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Monthly Archives: November 2020

SEC Signals Intention to Encourage Increased ESG Investing, Possible Guidelines

Tue Nov 17th, On Compliance Counseling, by

The current SEC Commissioner, Allison Lee, recently signaled the agency’s desire to encourage financial institutions to consider environmental issues when evaluating their investments. Identifying climate change as a specific and increasing threat to the U.S. economy, the Commissioner called for more regulated disclosures of environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) risks, particularly with regard to financial institutions known to invest in fossil fuels. Lee identified climate change as a systemic […]

A Mixed October for Tribes Looking to be Viewed As a State for Environmental Regulatory Purposes

October 2020 was a mercurial month for tribes hoping to control environmental regulations on tribal lands. Early in the month, a SCOTUS ruling designated a large portion of Oklahoma as being part of Indian Country, a decision which paradoxically resulted in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) granting the state full control over the lands’ environmental regulation. Later in the month, a regional office of the EPA granted treatment as […]

Environmental Groups Sue Homeland Security To Force Review of Tear Gas Munitions in Portland

Wed Nov 11th, On Litigation, by

In recent months, the city of Portland has been subject to near-nightly barrages of tear gas and other chemical munitions in response to protests. Though local police used some tear gas munitions in response to early protests, the sustained, repeated, high-volume use of CS gas (2-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile) has been deployed by federal troops sent by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) at the behest of the White House, in fulfillment […]

How Will the 2020 Election Results Affect U.S. Environmental Policy?

The vast differences between the Biden and Trump platforms mean the U.S. environmental policy is likely to change quite a bit in the wake of the 2020 election. Joe Biden advocates what he calls a “clean energy revolution,” while Donald Trump’s term was spent rolling back significant environmental protections. Many of the environmental policies that have been recently changed were originally created under the Obama-Biden administration, and a Biden presidency […]

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