Jack Lienke
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Articles by Jack Lienke
Every Court Everywhere All at Once
Rulemaking agencies have always faced the risk of getting sued. But they have not traditionally faced the risk of getting sued for failing to discuss their risk of getting sued. They do now. In Ohio v.
5 things to know about the Supreme Court’s recent climate ruling
scrolledValue "> The West Virginia v. EPA decision still allows the EPA to regulate CO2 from power plants, but the process will be slow — and it won’t happen without a fight. 11 July 2022 (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images) Late last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, a 2015 regulation limiting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, exceeded the agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act.
The Supreme Court’s EPA ruling has big implications
Email address * In a major climate change case, the Supreme Court on Thursday restricted the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The ruling hinders the Biden administration’s ability to combat climate change, to be sure, but it also could send shock waves to other federal agencies. Jack Lienke is the Regulatory Policy Director at the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law.
Conservative Justices limit the EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions
On this edition of Your Call, we discuss the 6-3 Supreme Court ruling that curtails the EPA’s power to force power plants to reduce carbon pollution. Those plants make up a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, according to the EPA. In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan wrote, “The Court appoints itself — instead of Congress or the expert agency — the decisionmaker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening.
Why the EPA’s new methane rule is going to be so effective.
Politics In correcting this long-running error, the new rule will have a big effect. By Jack Lienke and Richard L. Revesz Nov 05, 20214:57 PM Some pumpjacks operate while others stand idle in the Belridge oil field near McKittrick, California. Idle wells could leak methane gas.
Regulating New Fossil-Fuel Appliances Under Section 111(b) of the Clean Air Act
The fossil fuel-powered appliances in most residential and commercial buildings collectively emit almost three times more smog-forming nitrogen oxides than the nation’s gas-fired power plants and almost as much planet-warming carbon dioxide.
Mandating Disclosure of Climate-Related Financial Risk
Mandating Disclosure of Climate-Related Financial Risk By Madison Condon, Sarah Ladin, Jack Lienke, Michael Panfil, and Alexander Song / February 10, 2021 Download PDF Climate change presents grave risk across the U.S. economy, including to corporations, their investors, the markets in which they operate, and the American public at large. Unlike other financial risks, however, climate risk is not routinely disclosed to the public.
EPA expands Clean Air Act loopholes for coal plants
Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a proposal to replace the Obama administration’s signature climate initiative, the Clean Power Plan, which aimed to cut planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s power sector. EPA calls its “Affordable Clean Energy” proposal — ACE, for short — “a new rule to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” from coal-fired power plants.
No Turning Back
For 50 years, California has enjoyed unique authority to regulate air pollution from newly manufactured motor vehicles. While the Clean Air Act preempts all other states from setting their own vehicle emission standards, California can request a waiver to do so if it determines that its standards are at least as protective of public health and welfare as federal standards issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”).
Opinion | The E.P.A.’s Smoke and Mirrors on Climate
The Trump administration has mangled the costs and benefits of one of the most significant climate regulations of the Obama years in an effort to justify its repeal, which Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced on Monday.
EPA committed to regulating mercury 17 years ago. Now it’s having second thoughts.
News on climate in the time of coronavirus Subscribe today Jack Lienke is a senior attorney at the Institute for Policy Integrity and a coauthor, with Richard L. Revesz, of Struggling for Air: Power Plants and the “War on Coal.” Have you read Bleak House by Charles Dickens? Me neither — it’s very long — but I did watch the miniseries. The plot involves a lawsuit over an inheritance, Jarndyce v.
Now we know Scott Pruitt isn’t serious about fighting smog
Last month, I wrote about a pending lawsuit over an Obama-era limit on ground-level ozone pollution, the primary ingredient in urban smog. I explained that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s handling of the case would test the sincerity of his recent pledges to prioritize air quality, even as he works to unwind EPA restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. Well, test day arrived, and Pruitt failed miserably.
Trump wants to block a court ruling on the Clean Power Plan. The court shouldn’t let him
Last week, President Trump signed an executive order to “promot[e] energy independence and economic growth,” which turns out to be code for “dismantle as many environmental protections as possible.” Among the order’s most notable features is its requirement that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt “review” the Clean Power Plan, a signature climate initiative of President Obama’s second term that limits greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s power plants.
Trump wants to block a court ruling on the Clean Power Plan. The court shouldn’t let him.
Last week, President Trump signed an executive order to “promot[e] energy independence and economic growth,” which turns out to be code for “dismantle as many environmental protections as possible.” Among the order’s most notable features is its requirement that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt “review” the Clean Power Plan, a signature climate initiative of President Obama’s second term that limits greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s power plants.
Has Scott Pruitt had a change of heart about ozone pollution?
In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer last week, the newly confirmed EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, announced that, under his leadership, the agency would shift its focus from climate change to other priorities, like “improv[ing] our air quality.” More specifically, Pruitt suggested that addressing greenhouse gas pollution was no more important than “the ozone issue that we deal with in certain parts of the country.” Pruitt’s right that ozone is a serious problem.
Fact-checking opponents of the Clean Power Plan
On Sept. 27, mere hours after the conclusion of the first presidential debate, opponents of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan presented their case in a lengthy oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The Clean Power Plan aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the nation's existing power plants.
Here’s why supporters of the Clean Power Plan are feeling optimistic
You probably thought that last week’s only notable debate was the one between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at Hofstra University, but, on Tuesday, supporters and opponents of EPA’s Clean Power Plan had a high-stakes showdown of their own in Washington, D.C.: a seven-hour oral argument before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The proceedings may not have spawned an SNL sketch, but in the wonky world of environmental law, they were a very big deal.
Clean Power Plan is consistent with law and history
In a critical federal court hearing this month, challengers of the Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration's signature climate change policy, will characterize the Plan as an "enormous and transformative expansion" of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulatory power.
Here's What Scalia's Death Means for Global Warming
Three weeks ago, after the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit denied motions to stay the EPA's Clean Power Plan , I wrote a cautiously optimistic post about what that decision signaled for the future of the historic climate rule. I explained that the judges' refusal to put the EPA's plan on hold while they evaluated the lawsuits against it didn't necessarily mean that they would ultimately side with the agency on the merits of the case.
Scalia’s death means Obama’s Clean Power Plan is more likely to succeed
Three weeks ago, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied motions to stay the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, I wrote a cautiously optimistic post about what that decision signaled for the future of the historic climate rule. I explained that the judges’ refusal to put the EPA’s plan on hold while they evaluated the lawsuits against it didn’t necessarily mean that they would ultimately side with the agency on the merits of the case.
How Obama went from coal’s top cheerleader to its No. 1 enemy
This excerpt is adapted from the new book Struggling for Air: Power Plants and the “War on Coal.” To Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, the threat was clear: “Mr. Speaker, there is a war being waged on energy and on coal in this country.
Scalia’s death means Obama’s Clean Power Plan is more likely to succeed
Three weeks ago, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied motions to stay the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, I wrote a cautiously optimistic post about what that decision signaled for the future of the historic climate rule. I explained that the judges’ refusal to put the EPA’s plan on hold while they evaluated the lawsuits against it didn’t necessarily mean that they would ultimately side with the agency on the merits of the case.
Obama’s Clean Power Plan survives a legal challenge
Yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied motions to stay the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Wondering what that means, exactly? Here’s a handy legal cheat sheet. The Clean Power Plan is a set of restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s power plants.
Nixon’s “environmental bandwagon”: Richard Nixon signed the landmark Clean Air Act of 1970 - but not because he had any great concern about the environment - Salon.com
For polluters, America in 1970 was still something of a Wild West. A number of federal, state and municipal laws aimed at improving air quality were already on the books, but few were enforced, and pollution from the nation’s ever-growing stock of motor vehicles, power plants and factories remained uncontrolled in much of the country.
Obama Takes a Crucial Step on Climate Change
President Obama’s Clean Power Plan has rightly been hailed as the most important action any president has taken to address the climate crisis. The new rule requires the nation’s power plants to cut their carbon dioxide emissions to 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Power plants are the largest source of such pollution in the United States, responsible for more than a third of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions.
Here’s why you shouldn’t worry about the Supreme Court’s latest environmental ruling
Last Friday, a five-justice majority of the Supreme Court kicked off the weekend with a bang when it ruled that state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. The White House celebrated by going Technicolor. New York and San Francisco were so happy they threw parades. But bright and early Monday morning, before Chipotle even had a chance to deflate its giant burrito float, a different five-justice majority made clear that the party was over.
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