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The American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) is a professional association of distinguished lawyers who practice in the field of environmental law.
The American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) is a professional association of distinguished lawyers who practice in the field of environmental law.
Our members are dedicated to: maintaining and improving the ethical practice of environmental law, the administration of justice, and the development of environmental law through rigorous focus, outreach and education in all forums – federal, state, municipal, tribal and international. Membership is by invitation and members are recognized by their peers as preeminent in their field.
Recent Blogs and News
from ACOEL
Mississippi Hasn’t Got a Chance (Bless its Heart), But its Original Action Against Tennessee is Still a Case to Watch
Mississippi thinks Tennessee is stealing its groundwater, and it has filed an original action in the United States Supreme Court to stop it. State of Mississippi v. State of…
Determining Disparate Impacts in Environmental Justice Communities: Does Friends of Buckingham v. State Air Pollution Control Board Provide the Roadmap?
It has long been recognized that minority and disadvantaged communities are subject to higher levels of pollution than more affluent non-minority areas. This fact is the basis of the…
How Are We Really Going to Get to Net Zero?
Late last month, the Washington Legislature passed the “Climate Commitment Act”, a piece of sweeping climate legislation that includes, among other provisions, an economy-wide cap-and-trade system. Washington was…
Let Me Introduce You
I wrote a limerick. I won a book. And I encountered the climate feminist — not a single person; a movement of female leaders “rooted in compassion, connection, creativity…
Transfer of NPDES Authority for Oil and Gas Discharges to Texas—The Implementation Phase
On January 15, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) transferred Clean Water Act Section 402 authority to Texas to issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for…
Critically Examining Environmental Justice Critiques of GHG Auction-Cap-and-Trade
The Biden Administration has pledged to put the nation on track to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and simultaneously to promote environmental justice. Both goals are achievable and, indeed,…
New York City is Taking on GHG Emissions from its Building Sector
In June 2017, the City of New York announced its commitment to achieve emission reductions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Three months later, it released a…
A Win for the Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Legal Alliance recently won a notable victory for the Assateague Coastal Trust in a successful challenge to the Maryland Department of Environmental Protection’s issuance of a state…
Reflections from My Octopus Teacher
Since the pandemic started, like many people, I have watched way more TV than I had previously watched. Recently, my daughter suggested we watch a film entitled My Octopus…
Houston Highway Tests Biden’s Promise of Equitable Infrastructure
The Biden Administration has acknowledged the racist history of the U.S. interstate highway system and its ongoing negative impacts on many Black neighborhoods. Presidential Memorandum on Redressing Our Nation’s…
Interior Secretary Debra Halland: Restorer of Balance?
Debra Halland made history when the Senate voted 51-40 on March 15, 2021 to confirm her to be Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI). She is the…
Canada Given Green Light to Carbon Pricing: Why the Supreme Court of Canada’s Decision Should Matter to Those South of Our Northern Border
On March 25, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (“GGPPA”), which establishes a national pricing benchmark for greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. Reference…
A Property Right To Exclude Others: Cedar Point Nursery’s Implications For Regulatory Enforcement
The Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid (No. 20-107), a case that has generated considerable amicus participation and press coverage. In that…
The Massachusetts Climate Bill is Very Much “Not Dead”
In January, when Governor Baker vetoed the Legislature’s effort to go big on climate, my colleague Zach Gerson made clear that the bill was not even “mostly dead.” …
Thirteen Years Later, D.C. Circuit Says “Reasonable Possibility” Provision of NSR Rule Is Good Enough
On March 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a challenge to a more than decade-old EPA rule related to the records that source owners…
STEPHEN E. HERRMANN ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING AWARD
The American College of Environmental Lawyers (“ACOEL”) announces its annual Stephen E. Herrmann Environmental Writing Award (“Herrmann Award”) for the 2020-21 academic year. Stephen E. Herrmann is a…
Loving—and Living with—the Neutrality of Administrative Law
One salutary feature of administrative law—the core practice of many environmental litigators—is its predominant neutrality. There is nothing partisan about the principles that an agency must draw a “rational…
THE CLEAN POWER PLAN IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE CLEAN POWER PLAN!
The Obama administration adopted the Clean Power Plan to reduce power sector greenhouse gas emissions in line with its commitments under the Paris Agreement climate accord. The Clean Power…
FIGMENTS OF THE IMAGINATION
I first saw Grand Coulee Dam as a 10-year old. My family and I were on our way to Spokane, Washington to attend Expo ’74, officially titled the…
Cost-Benefit Analysis Is Very Complicated — And Very Important
It’s only a slight rhetorical exaggeration to say that the limited bandwidth left to environmental issues other than climate change in recent years has been largely occupied by concerns…
Welcome to New Members
ACOEL is pleased to congratulate and welcome its 2020 class of new members of the College, representing a diverse group of preeminent practitioners from around the United States.
Welcome to our 27 new active members in the class of 2020
Upcoming Events
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