News & Insights

State legislatures across the country are wrangling with how to manage development of data centers.  A myriad of stakeholders have many messages to deliver to thought leaders, but sorting those inputs into correct knowledge of the world (“world state”) is the problem looking for a solution.  In the parlance of artificial intelligence as a computer […]

As anticipated, the Trump Administration repealed EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding and EPA’s vehicle standards.  The final rule didn’t actually attack the underlying science showing that climate change endangers human health and welfare; indeed, Trump’s EPA abandoned that approach because of the legal vulnerability of the flawed Department of Energy report that EPA had relied on […]

Last year, the United States sued the State of Michigan, seeking a preemptive court order preventing Michigan from filing suit against firms in the “fossil fuel industry”. Michigan moved to dismiss, arguing that the case was not ripe and that the United States did not have standing. What follows is from the first paragraph of […]

Congress recently used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) of 1996 to prevent a number of federal land management plans from going into effect. Congressional application of this law to federal land management plans is unprecedented and calls into question the legitimacy of every plan and plan implementation action since 1996. Additionally, Congress in doing so […]

Seven months ago the U.S. Supreme Court rebuked lower courts for failing to provide sufficient deference to agency environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act in Seven County Infrastructure Coal. v. Eagle County, 605 U.S. 168 (2025). The Court’s May 29 ruling – which called for a dramatic “course correction” – followed years of […]

Ecologists often decry a problem known as “shifting baselines.” The kelp forests, whales and sea otters around Monterey Bay we witness today are extraordinary. But if you asked someone who had lived in the area 40 years earlier, they would say that today’s sea life is only a shadow of how amazing it used to […]

EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have published their most recent attempt to define a “Water of the United States” within the jurisdiction of the Federal Clean Water Act.   As many of you know, WOTUS regulations have come and gone over the past forty years, including anything but durable regulations during the Obama, first […]

Remember the alliteration in this Blog’s title learned in childhood?In 2025 we have a great many “de” actions in our personal and professional lives. For those of us thinking of “downsizing” from our long-owned but now too-large homes, we must “declutter” our prized possessions, decontaminate our basements and attics, and deactivate our internet and utility […]

Last year, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a mandamus petition and ordered that the complaint in Juliana v. United States be dismissed for the second time, I acknowledged that I had become more skeptical about the prospects for citizens’ climate litigation.  Unfortunately, the grounds for such skepticism only seem to be getting stronger over time. Last week, Judge […]

Over the summer, the White House released its “AI Action Plan,” setting forth a host of policy pronouncements for the advancement and support of U.S. dominance in AI.  One of the policy “pillars” should have all environmental lawyers sit up and take notice – support for building AI infrastructure.  An entire “Data Center Infrastructure” Executive […]

EPA is calling it the “largest deregulatory action in U.S. history.” The New York Times called it “President Trump’s most consequential step yet to derail federal climate efforts,” which “appears to represent a shift toward outright denial of the scientific consensus.” Others say that the proposal “rejects mainstream science and misunderstands the law” and “relies […]

Much has been written and spoken on the topic of global and U.S. domestic air quality relative to climate change. Emotions are high as are the stakes. As noted by ACOEL Fellow Richard A. Horder’s blog article, On Elections, Pendulums, and Perspective, the pendulum is swinging on environmental policy. Edgar Allan Poe would caution about […]