#Trump officials are analyzing whether to remove federal #protections for #NationalMonuments spanning millions of acres in the West, according to two people familiar with the matter and an internal #Interior Department document, in order to spur #energy development on #PublicLands.
#land #conservation #habitats #ecosystems #wildlife #FossilFuels #ClimateChange #EnvironmentalLaw #law
EXCLUSIVE
#Trump aides look at shrinking at least 6 #NationalMonuments for #mining, #oil
#Interior Department officials are considering scaling back the boundaries of national monuments in the West to encourage energy development on #PublicLands.
#land #conservation #habitats #ecosystems #wildlife #FossilFuels #ClimateChange #EnvironmentalLaw #law
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/04/24/trump-national-monument-reductions-mining-oil/
In a statement, #LeeZeldin suggested that #EnvironmentalJustice — which the #EPA defined in 2013 as “the fair treatment & meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income” w/respect to #EnvironmentalLaw — was tantamount to discrimination. [BS]
“President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American people,” [wrong] Zeldin said. “Part of this mandate includes the elimination of *forced* discrimination programs.”
Communities in #Nigeria take #Shell to court for oil spills
At least 1.5 million tons of crude oil has been spilt in the Niger Delta since 1958, writes PAVAN KULKANI
JUSTICE OVERDUE: Activists stage an ‘Ecocide Babe’ stunt outside The Royal Courts Of Justice, central London where the Ogale and Bille communities v Shell hearing is taking place
NIGERIA has suffered hundreds of oil leaks and spills from Shell’s infrastructure in the country. Devastated by the contamination of their land and water sources, the Bille and Ogale communities have successfully put the oil giant in the dock at the London High Court after a decade-long struggle.
#fossilfuels #EnvironmentalLaw #extractivism #pollution #colonialism #ecocide
It's paper day! 
In this @ucdavis Environmental Law and Policy Journal review with my colleagues Profs. Dana Zartner and Aparna Venkatesan (University of San Francisco), we propose new strategies that "use domestic legal mechanisms, supported by international law, to protect the darkness."
#Biden …has been working to finalize several #conservation policies…. The #Interior Dept proposed restricting #energy development across >260k acres in #Nevada’s #RubyMountains earlier this week.
On Tues, Biden will travel to California to designate 2 #NationalMonuments on lands sacred to #NativeAmerican tribes — the ~644k-acre #Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California & the ~200k-acre #Sáttítla National Monument near the Oregon border.
Sen #MikeLee (R-Utah), the new chairman of the Senate #Energy & #NaturalResources Cmte, suggested that he would seek to overturn the decision using the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to nullify an executive action within 60 days of enactment with a simple majority vote.
…Lee said in an emailed statement, …“Senate #Republicans will push back using every tool at our disposal.”
Environmentalists praised #Biden’s plans, saying they would prevent future #oil spills that threaten #coastal communities & marine #wildlife.
…#Biden plans to invoke the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which gives #POTUS broad powers to withdraw federal #waters from future leasing.A federal judge ruled in 2019 that such withdrawals cannot be undone without an act of #Congress.
…The #NorthernBeringSea, off the coast of western #Alaska, is home to migrating #MarineMammals including bowhead & beluga #whales, #walruses & ice #seals, which are hunted by many Alaska Natives. In 2016, President Obama issued an executive order that prohibited #oil & #gas exploration across >112k square miles of marine habitat in the Northern Bering Sea & called for tribal co-management of the protected area.
#POTUS #Biden will move Monday to block all future #oil & #gas #drilling across >625 million acres of federal #waters — equivalent to nearly ¼ of the total land area of the #UnitedStates….
The action underscores how Biden is racing to cement his legacy on #ClimateChange & #conservation in his last weeks in office. #Trump, who has described his #energy policy as “drill, baby, drill,” is likely to work w/congressional #Republicans to challenge the decision.
#Biden to block #oil #drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. waters
#POTUS will sign memorandums prohibiting future oil & gas leasing across parts of the #AtlanticOcean, the #PacificOcean, the eastern #GulfOfMexico & the #NorthernBeringSea.
#Climate #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #FossilFuels #law #EnvironmentalLaw #Ocean #Sea #ThankYouJoe
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/01/04/biden-offshore-oil-drilling/
#SupremeCourt could narrow the scope of federal environmental reviews, with less consideration of how projects would contribute to #climatechange, in a case it will hear next week.
https://buff.ly/41dbuqe
#environmentallaw #News
If you've followed me for a while, you're probably aware of my interest in the 'Rights of Nature' legal movement, especially as it may apply to protecting dark night skies around the world.
Here's a great summary article on the current status of RoN around the world by James Salzman (UCLA School of Law) published today: https://legal-planet.org/2024/12/03/six-things-to-know-about-rights-of-nature/
Rolled out #Elasticsearch on https://Earth.Law today. If you're looking for a home on the #fediverse with robust #search capabilities, you can now search through post content, bookmarks, and historical discussions here with better accuracy and speed.
A small #Mastodon Instance focused on #EnvironmentalLaw, #ClimatePolicy, and related discourse.
My new report for The Energy Mix is out today.
“…government advertising claims, without sources or attribution, may be creating a way for companies to have their positions repeated without violating the legislation.”
Just launched https://env.esq, a free end-to-end encrypted (#E2EE) #decentralized #messenger & #chat platform for #lawyers, #journalists, #activists, #scientists, #educators, and others working in #EnvironmentalLaw, #Conservation, #ClimateJustice & adjacent spaces. #ENVESQ augments Earth.Law but doesn’t require membership there.
For the technically inclined, ENV.ESQ is both a #Matrix (#Synapse) #homeserver and a #Cinny WebUI—use either or both as you see fit. #Matrix #infosec #fediverse
Good news on my cousin’s #climate lawsuit! (She is one of 7 youth applicants, though not the titular Mathur in Mathur v Ontario)
“The Court’s ruling is an affirmation that the Charter applies to Ontario’s climate targets and confirms that the government’s actions are harming Ontarians. With this decision, the #Ontario Court of Appeal significantly advances the law in holding the Ontario government to account.”
#ClimateJustice #Onpoli #ONCA #Charter #EnvironmentalLaw
https://ecojustice.ca/news/court-sides-with-youth-in-historic-climate-case-against-ontario/
#SCOTUS cleared the way Wed for a #Biden admin plan to cut #GreenhouseGases & other #emissions from #FossilFuel fired power plants, denying an emergency appeal by >24 #Republican-led states, #utilities & others.
The groups sought the emergency injunction while they pursue litigation to block the #regulations, claiming #EPA’s #PowerPlant plan would force the premature closure of some plants, cost jobs & jeopardize #grid reliability.
#law #EnvironmentalLaw #ClimateChange
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/16/supreme-court-biden-power-plant-emissions-climate/
“#BigOil & the #plastic industry’s #lies are the beating heart of the plastic waste crisis, which makes #California’s groundbreaking lawsuit against #ExxonMobil the most important #legal action to date in the global fight against #PlasticPollution,” Richard Wiles, president of the Center for #Climate Integrity, said in a statement.
Bonta also suggested the fund could produce a “re-education” campaign to help consumers understand what #plastics are—and, just as crucially, which are not #recyclable.
The suit also calls for a substantial shift in communication from #ExxonMobil. The suit calls for “the end of the deceptive statements that have misled” the public.
