ELI In the News
It’s safe to say there’s an enormous amount of panic — and confusion — about what’s going on with the Trump administration and the Environmental Protection Agency right now.
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), a partnership of five Mid-Atlantic states, has released a report on the role of Mid-Atlantic coastal wetlands in reducing climate risk. The report examines current practices for identifying and prioritizing wetlands for their ability to reduce climate risk and enhance climate resilience in the region. The report, prepared by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), identifies opportunities for improving how coastal wetlands can serve as climate buffers in the coastal states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
Trump administration officials appear to have walked back plans to scrub climate change references from U.S. EPA's website... "I would say it's probably expected under the circumstances," said Scott Fulton, who was EPA's general counsel during the Obama administration.
...Jim McElfish, a senior attorney with the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Law Institute, points out that Wisconsin was once “one of the great environmental pioneers” and the home of conservationist hero Aldo Leopold. Now, with Wisconsin under conservative political leadership, environmental groups complain that the state has scrubbed all mention of climate change from its official websites, and say officials repeatedly turn a blind eye to Clean Water Act violations.
The power exerted by a U.S. president or Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator is diluted by layers of litigation and regulatory processes... “The federal budget process will deserve a very close look as this administration starts to influence that process,” said Scott Fulton, president of the Environmental Law Institute.
In 2011, the Marshall Islands and Palau sought to put a climate case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. It failed to gain enough traction. Why it matters: On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly took the extraordinary step of adopting, by consensus, a resolution that would do just that. It's asking the court for an advisory opinion laying out what countries' obligations are to protect the climate in order to secure human rights. . . .