President Donald Trump on April 24, 2025, issued an executive order, "Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources" (the EO), that aims to promote the development of offshore critical minerals in the oceans...more
The Trump administration is moving to effectively eliminate a crucial protection in the half-century-old federal Endangered Species Act by redefining a single word: harm. A proposed rule, issued this Wednesday from the U.S....more
On April 17, 2025, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a notice of proposed rulemaking to rescind the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act...more
Space has become central to protecting U.S. national security interests as Americans increasingly rely on space-based services to support everyday life. As a result, the U.S. government has bolstered investment in the space...more
The 18th annual edition of the “NRD State Guide” has now been published . For nearly two decades, this Guide has provided companies, private practitioners, government officials, and researchers with a comprehensive overview...more
Good Afternoon! It has been another busy two weeks in space law and policy! SpaceX delivered a new crew (including the first Space Force Guardian in orbit) and two empty seats to the ISS. Meanwhile, back on earth, the U.S....more
June 2024 broke global records as the hottest month according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) 175-year dataset. It was also the 13th month in a row of record-high temperatures, tying the...more
Good Afternoon! This is Akin’s biweekly policy newsletter on space policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major space headlines and forthcoming space-related events and hearings...more
Good morning! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings...more
In continuing with the Biden-Harris Administration's goal to combat plastic pollution, on July 19, 2024, the Interagency Policy Committee on Plastic Pollution and a Circular Economy (IPC)1 released a new joint strategy to...more
Severe convective storms (SCSs) occur during all seasons in the United States. According to Aon, severe convective storms have accounted for 70% of global insurance losses in recent years, and there continues to be a rise in...more
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is pressing ahead with its plan to ban Fast Ferries between the Massachusetts mainland and Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket between November 1st and May 30. I first wrote...more
Plans to build the largest new reservoir in California in 50 years have taken a significant step forward following a judge’s decision last Friday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by environmental groups challenging the adequacy of...more
Hurricane season is upon us once again, and if early forecasts are correct, it looks to be a doozy. The National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released their early forecast in May with predictions of eight...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday finalized tougher methane reporting standards that could increase the number of oil and gas companies that must pay fees for excess methane emissions....more
Introduction: Understanding the 2024 Hurricane Season Forecast - A much-anticipated time of year across the Atlantic coastline of North America and the Caribbean is hurricane season, which officially begins on June 1st...more
The First Circuit Court of Appeals has finally ended the Nantucket Residents Against Turbines' lawsuit against the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the...more
By 2050 rising sea levels will exacerbate episodic storm surges and inundate an estimated 87,000 square kilometers (21.5 million acres) of coastal areas worldwide, exposing $1.7 trillion of real estate to catastrophic damage....more
Business leaders and risk managers should always be prepared for the worst. As of October 11, 2023, the United States already experienced 24 separate “billion-dollar” weather and climate disasters in the calendar year,...more
On January 25, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries released a final North Atlantic Right Whale and Offshore Wind Strategy (the “Strategy”). The...more
The need for comprehensive disaster risk management has never been more evident. In recent years, major storms, earthquakes, wildfires, tornados, derechos, and other destructive large-scale events have been significant....more
Winter weather is a challenge for all of us, especially those who predict it. Whether in a snow-prone area or one that receives only a few inches of snow per year, this time of year presents more hazards for meteorologists to...more
In recent years, the global concentration of methane present in the atmosphere has increased dramatically. In fact, in 2021, methane increased by almost 18 parts per billion in the atmosphere, the largest single year increase...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit addresses the distinction between Article III and statutory standing, and it considers issues arising from the sinking of a drydock in a marine sanctuary. JONES v. FORD MOTOR CO. - ...more