Part II: U.S. Supreme Court Applies the Major Questions Doctrine to limit EPA Regulatory Authority
[Webinar] Growing Greener: Navigating Environmental Laws in the Cannabis Industry
Nota Bene Episode 101: Catching up with Global Climate Regulation with Nico van Aelstyn
Schoenbrod: SCOTUS Ruling Helps EPA Deal With a "Stupid Statute"
Law Prof: The Clean Air Act Needs a Reboot
A South Carolina state trial court recently dismissed a climate tort case filed by the City of Charleston seeking to hold major energy companies liable for harms allegedly caused by climate change. This ended a case that had...more
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) circulated a draft template, dated April 8, 2025, to assist federal agencies in updating their procedures for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)....more
President Trump has issued a flurry of new Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda aimed at advancing the Administration’s deregulatory agenda, particularly in the energy and environmental sectors. This advisory provides...more
States are increasingly turning to “Climate Superfund” laws as a potential mechanism to offset the growing costs of climate-related disaster recovery and the construction of more climate change-resilient infrastructure. These...more
In what it called “the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its most expansive deregulatory initiative to date on March 12, 2025. Through a...more
On March 12, 2025, EPA announced 31 intended actions by the agency in furtherance of the Administration’s goals of “Unleashing American Energy,” “Lowering the Cost of Living for American Families,” and “Advancing Cooperative...more
On March 12, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) issued a memorandum titled “Implementing National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives Consistently with...more
The EPA administrator announced 31 deregulatory actions the agency will prioritize. On March 12, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a video and accompanying press release from Administrator Lee...more
Amid uncertainty over future staffing and funding levels, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a new priority list for the agency titled the “Powering the Great American Comeback...more
Summary - This EO invokes authorities under the National Emergencies Act (NEA) to declare an energy emergency. Orders executive departments and agencies to identify and exercise any lawful emergency authorities available to...more
On December 26, 2024, New York enacted a law requiring certain energy companies to contribute cumulatively $75 billion to a climate "superfund" over the next 25 years....more
Republicans have swept the 2024 elections, returning Donald Trump to the White House as the 47th President and flipping the Senate to a Republican majority. Having narrowly maintained control of the House of Representatives,...more
While still a newly minted lawyer early in 1977, I had the good fortune to land a job with the then brand-new Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. This coincided with the 1976 election of Jimmy Carter as...more
Welcome to our 11th Issue of Currents 2024, our energy e-newsletter. This will be our last issue of 2024, and we want to sincerely thank you for reading Currents for the past eight years. Our goal is to relay top trending...more
Welcome to the Tenth Issue of Currents 2024, our energy e-newsletter. Natural Gas is Not Going Away - While net-zero remains a dream for many, the electricity market is providing a wake-up call for anyone believing...more
Once again, a federal district court has enjoined enforcement of a rule implemented by a wayward federal agency as it governs oil and gas activities. This one is North Dakota, et al v. US Department of Interior, et al. from...more
A stream of judicial decisions in the pipeline will have important implications for the energy industry. The three cases discussed below are among those that energy litigators and industry professionals are watching in 2024....more
On 30 November 2022, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) voted 16-2 to approve an emergency rule regulating volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from existing conventional oil and gas sources. The...more
Federal appeals courts in Maryland and Colorado have sent lawsuits seeking to hold energy companies responsible for climate change back to state court even after the U.S. Supreme Court directed the Fourth Circuit to take a...more
Over the past few years, several state and local governments have filed lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, seeking money damages for the effects of climate change on their jurisdictions. These lawsuits serve multiple...more
EPA has received more than 300,000 comments on its November 2021 proposal to regulate methane from new and existing sources in the oil and gas production sector. We previously wrote about EPA’s proposal. Now we’ve analyzed a...more
Key Points - House Democrats press ahead with Build Back Better Act, including $550 billion in climate-related funding. The House will send the package to the Senate to continue negotiations over controversial provisions. ...more
Welcome to Volume 5, Issue 18 of Currents. As always, we cover the gamut of hot topics in the energy industry. In this edition, we provide insights on issues at the local, state and federal levels, as well as international...more
Overview of the current energy mix, and the place in the market of different energy sources - Due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. total energy consumption in 2020 is on pace to decline for a second straight...more
U.S. Shale Producers Race for Federal Permits Ahead of Presidential Election - "Federal permitting in the largest U.S. oilfield in the Permian Basin, located in Texas and New Mexico, is up 80 percent in about the last three...more