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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Just How Absolute is the Absolute Pollution Exclusion?
June 16, 2021Posted on June 16, 2021 by Thomas M. Hnasko Despite the myriad CERCLA cases on the books, there is little – if any – jurisprudence dissecting the so-called “absolute...
Transforming a 3000 Acre Steelmaking Complex from Hazardous Waste Site to a Restoration Success
June 15, 2021Posted on June 15, 2021 by Ridge Hall In 1959 Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point facility, located on the Patapsco River near the mouth of Baltimore Harbor, was the biggest...
U.S. Policy on Cuba: Is It Safe to Go Back into the Water?
June 10, 2021Posted on June 10, 2021 by Daniel Whittle On Valentine’s Day 2015, Cuban and American scientists went fishing off the north coast of Cuba, setting out from Cojimar, the...
Bidding Adieu to the Connecticut Transfer Act … and Welcoming a New Remedial Approach
June 7, 2021Posted on Jun 7, 2021 by Pamela Elkow In September 2020, during a special legislative session, Connecticut took the plunge and passed Public Act 20-9, a statute that will...
The Aftermath of McGirt
June 4, 2021Posted on June 4, 2021 by L. Mark Walker In 1997, Jimey McGirt, an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation, was convicted in an Oklahoma District Court of molesting,...
Get the Lead Out
June 4, 2021Posted on June 4, 2021 by Robert Kaplan The toughest question I ever got in Flint was in a church basement on the north side of town. At the...
The New Environmental and Human Rights Treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean You Should Know About
June 3, 2021Posted June 3, 2021 by Susan Kath The Escazú Agreement came into force in April 2021 with 12 ratifications (out of a possible 33) from Latin American and Caribbean...
Love Canal Revisited
June 2, 2021Posted June 2, 2021 by Ed Tormey It was 41 years ago that one of the more bizarre events in U.S. environmental history took place: two U.S. EPA officials...
CAN WE BLAME THIS ON THE ‘RONA?
May 28, 2021Posted May 28, 2021 by Lloyd Landreth Being the Husband and Father of 3 medical professionals who have been on the front-lines of COVID-19, I am the last person...
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...