With passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and Water Resources Development Act of 2022, the statutory landscape has changed to reflect the Biden Administration’s emphasis on environmental justice. On February 27, 2023, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and ELI’s Pro Bono Clearinghouse co-hosted a panel of experts who explored how communities can leverage the statutory changes that have taken place, what decisions have been left up to agencies, and how proposed legislation, like the Environmental Justice for All Act, will affect future environmental justice efforts.

Carbon offsets allow polluters to pay someone else to reduce, avoid, or remove emissions to counterbalance their own emissions. For some, carbon accounting concerns render offsets a necessary evil to be tightly regulated on the path toward decarbonization. For others, moral and political concerns render offsets a dangerous mistake to be thrown out of the climate law toolbox.

In January 2021, the mining sector was made eligible for coverage under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41) program, a pilot project designed to expedite federal permitting. Although mining projects have been eligible for over two years, only recently was the first one posted on the Permitting Dashboard.