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

Whales, Lobsters, and the Paradox of Winning Too Much
December 07, 2023Posted on December 7, 2023 by Jerry Reid “We’re gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning. And you’ll say, ‘Please, please. It’s too much winning. We can’t take it anymore.’” That was what then-candidate Trump promised life would be like in America during his presidency. ...

Is Litigation the Solution to Plastic Pollution?
November 17, 2023Posted on November 17, 2023 by Seth Jaffe Earlier this week, New York State Attorney General Letitia James filed suit against PepsiCo. At the core of the case are allegations that PepsiCo.’s widespread use of single-use plastics has created or contributed to a public nuisance in the Buffalo River. ...
SEARCH BLOGS

SCOTUS’s DECISION IN SACKETT V. EPA ENDS “SIGNIFICANT NEXUS” TEST
June 6, 2023Posted on June 6, 2023 by Karen Aldridge Crawford This long-awaited decision by SCOTUS in favor of the Sacketts finally put to rest the debate over the “significant nexus”...

Bounty laws and citizen suits
May 24, 2023Posted on May 24, 2023 by Tracy Hester In a jurisprudential pile-up, the Fifth Circuit has become the arena for two simultaneous legal battles that may shape the law...

The Supreme Court Majority Prepares to Bury Chevron; Is There Anyone Left to Praise It?
May 5, 2023Posted on May 5, 2023, by Seth Jaffe Earlier this week, the Supreme Court accepted cert. in Lopez Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which presents a straightforward challenge to the...

Regulating the Impossible Dream: NRC Decision Streamlines Efforts to Commercialize Fusion
May 4, 2023Posted on May 4, 2023 by Adam Kahn On April 13, 2023, the Commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) voted to approve a proposal that will accelerate the...
54th Earth Day: A Wake Up Call to the Planet on the Important Role of Lawyers and Bar Associations in Addressing the Earth’s Most Pressing Environmental Challenges
May 1, 2023Posted on May 1, 2023 by Amy Edwards As we celebrate the 54th anniversary of Earth Day, it is hard to imagine where we will be 54 years from...

The Berkeley Ban Is Not the Only Answer
April 24, 2023Posted on April 24, 2023 by Kristen Boyles As Seth Jaffe posted last week, the 9th Circuit recently struck down the City of Berkeley’s first-in-the-nation electrification ordinance that prohibited...

Berkeley’s Ban on Natural Gas in New Construction is Preempted: What Will Happen to Other Local Bans?
April 19, 2023Posted on April 19, 2023 by Seth Jaffe On Monday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the City of Berkeley ordinance entitled “Prohibition of Natural Gas Infrastructure...
Water, Water, Everywhere?
April 14, 2023Posted on April 14, 2023 by Scott Fulton One of my roles as ELI’s International Envoy is serving on the Steering Committee of the new Climate Crisis Commission established...
Tackling the Zombies
April 13, 2023Posted on April 13, 2023 by Ridge Hall What can a frustrated state legislator do when the agency implementing the Clean Water Act fails to renew expired permits or...