Blogs & Resources
ACOEL members contribute regularly to the ACOEL Blog, writing on topics of current interest in their respective fields. Recently-published blogs are featured below, or you can search the ACOEL blog archive using the search feature.
Current Blogs
ESG Decision-Making —What are the alternatives?
November 17, 2021Posted on November 17, 2021 by Jeff Civins ESG—environmental, social, and governance—is the focus of socially responsible investing, reflecting the notion that corporations should serve the interests of not only their shareholders, but of all their stakeholders. This blog describes how NEPA’s EIS process can be used by...
PEOPLE POLLUTION: HAS PUBLIC NUISANCE LAW BEEN STRETCHED TOO FAR?
November 16, 2021Posted on November 16, 2021 by Tommy Wells There is a widely recognized opioid crisis in America, affecting literally thousands of people who have become addicted to opioids. Something must be done to address this crisis, but is the 700 year old legal theory of public nuisance the answer?...
Will We Ever Stop Overestimating the Cost of Complying with Environmental Regulations?
November 12, 2021Posted on November 12, 2021 by Seth Jaffe Earlier this week, Greenwire (subscription required) had an interesting story about the role that EPA’s estimate of the cost to comply with the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule played in the politics and judicial review of the rule. It turned...
“Go back to where you came from” – a personal journey
August 07, 2019Posted on August 7, 2019 by Brenda Mallory The first time that I remember being told “go back to where you came from,” I was 18. Although not the first time I was targeted because of my race, it was the first time I remember those words. I had...
“DISCARDED” or “NOT DISCARDED”: That Is the Question (or “Asked and (finally) Answered!”)
July 31, 2019Posted on July 31, 2019 by Karen Crawford On July 2, 2019, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition brought by an environmental group for review of EPA’s Transfer-Based Exclusion for secondary hazardous materials in California Communities Against Toxics v. EPA (D.C. Cir. July 2, 2019) (No. 18-1163). ...
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Let’s Turn Ag States Into Carbon Sinks
November 1, 2021Posted on November 1, 2021 by Chuck Becker One of my favorite movies is The Graduate. There is a scene in that 1968 film where Ben (Dustin Hoffman) is...
Columbia University Publishes Proceedings of ACOEL-Columbia Univ-EDF-FANJ Joint Webinar on US-Cuba Environmental Cooperation. Book Launch/Webinar is November 4, 2021
October 29, 2021Posted on October 29, 2021 by David B. Farer Columbia University has published the proceedings from the February 22, 2021 joint webinar that ACOEL co-sponsored — with Columbia, the Environmental...
Local Regulation of Fossil Fuel Pipelines (or The Little City That Could)
October 28, 2021Posted on October 28, 2021 by Jonathan M. Ettinger With all the attention focused on the Keystone pipeline and the disputes over local regulation of fracking, it’s easy to...
REGIONALLY-FOCUSED WOTUS ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS
October 26, 2021Posted on October 26, 2021 by Ronald Janke The Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency have announced, 86 Federal Register 58829 (Oct. 25, 2021), that they will...
COP 26 and Indigenous People
October 25, 2021Posted on October 25, 2021 by Jeanette Wolfley Indigenous peoples are experiencing rising sea levels, relocating villages, declining salmon runs and failing wild rice fields. Tribal nations are on the...
The Law Is An Ass, RCRA Edition
October 15, 2021Posted on October 15, 2021 by Seth Jaffe Late last month, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a public water supplier could be liable in a citizens’...
IMPROVING CONSULTATION WITH TRIBES IS AN EPA PRIORITY, BUT WHAT ABOUT IMPROVING STATE-TRIBAL ENGAGEMENT? RECENT ACTIONS BY MICHIGAN ARE WORTH CONSIDERATION
October 11, 2021Posted on October 11, 2021 by Steve Chester On September 30, 2021, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan issued a memorandum to all EPA employees reaffirming the...
Rulemaking Nightmares
October 6, 2021Posted on October 6, 2021 by John M. Barkett Part I: Rulemaking Beginning in 2012, I spent seven years on the Advisory Committee for Civil Rules. I had the...
The Western Mega-drought’s Impacts on Practicing Water Law in the West
October 4, 2021Posted on October 4, 2021 by Thomas Sansonetti Consider this advice for budding environmental lawyers: It’s a good time to be practicing water law in the western United States. ...
ACOEL PRESS RELEASES
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYERS ANNOUNCES NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS & REGENTS
October 13, 2021(Washington, DC): The American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) is proud to announce its newly elected Officers and Regents,...
The American College of Environmental Lawyers Announces Newly-Elected Fellows for 2021
August 2, 2021The American College of Environmental Lawyers is proud to announce that this year it has elected 22 new Active...