Great Lakes Law

U.S. Supreme Court holds that the Clean Air Act displaces federal common law claims regarding greenhouse gas emissions

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in American Electric Power (AEP) Co. v. Connecticut (8-0, with Justice Sotomayer recused) holding that the Clean Air Act displaces federal common law with regard to nuisance claims for alleged injuries from greenhouse gas emissions. While any decision from the nation’s highest court on our most complex and challenging environmental issue is worth noting, this ruling was expected and doesn’t really change the legal... Read more →

The end of abundance: economic solutions to water scarcity

David Zetland has just released his new book, The End of Abundance: economic solutions to water scarcity. David is an economist by background and focuses on water policy in his Aguanomics blog. His new book examines water policy challenges, most notably the end of water abundance, from an economist’s perspective. David’s preference for market-based solutions to managing water demand makes sense, especially when tempered with mechanisms for fairness and meeting basic human needs. Check out... Read more →

Enbridge Kalamazoo River oil spill resources

Elizabeth McGowan and Lisa Song, “The Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Oil Spill You've Never Heard Of,” InsideClimate News- https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120626/dilbit-diluted-bitumen-enbridge-kalamazoo-river-marshall-michigan-oil-spill-6b-pipeline-epa. Garret Ellison, “Kalamazoo River oil spill timeline after 6 years,” MLive- https://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/07/kalamazoo_river_oil_spill_time.html. David Hasemyer, “Enbridge Fined for Failing to Fully Inspect Pipelines After Kalamazoo Oil Spill,” InsideClimate News- https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03052018/enbridge-fined-tar-sands-oil-pipeline-inspections-kalamazoo-michigan-dilbit-spill. US EPA, Enbridge Spill Response Timeline- https://www.epa.gov/enbridge-spill-michigan/enbridge-spill-response-timeline. Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue letter- https://www.greatlakeslaw.org/files/glelc_enbridge_60_day_notice_letter.pdf. Anatomy of an oil spill –... Read more →