Coal has been a bedrock component of our national economy and energy policy for decades. Not so long ago, John F. Kennedy said, “It would be the height of folly for this nation to permit its coal mines to be abandoned… and to neglect further research and development in this major American industry.” Even under the current administration, U.S. policy has supported investing in clean coal technologies. As recently as 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (hereinafter “EPA”) acknowledged that “[c]lean coal is an important part of our energy future,” and listed advanced coal technologies among its key environmental initiatives.

In a recent decision, the Kentucky Supreme Court found that Kentucky’s Article 6 regulation on claiming races was not in violation of the Commerce Clause. This blog discribes their reasoning.

Recently, an Illinois tax tribunal ruled that compressed natural gas (CNG) is taxable under the state’s eighty-seven year old Motor Fuel Tax Law (MFTL). The tribunal decided that CNG was taxable under the statute because it was left intentionally ambiguous as to what fuel was taxable by prefacing a non-exhaustive list with ‘among other things. By ignoring the distinction between traditional fuels and alternative fuels, the tax tribunal could extend the MFTL to any fuel usable by a vehicle. This tax is extended to CNG without any mention of that fuel in the statute.

In March 31, 2016, a lawsuit was filed against an exorbitant list of defendants, but the most notable on that list were Governor Rick Snyder, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and the State of Michigan. A handful of plaintiffs brought this action alleging a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act. This lawsuit is apropos of the Flint Water Crisis.

Mongolia, one of the least densely populated countries in the world,[i] has undergone dramatic change in its recent history. Upon the fall of the USSR, Mongolia transitioned to a democracy in 1990, opening its markets and privatizing its land. In 2010, I lived with nomadic herders in the Eastern Khentii Province of Delgerkhaan sum, a community well-aware it was only a matter of time before they could no longer live as their ancestors had for centuries.

On October 11th, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit made yet another ruling regarding the treatment and management of the wild horse population under the control of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The court ruled for the BLM after the state of Wyoming alleged the BLM had violated its “discretionary obligations” in its management of the wild horse population in seven herd management areas (HMAs) across the state. Many see this ruling as a victory but it may instead simply be another roadblock on the way to the effective management of wild horse herds across the country.

On September 7, 2016, the House of Representatives voted 241-174 to pass the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016 (H.R. 5063). This bill prevents the government from entering into settlements providing for payments to anyone except the government itself unless the payments represent restitution for harm caused directly by the payer. In other words, this bill will bar the Department of Justice (DOJ) from requiring settling defendants to donate money to third parties.

As if we needed anything else to shake up this year’s election cycle, a recent earthquake in Oklahoma has provided yet another point of controversy for Americans to keep in mind as they head to the polls this fall. Pawnee, Oklahoma was home to the latest of a string of seismic events that have added to the weight of a pending lawsuit between one of the largest environmental organizations in the United States and four producers and developers of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids.[iii] Sierra Club, plaintiff in the action, is claiming that, “the spike in earthquakes stems from the injection of wastewater from fracking and other oil and gas development activities into thousands of deep wells around Oklahoma.” Defendants, on the other hand, raise valid concerns regarding issues of causation.  

On August 16, 2016, new regulations, demanding that heavy-duty trucks reduce their emissions, were unveiled.[i] During his first term, President Obama actively strove to combat rising greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Specifically, the Obama Administration “put in place the first national policy to increase the fuel economy of medium- and heavy-duty trucks with model years between 2014 and 2018.” The regulations that were recently unveiled mandate that heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans “must become 2.5 percent more efficient each year between 2021 and 2027. Among those targeted by these regulations are diesel truck owners.