EELP UPDATES - October 23, 2020

By Laura Bloomer, Peter Daniels, Eric Wriston, & Joseph Goffman
 
Since 2017, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has rolled back regulations designed to protect endangered and threatened species as well as grazing and land use reforms, offered unprecedented areas of public lands for oil and gas development, and attempted to weaken protections for national monuments. These actions undermine DOI’s conservation mission, and this direction is likely to continue should President Trump win a second term. If a Biden administration takes office, DOI will need to reverse some of the Trump administration’s management decisions to restore Interior’s capacities. To learn more about the issues and their implications, read our newest white paper in which we distill the insights of dozens of former DOI staff, political appointees, and law experts. 

By Ari Sillman, JD 2021

If control of the Senate shifts after the November 2020 election, the new Congress will likely consider using the Congressional Review Act to undo some of the Trump administration’s most harmful deregulatory actions. EPA’s elimination of methane emissions standards for oil and gas operations is a prime target. In this piece I explore the risks of using the CRA to restore methane standards and the likelihood for success, particularly addressing how the CRA’s “substantially similar” bar could impact future regulation of methane emissions.

By Hannah Perls

Environmental disasters displace over one million people in the US per year. These people disproportionately represent marginalized communities, including low-income communities and communities of color. Once displaced, members of these groups tend to be displaced for longer periods of time, exposing them to additional human rights violations.

In this note, I explore the US displacement crisis from a human rights perspective, asking whether federal disaster law recognizes and affirms the rights unique to internally displaced people (IDPs) in the US. Specifically, I address IDPs’ right to freedom from discrimination, and the right to protections that address IDPs’ particular protection and assistance needs.

In a new video, EELP Founder Jody Freeman gives an overview of the state of climate, energy, and environmental policy on the eve of the 2020 election. She points out that the Trump administration has attempted to roll back around 100 Obama-era regulations dealing with the electric power sector, the auto sector, and others. Meanwhile, the Green New Deal has put climate change front and center in the national conversation and prioritized economic and social justice in that conversation as well. She also discusses options that a potential Biden administration would have to combat the effects of climate change and move the US economy in a greener direction. 

On September 30, Electricity Law Initiative Director Ari Peskoe participated in a panel discussion at a FERC-organized conference about carbon pricing in interstate power markets. The panel focused on FERC’s legal authority to approve a market operator’s proposal to implement a state-determined carbon price. Ari’s testimony and supporting research argues that existing law provides FERC with ample authority to approve a carbon price proposal. With carbon reduction goals driving power sector investment, approving a carbon price is consistent with FERC’s duty to ensure the industry’s orderly development.  

What’s happened to the Department of the Interior (DOI) during the Trump administration? In this episode former EELP Fellow Laura Bloomer discusses her new white paper in which she led a team that analyzed political leadership at DOI during the past four years and offers a suggested path forward for a Biden administration.

We welcome our new Legal Fellow, Hannah Perls! Hannah is a 2020 graduate of Harvard Law School, who as a student contributed invaluable work as a research assistant with us. We are delighted to welcome such a great colleague to the team! Learn more about her and the rest of the team here.

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