On February 9, 2016, the Supreme Court in an unprecedented 5-4 vote decided to stay the lean Power Plan before a judgement by the lower Court of Appeals. This vote effectively ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to halt enforcement. The EPA’s Clean Power Plan (“Plan”) has a primary goal […]
Legal Voice
What’s in Store for America’s Energy and Climate Policies Going Forward?
As Primary season continues to heat up, presidential hopefuls from both the GOP and Democratic parties are doing everything they can to distinguish themselves from the rest of the field. In an age of political polarization, this can lead to big splits, even between party members. Here is how the […]
Sierra Club Sues Oil and Gas Companies for Allegedly Causing Earthquakes By Fracking
A one-of-a-kind lawsuit is emerging out of Oklahoma and quickly gaining national attention. The Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy group, has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma against Chesapeake Energy Corp., Devon Energy Production Co., and New Dominion, accusing the three oil […]
Major Setback for the Clean Water Rule
On October 9, 2015 the Cincinnati-based Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a major setback for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers Clean Water Rule. In a 2-1 ruling the court has put a temporary block on the Act and ruled in favor […]
New York Attorney General Subpoenas Exxon Mobil
On November 3, 2015, Exxon Mobil announced that they had received a subpoena from the New York Attorney General’s Office seeking a “wealth of documents related to research on causes and effects of climate change, how the information was used in business decisions, financial projects and analysis, and communications with […]
The Keystone Pipeline
The Keystone Pipeline has been a hot button issue for the last few years and now with the presidential nominations coming up, it looks to be an issue that most candidates are giving their say on. Like every issue there are myriads of pros and cons, but before those are […]
Third Circuit Determines State Air Pollution Plan to be Insufficient
On September 29, 2015, the Third Circuit held in Nat’l Parks Conservation Ass’n v. U.S. E.P.A., ((2015 WL 5692605 (3d Cir. Sept. 29, 2015))), that an air pollution control plan submitted by Pennsylvania to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) was insufficient in protecting against pollution. The appeal was filed […]
California Legislature Passes Bill Leading the Way to a Greener Future
California is known as one of the most environmentally friendly and conscious states within the United States, and they have just taken one step further to paving the way for a green future for all. On September 11, the California Senate passed SB 350, aka the Clean Energy and Pollution […]
Regulating Pollutants Carried by the Wind
How should Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency (‘EPA’) deal with the complex legal issue of how to allocate responsibility for pollutants produced in one state and carried elsewhere by the wind? The court dealt with this narrow and complex legal issue in EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P. […]
The Solar Eclipse to Strain Europe’s Electricity Supply
The ensuing solar eclipse has the potential to cause rolling blackouts around Europe. The not-so-evident reason: Solar energy in Europe has risen drastically. The last eclipse that would be comparable to this occurred in 1999, where much of the power was generated using nuclear power and fossil fuels. Now, many […]