A battle is waging in the Northern Rocky Mountains, with environmental groups supporting the return of the wolf to the region to restore ecological balance, and the livestock industry fighting the species’ return based on the threat it is perceived to pose to the industry’s economic success.

In almost every state, local regulation plays a significant role in wind power siting. To create an effective and predictable regulatory environment, lawyers and environmental professionals will need to help local governments draft and administer ordinances that address the specific issues involved with electric power generation from wind facilities.

The United States has economically recoverable coal reserves of about 261 billion tons, which is in excess of a 250-year supply based on 2009 consumption rates. However, in the near future, the use of coal may be legally restricted because of concerns over the effects of its combustion on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. In response, the U.S.

In today’s politically polarized environment, legislative and judicial actions tend to be characterized as either stunning victories or crushing defeats. The next-day media reporting and hyperbolic press releases on the U.S. Supreme Court’s American Electric Power et al. v. Connecticut et al. (AEP) decision involving actions to reduce greenhouse gas pollution reflect this trend. Certainly, the U.S.

Purchasers who knowingly take title to real property found to be contaminated with hazardous substances during pre-purchase due diligence may be subject to liability for remediation costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), unless those purchasers are able to establish CERCLA’s bona fide prospective purchaser defense (the BFPP Defense).

Two decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court have created enormous confusion around the question of what U.S. waters are subject to federal regulation. On May 2, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published proposed joint guidance that intends to clarify this issue by describing how the agencies will identify waters protected by the CWA.

Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Governor’s Commission for Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal collaborated with the Congress for the New Urbanism to generate rebuilding proposals for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. One of the ideas to emerge from this partnership was the Katrina Cottage—a small home that could improve upon the FEMA trailer.

Black carbon, a component of soot and particulate matter, competes closely with methane as the largest anthropogenic contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. Regulation of black carbon has been identified as an affordable, politically feasible, fast-action means to mitigate the warming temperatures caused by climate change.

Environmental credit markets for mitigating impacts to wetlands, endangered species, water quality, and carbon emissions have been established throughout the United States. Recently, there has been much debate about whether a conservation project should be allowed to produce credits for multiple markets, a practice broadly referred to as credit stacking.