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Can We Talk Climate? The SEC Disclosure Rule and Compelled Commercial Speech

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Climate Disclosure Rule has provoked heated controversy on many fronts. Several commenters have argued that the First Amendment precludes the SEC from demanding climate-related disclosures. This Article grapples with the unsettled state of “compelled commercial speech” doctrine, arguing that the rule’s constitutionality should be scrutinized using the prevailing rational basis test, and that even under the intermediate scrutiny test, the rule should be upheld.

Agrivoltaics as a Lifeline for Rural Farmers and California's Renewable Energy Goals

Agrivoltaics, the concept of using solar energy systems to enhance agricultural production and generate renewable energy on the same plot of land, offers a lifeline to beleaguered farmers and  communities facing water shortages, cost increases, and marginal agricultural profitability. This concept seeks to aid California in its ambitious renewables portfolio standard, and could reduce the impacts of climate change and the toll agricultural operations take on the San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater resources.

Climate Change Disinformation Liability Under the Federal Trade Commission Act

Oil companies and their agents have been actively involved in creating and propagating climate change disinformation for the past half-century. In response to this deception, more than two dozen American states and cities have sued these companies under traditional tort-based causes of action like public nuisance, fraud, negligence, and failure to warn, alleging that the companies fueled uncertainty about climate science and undercut public support for necessary climate action.

Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Ass'ns, Inc. v. Chevron Corp.

A district court denied fishing groups' motion to remand a climate liability lawsuit against oil and gas companies. The groups initially sued in state court, seeking damages for lost fishing opportunities allegedly caused by climate change. The companies removed the suit to federal court under the C...

Honolulu, City and County of v. Sunoco LP

The Hawaii Supreme Court affirmed a lower court order denying oil and gas companies' motions to dismiss a climate misinformation suit brought by the city and county of Honolulu and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. Plaintiffs argued the companies knowingly misled the public about the dangers of bu...

BLM’s Conservation Rule and Conservation as a “Use”

In April, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed new regulations governing land management decisions on public lands. Dubbed the “conservation rule,” this rule seeks to protect intact landscapes, restore degraded habitat, and manage for ecosystem resilience.

Using Objective Characteristics to Target Household Recycling Policies

Using the most comprehensive data set on U.S. household recycling behavior, this Comment quantifies the relative impact on recycling of characteristics associated with recycling in different populations, under different governmental rules, and having different facilitating resources and amenities.

Idaho Conservation League v. Bonneville Power Administration

The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, denied environmental groups' petition to review the Bonneville Power Administration's (BPA's) decision setting power rates for the 2022-2023 fiscal period. The groups argued BPA violated the Northwest Power Act (NWPA) by setting rates that failed to comply with its duty to pr...

Allen v. United States

The Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit concerning a dam collapse in Michigan. Property owners who live downstream of the dam argued the U.S. government negligently entrusted operation of the dam to an unfit operator. A district court held the government was entitled to sovereign immunity ...