Did the EPA go too far in regulating greenhouse gases? SCOTUS to decide

Feb 1, 2014 9:30 AM CST

Sustainability network helps law firms go green

Feb 1, 2014 8:10 AM CST

Activists try to gain legal personhood for animals and ecosystems

Feb 1, 2014 7:20 AM CST

300,000 W.Va. residents told not to drink water after chemical leak; US opens criminal probe

Don’t drink the water. Don’t wash, rinse, cook or bathe with it, either. That’s the message for some 300,000 West Virginians as the result of a Thursday leak from a 48,000-gallon tank at a chemical storage facility near the Elk River. Federal and state officials have already opened investigations into…

Jan 10, 2014 10:30 PM CST

SCOTUS case puts focus on property-rights group

A Supreme Court case scheduled for oral argument this month is likely to raise the profile of the Colorado-based group that will argue for a property owner’s rights, the Mountain States Legal Foundation. Mountain States represents Wyoming resident Marvin Brandt, who contends the federal government did not have a right…

Jan 3, 2014 3:57 PM CST

Love Canal toxic waste is subject of new round of suits

Six families who moved into the Love Canal neighborhood in Niagara Falls after a chemical cleanup have filed lawsuits claiming they suffered health consequences because the remediation was inadequate. Notice has been given that an additional 1,100 claims could be filed, the Associated Press reports. “Thirty-five years after Love Canal’s…

Nov 8, 2013 5:17 PM CST

Montana legalizes the consumption of roadkill

Nov 1, 2013 8:50 AM CDT

Viral video of man toppling rock in state park catches attention of disability claim defendant

It hasn’t been a good month for Glenn Taylor. First the Boy Scout leader from Utah was featured, along with another leader, toppling an ancient boulder in a state park in a video they themselves posted that went viral. Taylor told the Los Angeles Times the two men took action…

Oct 21, 2013 6:10 PM CDT

Racketeering case filed by Chevron against lawyer who won $18B enviro award goes to trial

Having won an $18 billion environmental judgment against a deep-pockets corporate defendant after nearly two decades of litigation, attorney Steven Donziger, one might think, would be living high on the hog. Instead, the Harvard Law School graduate is a defendant in a civil racketeering trial brought by Chevron Corp. Trial…

Oct 16, 2013 7:10 PM CDT

SCOTUS to review EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gases for power plants

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to consider the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases from power plants and other stationary sources. The U.S. Supreme Court accepted six cert petitions on the topic, but agreed to consider just one issue, report SCOTUSblog, USA Today the Los Angeles…

Oct 15, 2013 2:55 PM CDT

NJ couple OKs $1 settlement in eminent domain suit over their lost ocean view

A New Jersey couple has accepted a $1 settlement in their five-year-old lawsuit against the state over the building of a protective sand dune behind their beachfront home. Harvey and Phyllis Karan had contended that the 22-foot high sand dune blocked their panoramic view of the ocean, Reuters reports. The…

Sep 26, 2013 9:15 PM CDT

Judge OKs Christo’s 6-mile, $50M ‘Over the River’ art project as legal battle continues

Finding that a 1,700-page federal environmental review put together by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management adequately considered the environmental risks and planned mitigation measures, a Colorado judge on Thursday gave Christo’s proposed six-mile, $50 million project to drape the Arkansas River with shimmering fabric a green light. However,…

Sep 9, 2013 11:00 AM CDT

Environmental lawyer spends $2M building a home that meets green building certifications

Eric Lemelson’s quest to build a livable home that meets stringent green-building certifications cost about $2 million and lasted through three years of construction. Lemelson’s 3,500 square foot, four-bedroom home is in Oregon wine country, next to one of seven vineyards where he grows the grapes for his winery, the…

Sep 6, 2013 6:39 PM CDT

Feral pork, bullfrog meat, dandelions and more on menu at ‘locavore’ meal targeting invasive species

Environmentalists in Oregon are doing their part to help the state battle invasive animal and plant species that do an estimated $120 billion in damage each year throughout the country. With the help of chefs competing at a recent cook-off event thought up by the Institute for Applied Ecology in…

Sep 4, 2013 5:45 PM CDT

19 ‘right to dry’ states outlaw clothesline bans; is yours among them?

Once upon a time, a clothesline was a standard feature of most back yards. But concern that publicly airing clean laundry attached with clothespins to a rope or wire was unsightly, or obstructed views, or even created a safety risk (strangulation is sometimes cited) led a number of condominium associations…

Aug 14, 2013 8:24 PM CDT