Trump Administration
Colorado v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Tenth Circuit reversed and vacated a district court order preliminarily enjoining EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) in Colorado. Colorado argued the agencies...
How the Trump Administration Eased Destruction of the Nation's Wetlands and Streams
On June 22, 2020, the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), the most significant rollback of the jurisdictional scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA) since its passage almost 50 years ago, went into effect. Supported by the American...
Biden v. Sierra Club
The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Biden Administration's request to cancel arguments and suspend further proceedings in a lawsuit concerning the Trump Administration's plans to build a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Measuring Environmental Justice: Analysis of Progress Under Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump
President Donald Trump’s environmental policies appear detrimental to the environmental justice (EJ) movement, but little work has been done to test their true impact on EJ. This Article offers a method for evaluating progress (or lack...
How President Trump's War on Science Undermines Cost-Benefit Analysis of Climate Policies
This Article discusses the Trump Administration’s main actions to undermine the role of science in public policy and the consequences for cost-benefit analysis involving climate change policies. It analyzes the specific attacks on...
Bullock v. United States Bureau of Land Management
A district court held that William Perry Pendley was unlawfully serving as the acting director of BLM. The governor of Montana and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation argued that Pendley was unlawfully serving...
Wild Virginia v. Council on Environmental Quality
A district court denied environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin or stay a rule issued by CEQ revising the regulations for federal agencies to follow in implementing NEPA. The groups argued that the rule was inconsistent...
When Politics Trump Science: The Erosion of Science-Based Regulation
"Science is science and facts are facts. My administration will ensure that there will be total [scientific] transparency and accountability without political bias.” That was the promise made in September 2016 by then-candidate Donald...
Citizens for Clean Energy v. U.S. Department of the Interior
A district court denied a request to vacate the Trump Administration's decision to lift the Obama Administration's moratorium on new coal leasing on public lands. Environmental groups, tribes, and states argued that BLM's issuance of a...
NEPA’s Trajectory: Our Waning Environmental Charter From Nixon to Trump?
Heralded in 1970 as the nation’s environmental Magna Carta, the National Environmental Policy Act’s (NEPA’s) luster seems faded and its future uncertain. While Trump Administration initiatives threaten to diminish further and perhaps...