HOW I BECAME AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER
When someone asks what type of law I practice, and the answer is “environmental law”, the next question often is, “How did you become an environmental lawyer?” My answer to that question is simple: I...
View ArticleTrees have no tongues, but the Lorax has one
Last month, in Cowpasture River Preservation Association v. Forest Service a panel of the 4th Circuit rejected the U.S. Forest Service approval of a pipeline development that would have crossed 21...
View ArticleWhat’s Going on with Keystone XL?
As one of his earliest executive actions, and following through on campaign promises, on January 24, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Memorandum (EM) inviting TransCanada to resubmit its...
View ArticleWhat Happens When the Green New Deal Meets the Old Green Laws?
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey made headlines when introducing the Green New Deal resolution to Congress. Within milliseconds, contesting waves of support and opposition...
View ArticleThe Bureau of Land Management’s NEPA Review of Land Plans: Is Net Zero A...
The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to review and revise its land use plans periodically. In the current round of reviews, the BLM is seeking...
View ArticleCalling Off the NEPA Hounds – The CEQ’s 2019 Draft Guidance on GHG Emissions
On June 26, 2019, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published a Draft National Environmental Policy Act Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (84 Fed. Reg. 30097). This new...
View ArticleNEPA at 50: What Lies Ahead?
It seems to be the season for 50th anniversaries. The National Environmental Policy Act, signed into law by President Nixon on January 1, 1970, is now a half-century old. The first day of a new decade...
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The Bad, the Ugly and the Good; The Trump Administration Proposes Changes to...
Benjamin Franklin wrote that “an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” Just over 200 years later, the United States passed a law that put that sentiment into practice in the context...
View ArticlePandemic Snapshot: Injustice in Salmon Country
Faced with the global pandemic, Bristol Bay’s people, tribes and communities sprung quickly into action. Bristol Bay, Alaska, has roughly 7,000 year-round residents in 31 villages and communities...
View ArticleTrump Upends NEPA Rules in the Name of Speed
On July 15, 2020 President Trump announced a “top to bottom overhaul” of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) regulations, complaining about the “mountains and mountains of bureaucratic red...
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