Jay Duffy

Senior Attorney, Center for Applied Environmental Law and Policy, Boston, MA

US Supreme Court Revisits Wetlands Protection in Session Opening Case
Engineering News-Record (by Pam McFarland & Mary B. Powers)
October 3, 2022

The nation's high court opened its 2022 session on Oct. 3 with oral arguments in Sackett v. EPA, a major wetlands case taking yet another look at what the language of the federal Clean Water Act says about methods and tests used to determine when property owners need a federal permit to build on a site containing federally protected waters. 

People in Your Neighborhood: La Jollan Mark Laska guides environmental consulting into a ‘new era’
La Jolla Light (by Elisabeth Frausto)
June 8, 2022

La Jolla resident Mark Laska has a unique eye on the environment, helping companies attend to ecological issues and earning accolades for his efforts. Laska founded the consulting firm Great Ecology 20 years ago to “bring higher ecological thinking to leading governments and companies,” he said. “We try to also repair the world through ecology. … We strive toward habitat restoration.” Habitats are degraded through urbanization and contamination or pollution, Laska said.

To fight US plastic pollution, California AG calls for more resources and more accountability
Waste Dive (by Megan Quinn)
September 30, 2022

Attorneys general have a significant role to play in holding major polluters accountable for the current “global plastic crisis,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta during an Environmental Law Institute seminar Thursday. . . .

Congress faces climate roadblock after Supreme Court ruling
E&E News (by Lesley Clark & Niina H. Farah)
July 15, 2022

The Supreme Court’s landmark climate decision is expected to reverberate far beyond the walls of EPA — and possibly all the way up to Capitol Hill. A number of legal observers say the justices’ 6-3 ruling last month in West Virginia v.

EPA Environmental Justice Move Has Companies Bracing for Impact
Bloomberg Law (by Dean Scott)
October 4, 2022

The Environmental Protection Agency’s launch of a new national environmental justice arm has left industry attorneys waiting to see how far the agency will go—and how fast. The new office is set to influence actions across the agency, including clean air and water permitting, targeted enforcement, and environmental regulations. The extent to which the move, aimed at helping disadvantaged communities, affects core EPA missions will play out over the coming months. . . .

Carbon Cost Loss Won't Stop Red States' Climate Policy Fight
Law360 (by Jess Krochtengel)
October 25, 2022

The Eighth and Fifth Circuits have shot down a boundary-pushing attempt by Republican attorneys general to challenge a greenhouse gas metric used by the Biden administration, but that defeat won't deter states from testing their ability to fight Biden environmental policies. . . .

International day for preventing environmental exploitation during armed conflict 2022: History, Significance, Purpose & More
JagranJosh.com
November 6, 2022

On November 5, 2001, while Kofi Annan was serving as UN Secretary-General, the United Nations General Assembly announced 6th November as the World Day for preventing environmental exploitation during the war and armed conflict. In May 2016, the UN Environment Assembly passed a resolution emphasizing the crucial role that healthy ecosystems and sustainable resources play in lowering the likelihood of armed conflict. On this occasion, the UN organization reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to seeing the Sustainable Development Goals fully implemented. . . .