For decades, regulatory economists have warned that rate-of-return regulation creates perverse incentives: utilities profit from capital investment, so they “gold-plate” by overbuilding. But what…

Despite their fundamental importance, maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs) remain overlooked in regulatory policy and litigation strategy. EPA establishes MCLGs for every contaminant under a…

Nonpoint source pollution is “the leading remaining cause of water quality problems” in the country. Approximately “half of all water pollution” choking our rivers comes from nonpoint sources,…

This Comment focuses on energy developments offshore. Part I recognizes OCSLA’s purpose of balancing energy needs with protection of marine animals, coastal beaches, and wetlands. Part II…

Combating climate change requires not only rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but also removal of significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. CO2 removal (CDR) comes…

This abstract, which is adapted from Michele Okoh, Forgotten Waters, 111 Geo. L.J. 723 (2022), argues that approaches to addressing access to safe drinking water must account for the…

For more than half a century, the Chesapeake Bay and many of its tributaries have suffered from poor water quality. Compelled by an executive order and litigation, in 2010, the U.S. Environmental…

Congress in the 2020s has authorized three new environmentally focused grant programs relating to western waters and appropriated $450 million in multi-year funding. The Bureau of Reclamation is…

On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a direct final rule that revised the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) definition…

Communities around the world are seeking to acknowledge nature’s rights through legal tools and litigation. This Article provides an overview of recent developments in earth law movements,…