ELI In the News
States’ to-do lists just got a little longer: Decide how — or whether — to oversee building, planting and water quality in some wetland areas. Last month, a U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down federal protections for wetlands covering tens of millions of acres across the country, leaving no regulation of those areas in nearly half the states...
In a 5-4 decision issued on May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the applicability of federal Clean Water Act regulatory authority over wetlands that have a relatively permanent connection to other federal waters. The crux of the Court’s holding in Sackett v. EPA is that, in order to be considered waters of the United States (WOTUS), wetlands and other water features must be “indistinguishable” from traditional navigable waters due to a continuous surface connection...
A new Model Executive Order on Municipal Leadership on Food Waste Reduction developed by NRDC and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) can help municipalities reduce the amount of food wasted throughout municipal operations, highlight the importance of reducing food waste, and demonstrate food waste reduction measures that businesses and other entities may voluntarily replicate...
Environmental advocates who have fought the Mountain Valley Pipeline in court for years say a deal between the White House and Congress to force its completion is corrupt and corrosive to democracy. But despite fears in some quarters that the language of the deal built into debt ceiling negotiations will upend the system of checks and balances built in the government, experts say it is likely to withstand any legal challenge...
Conflict, environmental threats and disasters, climate change, and food insecurity are often considered separate issues with separate solutions. These issues are, in actuality, all directly related and it is essential to remove the divisions between these fields to collaboratively create solutions. There is often a division between the environment, natural resource management, and climate, versus conflict and peacebuilding. According to Carl Bruch of the Environmental Law Institute...
A new toolkit outlining the gold standard for state policy to reduce food loss and waste has just been released by the Zero Food Waste Coalition, of which NRDC is a founding member. “Achieving Zero Food Waste: A State Policy Toolkit” documents the necessary components of more than a dozen state policies related to food waste reduction, explains their connection to federal law, gives examples of successful laws across the country, and includes a model for each policy which can be picked up by legislators and changemakers with minimal alterations...
A U.S. judge has said a climate change lawsuit filed by young people challenging Montana's pro-fossil fuel policies will go to trial despite the state's efforts to derail the case. . . .
A Montana judge on Friday said a climate change lawsuit from young people challenging the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies will proceed to trial despite efforts by the state to derail the case. The upcoming trial in Helena would be the first of its kind in the United States, according to experts in climate law who said the nation is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of climate litigation. However, because of prior rulings that limited the scope of the Montana case, a victory for the plaintiffs would not automatically alter the state’s regulation of fossil fuels. . . .
A national wetlands award for local stewardship will be issued to Scott Fisher, Ph.D., director of ʻĀina Stewardship at Hawai‘i Land Trust. The Environmental Law Institute will issue awards to a total of six winners nationwide to individuals who have excelled in wetlands protection, restoration, and education. Environmental Law Institute has recognized more than 200 individuals since the awards were established in 1989…
The small Pacific island country of Vanuatu is poised to gain UN approval to seek an unprecedented legal opinion on what obligation countries have to combat climate change. Why it matters: Vanuatu's resolution would give the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague a chance to weigh in on potential consequences for nations that have caused much of global warming to date. . . .