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EPA Must Produce Any Agency Records Supporting Administrator Pruitt’s...
Last Friday, EPA was ordered to produce documents, in response to a FOIA request, on which Administrator Pruitt relied in stating on CNBC that: “I would not agree that [carbon dioxide] is a primary...
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The Dutch Government Also Doesn’t Like Citizen Climate Litigation
As a follow-up to my earlier post about the dismissal of public nuisance claims brought by the City of Oakland and the State of California against five oil majors concerning their contribution to...
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Still No Judicial Remedy For Climate Change — Don’t Expect Advocates To Stop...
On June 25th, Judge William Alsup dismissed the public nuisance case brought by the City of Oakland and the State of California against five major oil companies. The suit sought payment of damages...
View ArticleCAFO Odors and the Ghost of William Aldred
The number and size of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have increased in recent years. These operations keep large numbers of animals in a confined space and provide them with feed from...
View ArticleWe May Not Always Have Paris, But Perhaps We Can Do Better Than Paris
Last week, the Climate Leadership Council released an analysis demonstrating that the “Baker Shultz Carbon Dividends Plan” would result in greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions than the US...
View ArticleCALIFORNIA, THE JUNGLE, AND CAP-AND-TRADE
On September 14, 2018, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued for public comment the proposed California Tropical Forest Standard. The proposed standard is not an attempt to address a future...
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A Sliver of Hope for the Government’s Remaining NSR Enforcement Cases?
Earlier this month, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted something of a reprieve to EPA’s New Source Review enforcement initiative. The Court first confirmed what everyone other than EPA and DOJ...
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The Rubber Begins to Hit the Road on Adaptation
I gave up some time ago on the idea that focusing on adaption was just a means of weaseling out of necessary measures to mitigate climate change. As the extraordinary becomes commonplace, it’s evident...
View ArticleCarrying Coals to Newcastle … and Katowice
When Newcastle was the largest British exporter of coal, talk of “carrying coals to Newcastle” meant engaging in something senseless, superfluous, or foolish. The Trump administration’s recent actions...
View ArticleNew UN Special Rapporteur Links the Right to a Healthy Environment to Air...
Professor John Knox, former UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights and the Environment, began in 2012 to study the obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable...
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Whatever Happened to the Conservative Belief in Markets?
After receiving an analysis showing that shutting the Jim Bridger and Naughton coal-fired electric generating plants in Wyoming would save ratepayers money, PacificCorp, the owner of the plants,...
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If It Walks Like a Duck and Talks Like a Duck, It May Still Not Be Sauce for...
Earlier this week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the “Wehrum Memo,” which reversed EPA’s longstanding policy of “once in, always in” regarding MACT jurisdiction, was not final agency...
View ArticleCOAL
My blog posts have, in the past, largely focused on this or that regulation or some legal development or other dealing with chemical regulation or environmental statutes or rules in general. This one...
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Will The PM NAAQS Be the Real End of Agency Deference?
According to Bloomberg Environment (subscription required), EPA’s Clean Air Science Advisory Committee cannot reach agreement whether to recommend that the NAAQS for PM2.5 be lowered. Even after two...
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IMO 2020 – A Strikeout for Sulfur, but Black Carbon Is Still on Base
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping supposedly represent 2% to 3% of the world total, about on par with those emitted by Germany. However, there are no GHG emission...
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Think Globally, Act Locally?
In Washington State, some legislators and regulators have been acting locally. But are they thinking globally?Our two-term governor sought for years, unsuccessfully, to persuade our legislature to...
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Balancing Environmental Protection and Public Health in the time of COVID-19...
Greenwire reported today that two medical sterilization facilities in Georgia that had been shut down or had production limited due to concerns about exposures to ethylene oxide would be allowed to...
View ArticleNothing But Blue Skies?
As a result of the measures put in place to flatten the curve for the coronavirus pandemic, California is experiencing an unprecedented improvement in air quality. The combination of work from home,...
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If You Thought That COVID-19 Was Bad, Try It Mixed With Some PM2.5!
Last week, I discussed the Administration’s guidance concerning the exercise of its enforcement discretion during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now comes evidence that the guidance may actually be...
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EPA Remains the “Anti-Environmental Protection Agency”; Wheeler Refuses to...
After more than three years of ignoring science whenever it does not support this Administration’s preferred outcomes, the issue of the future of science in environmental regulation has now been well...
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