Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.
If ESG were merely a slogan on the proverbial gym wall, companies are about to be held accountable for their public promises of climate change and sustainability focused ambitions. Last month the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed significant rule changes to the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and SEC Act of 1934. If enacted, …
On the heels of oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court, we provide an update to a prior ELM post whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s has the ability to regulate carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act. Various theories abound that the court could depend on to support …
A group of scientists recently unveiled new data from a study that showed plastic in participants’ blood. Out of 22 study participants, 17 contained plastic in their blood; that is 77% of the test group. Researchers examined blood samples from the healthy participants looking to detect plastics ranging in size between 700 and 500,000 nanometers. …
Hoping to one day overtake Norway as the world’s largest clean energy producer and to join the small group of countries who have achieved net zero greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. has set some ambitious goals for itself. In fact, the United States has committed to achieving 100% clean electricity production by 2035 and attaining …
Lilial, the trade name of a chemical compound commonly used as a perfume in cosmetics, shampoos, and cleaning products, which is known by its longer name butylphenyl methylpropional, has been banned in personal care products in the European Union as of March 1, 2022. And while the ban was announced nearly two years ago, the …
On March 16, 2022, the U.S. EPA Press Office issued a news release about implementing two key actions to prevent exposure from products with PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl). The first action involves notification about fluorinated bottles; the second calls for the removal of two PFAS from the EPA’s Safer Chemicals Ingredients List. These two actions …
As previously reported by our blog, Kevin Hardwick, a firefighter and alleged user of PFAS-containing firefighting foams, filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in 2018, asserting claims for negligence, battery, declaratory judgment, and conspiracy—all related to the manufacture and use of PFAS products. What is notable …
The last time the EPA tightened standards for truck emissions like this, the century was barely a year old and Bill Clinton was still President; in December of 2000 the EPA issued rules dramatically limiting particulate matter (PM) emissions and Nitric Oxide (NOx) on heavy duty trucks to go into effect for 2007-2010. PM has …
Although only 16% of Americans have personally invested in or exchanged cryptocurrencies, the ever-increasing use of this virtual currency in the U.S. will have very real ramifications for virtually all Americans. Arguably, the most consequential effect concerns the significant energy consumption required to mine cryptocurrencies, and its potential to act as a hindrance in the …
Thanks to the streaming mega hit Yellowstone, and perhaps Kim and Kanye’s brief stint in Wyoming, the West is no longer reserved for John Wayne wanna-bes and would-be snowboarders or adventurers looking to escape metropolis. In fact, our western states, historically rural and rugged, have attracted what some would consider too much attention, drawing not …