News & Insights

The fifth delegation of ACOEL Fellows from the International Pro Bono Committee’s Cuba Working Group have participated in our latest project in Havana, a four-day event from March 24-27, 2025 developed and presented by ACOEL in conjunction with two Cuban foundations, with the participation and support of the Cuban Environment Agency. The meetings included the […]

Growing up in Irvington, NJ, near refineries, chemical plants, and other industrial facilities, I never imagined that one day I’d end up being an environmental lawyer, and in Austin, Texas. This year marks my 50th year practicing environmental law.  It’s a good time to reflect.  In 1967, I graduated from Brandeis University and worked that […]

ACOEL announced April 8 the election of 18 new fellows. Each new College member has a depth of experience in – and has made substantial contributions to – the field of environmental law. The new fellows come from private practice, academia, not-for-profit organizations, and the government.

On March 25, 2025, the University of Southern California’s (USC’s) Public Exchange and independent advisor Solar Aquagrid announced the California Solar Canal Initiative, a seven-university project to assess the technological, social, and legal capacities to install solar panels over the many water canals and aqueducts flowing through California. The project builds from a 2021 study conducted […]

10 Reasons Why This Case Is Squirrelly In Port Arthur Community Action Network (PACAN) v. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Supreme Court clarified the statutory definition of “Best Available Control Technology”(BACT) under the Texas Clean Air Act in response to a certified question from the Fifth Circuit. The Texas Supreme Court ruled that […]

I suspect that lots of people have said it, but President Obama is often credited with saying that elections have consequences. One of those consequences is that the President, generally speaking, gets to select who works for him. I’ve always taken the position that, no matter how much I disagree with the President, the Senate […]

I had not heard of Lee Zeldin before Donald Trump nominated him to become the next Administrator of the EPA. I was curious to know more about his views on major environmental issues, especially his views on climate change. I did not watch his Confirmation hearing, but I was able to find a transcript of […]

In 2015, EPA proposed a rule requiring states to develop plans to cut CO2 emissions from the power sector—the Clean Power Plan (“CPP”). EPA explained the rule would result in “significant emission reductions” for that sector, from about 2,650 million tons in 2005, to 1,900 million tons in 2022, and 1,800 million tons in 2030–a […]

The industrial wood pellet industry in the U.S. manufactures and exports wood pellets to burn in power plants to produce electricity, and this has been praised as a climate solution, a source of renewable energy. The truth is far different: the wood pellet industry has induced logging, spewed air pollution, and harmed human health in […]

Today in the United States, there is no federal comprehensive statute addressing climate change. With the Trump Administration now in power, it is doubtful that any such statute will be forthcoming anytime soon.  Unfortunately, many corporations and the lawyers that advise them don’t know what to do in the absence of such regulation. As an […]

It has been almost nine years since Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) stakeholders celebrated President Obama’s enactment on June 22, 2016, of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg). Because the road to amending TSCA was long (almost a decade), contentious, and complicated, stakeholders were perhaps more relieved that the […]

Great environmental success has come when agencies, industry and stakeholders have come together to render their divergent views mutually consistent. It is not always easy, and the ability to set aside historical narratives that cause one group to delegitimize the ideas of another requires a skill founded in risk management, consensus building, and the ability […]