Newsflash: Rockweed Not a Fish
At the beginning of 2024, young American climate litigants seemed poised for success. In December 2023, the prominent case of Juliana v. United States (Case No. 6:15-CV-01517) had survived—in part—a motion to dismiss in the...more
Discussion of administrative law usually doesn’t happen at the dinner table. But a series of recent US Supreme Court decisions may have changed this introducing talk of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the...more
A coalition of environmental groups filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against the State of Utah’s Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, and Division of Water Rights (the Agencies), alleging...more
Climate change litigation has become a global phenomenon, as scientists, agencies, and the general public increasingly associate wildfires, droughts, flooding, hurricanes, heat waves and other events with changing climate. ...more
On June 23rd, California Coastkeeper Alliance (CCKA) filed the lawsuit California Coastkeeper Alliance v. County of Sonoma (Case No. SCV-268718) in Sonoma County Superior Court. According to CCKA’s website, the suit was filed...more
A recent ruling by the Appellate Division, Second Department, Matter of Coney Island Boardwalk Community Gardens v City of New York, concerned the fate of a parcel of land located at the Coney Island boardwalk. That parcel...more
Years in the making, the first global report on the Environmental Rule of Law (ERL) was issued by the United Nations Environment Program and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in January 2019. The report is a...more
The Situation: Proposed resolutions in Congress and an injunction request in a Ninth Circuit case both seek significant reductions in fossil fuel use throughout the economy. The Result: In the near term, it is easy to...more
The Third District Appellate Court recently issued a long-awaited decision in Environmental Law Foundation vs. State Water Resources Control Board (ELF v. SWRCB). The decision confirms the expansive scope of California's...more
The last frontier of citizen climate litigation has been state-based litigation alleging that states have a public trust obligation to mitigate climate change. As I have previously noted, I’m skeptical that these cases are...more
In a case of interesting timing, three days after EPA announced its proposed GHG rules for existing facilities, the D.C. Circuit affirmed dismissal of a case seeking an injunction against EPA and other federal defendants...more