News and Press Releases

The Environmental Law Institute is widely respected as “a nonpartisan organization specializing in legal analysis and not known for taking sides in political fights,” as the New York Times has noted. When members of the media, private bar, government, business, and public interest organizations seek expert information on environmental law and policy, they turn to ELI.

New York State Governor George Pataki recently called for dredging the Hudson River to remove PCBs, a toxic chemical that can harm human health and the environment, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to release its…

Much of the debate within the United States over U.S. commitments to reduce greenhouse emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol concerns the costs to industry — and the American public. But a new study by the Environmental Law Institute® shows how…

Though forests are the primary land cover in the Chesapeake Bay states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, recent data show that many parts of the Chesapeake region have lost substantial forestland.

“The forests closest to the Bay and…

Just like their big-city counterparts, towns on the largely rural Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay are beginning to confront the adverse effects of sprawl development. At a recent roundtable held at the Wye Research and Education Center in the…

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has given $125,000 to the Environmental Law Institute® to promote understanding of "wetland mitigation banking," an evolving conservation tool that may be able to protect environmental quality as society…

Practitioners in the burgeoning field of international environmental law and attorneys who work with the environmental laws of other nations have a new ally from an old friend. ELR® – The Environmental Law…

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded a $405,000 grant to the Environmental Law Institute to build African capacity to protect biodiversity through law. This grant will strengthen the ability of ELI’s Africa Program and…

ELI announces new editions of its fundamental references for environmental practitioners, the Environmental Law Deskbook and the…

Recent controversies over rampant deforestation, damage from oil and gas development, and pollution from mining in Africa highlight the pressing need for enforcement of environmental laws and standards throughout the continent. A solution to this…

States struggling to accomplish water quality goals required by the Clean Water Act are gradually beginning to develop enforceable mechanisms to control nonpoint source pollution — the polluted runoff from farms, forests, and urban areas that…