Air Quality Information: Protecting Children from Air Pollution
May 16, 2019 by Marly Mentor AirHow is air pollution affecting children and what measures can we take to protect them?
Online Articles
The wrong place and the wrong time: The Rocky Hill Case, a landmark legal win for climate action
March 22, 2019 by Isabelle Smith Air Climate change Fossil Fuels International Litigation Natural ResourcesAs the global community confronts the reality that a rapid reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is urgently required, a new class of climate change litigation is emerging. But what impact are these proceedings having?
There is no cause of action against the US Government under the Fifth Amendment for Failure to Protect the Global Climate System
February 28, 2019 by Lynn Phan Air Chemicals Climate change Fossil Fuels LitigationWhenever faced with the decision to declare a “healthful environment” or freedom from harmful contaminants as fundamental rights, federal courts have invariably rejected those claims.
Did You Get the Memo? Latest Guidance from Trump’s EPA Sparks Controversy
February 21, 2019 by Kathryn Priester Air Energy Federal Rollbacks Fossil Fuels Litigation RegulationsEnvironmental groups and the State of California are up in arms over an EPA memo scrapping a decades-old Clean Air Act policy. Will the DC Circuit weigh in on the EPA’s use of “guidance” to drastically shift US regulatory policy?
Achieving Economic and Environmental Efficiencies: Lessons from the Carbon Disclosure Project
February 13, 2019 by Robert Adler Air Climate change Energy Fossil Fuels Regulations Renewable EnergyWhile some companies celebrate the EPA’s deregulation efforts, other companies are starting to understand that economic and environmental efficiencies can run hand-in-hand. The Carbon Disclosure Project helps companies see the connection.
Kids Take a Stand Against Climate Change, but Do They Have Standing?
January 25, 2019 by Rourke Donahue Air Climate change LitigationTwenty-one children are suing the federal government over its failure to address climate change. But does the public have a fundamental right to the environment and is climate change an appropriate issue for courts to address?
Revisiting Criminal Culpability Under the Clean Air Act in the Wake of ‘Dieselgate’
October 9, 2018 by Spencer Shweky Air Fossil Fuels Litigation RegulationsIt has now been just over 3 years since the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) first informed the public that Volkswagen, at the time the world's largest automaker, had installed ‘cheat devices’ designed to evade U.S. regulators in hundreds of thousands of their cars. Ultimately, the automaker paid a $2.8 billion criminal fine, and 9 executives and employees were charged with violating the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) and Title 18 of the United States code (the main criminal code of the federal government). Interestingly, though, no one was actually held criminally liable for the pollution itself.