News & Insights

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), historic legislation that for the first time directly addresses climate change mitigation across multiple sectors, including agriculture. The IRA provides approximately $20 billion over four years to existing Farm Bill conservation programs to support agricultural practices that the Secretary of Agriculture […]

The Farm Bill is the most significant environmental law Congress will address this year. This third of four blogs explains how it can help American agriculture be more resilient and climate-friendly. Most Federal Farm Bill programs require Congressional reauthorization every five years.  Congress passed the last Farm Bill in 2018 and Congressional leaders aim for […]

Whether you celebrated Festivus, Christmas or any real or recently manufactured holiday this past season, as a former upstate New Yorker my thoughts inevitably turn to snow.  But sadly, after decades working in the hazardous waste arena, I admit my thoughts inevitably turn to asbestos every time someone shakes a snow globe. Over the past […]

Coal production and mining jobs over the past half-century have been influenced by several factors, principally demand from the utility sector, technological breakthroughs in natural gas production, railroad deregulation, and environmental regulation. The federal Clean Air Act (CAA) was enacted in 1970 and amended in 1977 and 1990. From 1970 to 1980, coal mining jobs […]

What we grow and produce in America affects our air, water, climate, wildlife, public health, and more. The Farm Bill is likely the most significant environmental law Congress will address this year. This second of four blogs explains the many agricultural practices that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon sequestration, and build resilience […]

What we grow and produce in America affects our air, water, climate, wildlife, public health, and more. The Farm Bill is likely the most significant environmental law Congress will address this year. This is the first of four blogs explaining how American agriculture can be more resilient and climate friendly. (More detail can be found […]

Ten miles by water from our home on Cape Cod in Falmouth, Massachusetts, you would think that the future of offshore wind is now.  New Bedford is the local home of Vineyard Wind, where massive components are loaded onto huge vessels to be assembled in the waters 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.  With my […]

Garry Lewis owns 2000 acres in Livingston Parish, Louisiana and he has been fighting with the Army Corps of Engineers over whether any of those 2000 acres are wetlands subject to Federal Clean Water Act jurisdiction for over a decade.  On two separate occasions the Army Corps of Engineers has said the answer to that […]

Last month, I advised plastics manufacturers to prepare for more litigation.  Although I am generally loath to speculate, it already looks as though this prediction is coming true.  Earlier this month, PennEnvironment and Three Rivers Waterkeeper filed suit against BVPV Styrenics and its parent company.  BVPV manufactures expandable polystyrene at its facility in Monaca, Pennsylvania.  […]

‘Twas the 4th night of Hanukkah, 11th night of COP 28, umpteenth night of Christmas lights and inflatables, and 16th night before Kwanzaa, and all through my mind is not that this is the 200th anniversary of the original “’Twas the” poem, nor wondering if anyone is lighting menorahs in Dubai (they are—the first “purpose-built […]

“Seldom is so ambitious a case filed on so slight a basis.”  Those are words a plaintiff’s lawyer would hate to hear, but that is exactly how the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals began its opinion rejecting an Ohio firefighter’s attempt to certify a nationwide class of individuals with elevated PFAS in their blood serum.  […]

Virtually all colleges have nicknames—my alma maters’ include Fighting Judges (Brandeis), Nittany Lions (Penn State), and Longhorns (Texas), and not only nicknames, but mascots to go with them, e.g., Bevo the Longhorn (Texas) , Tusk the razorback (Arkansas), Mike the Tiger (LSU), Big Al the elephant (Alabama) and Uga the bulldog (Georgia). I got to […]