For decades, there has been a bipartisan consensus that federal agencies should base their decisions on evidence, expertise, and analysis. But under the Trump Administration, inconvenient evidence has often been ignored, experts have been sidelined, and analysis has been misused to intentionally obscure important truths. In this episode, we talk to Prof. Michael Livermore (University of Virginia School of Law) and Prof. Richard Revesz (New York University School of Law) to discuss current challenges as well as considerations for the road ahead. Their new book, Reviving Rationality: Saving Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Sake of the Environment and Our Health, offers analysis on critical aspects of the regulatory process and calls for the reinstatement of expertise, sound cost-benefit analysis, and the rule of law in public administration.
People Places Planet
Welcome to People Places Planet, ELI's leading environmental podcast. We talk to leading experts across sectors who share their solutions to the world's most pressing environmental problems. Tune in for the latest environmental law, policy, and governance developments.
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No matter their practice area, today’s lawyers should have a basic understanding of climate change. Yet, most law courses do not include climate-related cases and other materials, even when such resources would be useful in teaching fundamental competencies and skills. In this episode, we hear from Prof. Warren G. Lavey about his article, Toolkit for Integrating Climate Change into Ten High-Enrollment Law School Courses (2019). Tune in to learn why an understanding of climate change needs to be integrated into the law school curriculum and how we might overcome the climate competency shortfall in legal education.
The United States has created an intricate system of laws, regulations, policies, and programs to respond to environmental and public health concerns. Enforcement is vital to the system’s effectiveness. In the latest episode of People Places Planet Podcast, Justin Savage, a Partner at Sidley Austin LLP who co-leads the firm’ global environmental practice, talks with Todd Sax, Section Chief of CARB’s Enforcement Division. The two discuss a wide range of issues, including COVID-19, wildfires, and environmental justice.
The United States has created an intricate system of laws, regulations, policies, and programs to respond to environmental and public health concerns. Enforcement is vital to the system’s effectiveness. In the latest episode of People Places Planet Podcast, Justin Savage, a Partner at Sidley Austin LLP who co-leads the firm’ global environmental practice, talks to Susan Bodine, the Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. This episode is the first of a year-long series, The Enforcement Angle, created in partnership with Sidley Austin LLP.
Hurricane season is in full swing, and this year is unlike any before. What is driving this year’s record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season? And what implications is it having on coastal communities in the Gulf of Mexico states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida? In this podcast, we talk to Amy Reed, Director of ELI’s Gulf of Mexico program, to discuss the 2020 hurricane season and what it means for those who call the Gulf home.
Compensatory mitigation offers a viable way to protect the long-term health of the nation’s watersheds, and its success relies on a robust review and approval process that ensures that the protections in federal regulations are implemented in practice on the ground and that compensation projects effectively offset permitted impacts. However, the review and approval process can often be lengthy, sometimes greatly exceeding the regulatory timelines. In this episode, Rebecca Kihslinger, Director of ELI’s Wetlands Program, discusses a new ELI research report that aims to identify some of the main impediments to efficiency in compensatory mitigation project review, as well as best practices to improve the process and ensure timely, ecologically viable mitigation outcomes.
As renewable energy development is happening throughout the country, changes in environmental regulations and related court decisions are impacting project development. What does this shifting terrain mean for the development, expansion and maintenance of renewable energy technologies? In this episode, we hear from Brooke Marcus Wahlberg, a Partner at Nossaman LLP, and her colleague Rebecca Barho as they unpack changes to environmental regulations and their related court decisions. Tune in to learn about what recent regulatory and judicial developments mean for renewables.
International environmental law is often characterized as fragmented and heterogeneous; there is currently no single, overarching framework that outlines a set of rules and criteria of general application in international environmental law. In the latest episode of People Places Planet Podcast, we explore the recent push for a set of globally recognized principles on environmental law—called the Global Pact for the Environment—under the United Nations. In this podcast, Dominic Scicchitano, a Research Associate at ELI, talks to two individuals who have been following the issue closely: Prof. Nicholas A. Robinson and Maria Antonia Tigre. Together, they discuss the Pact’s history, its present status and future outlook, as well as its broader implications for international environmental law.
What tried and true environmental law strategies are animal rights and welfare advocates using in their efforts to protect animals? How does the exploitation of meatpacking and slaughterhouse workers in the age of COVID-19 highlight the interconnectedness between animal, environmental, and human rights issues? In this episode, we talk to Prof. Randall S. Abate about his forthcoming book, What Can Animal Law Learn from Environmental Law? (2d ed. ELI Press 2020). Tune in to learn about what animal law can learn from environmental law and how the two movements can better coordinate their common objectives.
There are many benefits to solar energy, but what about its impacts on wildlife? In this episode, we "engage the experts” and listen in on a conversation between two experts in the field of environmental law and policy, Brooke Marcus Wahlberg, a Partner at Nossaman LLP, and Dr. Karl Kosciuch, a senior biologist at Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc. Brooke and Karl will discuss their work at the nexus of solar energy development and wildlife conservation.