- Case over harsh IRS handling of lost-in-mail filing reflects worst practices on judicial deference [William Yeatman, Yale Journal on Regulation on Cato certiorari amicus brief in Baldwin v. U.S.] “Congressional Delegation of Regulatory Authority and Time” [Cato podcast with Yeatman and Caleb Brown]
- “Baseball, Legal Doctrines, and Judicial Deference to an Agency’s Interpretation of the Law: Kisor v. Wilkie” [Paul J. Larkin Jr., Cato Supreme Court Review; earlier on Kisor; Cato podcast with Ilya Shapiro (“Auer deference could become minute deference”), William Yeatman and Caleb Brown]
- “Gundy and the (Sort-of) Resurrection of the Subdelegation Doctrine” [Gary Lawson, Cato Supreme Court Review, earlier on Gundy v. U.S. here, here]
- “From Chevron to ‘Consent of the Governed'” [David Schoenbrod, Cato Regulation magazine; Cato panel discussion video with Adam White, David Doniger, Shapiro and Yeatman; Federalist Society panel discussion video with Mark Chenoweth, Doniger, Kristin Hickman, Schoenbrod, Jennifer Mascott]
- “Recognizing the Congressional Review Act’s Full Potential” [Jonathan Wood, Federalist Society, earlier]
- “Idaho is the only state in the nation where the elected representatives of the people must affirmatively act at regular intervals to continue the existence and operation of their regulatory system.” When a lapse in reauthorization threw the regulatory code into question, a remarkable struggle began [J. Kennerly Davis, Federalist Society]
Posts Tagged ‘Chevron’
Environment roundup
- End of the road at last for Steven Donziger, impresario of Chevron/Ecuador litigation? [Joe Nocera, Bloomberg]
- Building expensive housing improves housing availability at every income level [Sonja Trauss, Market Urbanism Report]
- “Ms. Durst did what any law-abiding citizen would do: She demolished the structure and tossed the twigs, moss and shells into the woods…. The fairy house wasn’t up to code.” [Ellen Byron, WSJ, courtesy Regulatory Transparency Project]
- Last month’s judicial rejection of NYC climate suit came after plenty of foreshadowing [Daniel Fisher (“persuasive authorities” were two overturned court decisions); New York Daily News and New York Post editorials]
- Ban on smoking in public housing reflects truism that unless you own property, your home isn’t really your castle [Shane Ferro, Above the Law]
- Obama-era Waters of the U.S. regulations are a power grab asserting EPA control over farmers’ ditches, seasonal moist depressions, and watering holes; one federal court has now reinstated the rules, but the issue is headed to SCOTUS and Congress in any case ought to kill them [Jonathan Adler; Ariel Wittenberg, E&E News; earlier]
Environment roundup
- Organized efforts mount to blockade, shut down, and ban oil and gas infrastructure [David Roberts/Vox; Kevon Paynter] My two cents on Baltimore’s ban on new or expanded crude oil terminals, which follows moves against fuel infrastructure in Oakland and Portland [Free State Notes] Massachusetts judge approves “necessity defense” raised by protesters who blocked work on pipeline [Erin Mundahl, Inside Sources]
- Related: calls to ban hydrocarbon (even gas) utility generation stir backlash among some Democrats [Amy Harder, Axios] And not illogically given the distributional effects [Ronald Bailey, Reason]
- “$18 Billion Prize,” new stage play about Chevron/Ecuador case by Phelim McAleer and Jonathan Leaf, ruffles some Bay Area feathers [Daniel Kennard, National Review]
- Questions about curious study of GMO safety [Dan Vergano, BuzzFeed]
- “Creative Regulators and Environmental Protection,” Federalist Society panel video with C. Boyden Gray, Adam White, Robert Glicksman, Nathan Richardson, Caroline Cecot;
- Europe optimizes its train system for passengers, while U.S. optimizes its for freight. Which is the greener choice? [Coyote]
Environment roundup
- “Critical habitat” where a species doesn’t live and can’t survive is subject of pending SCOTUS case [Ilya Shapiro and Meggan DeWitt on Cato brief in Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]
- “Lawsuits are a costly — and misguided — approach to fixing climate change” [Josiah Neeley and William Murray on Colorado municipal suits, earlier here, etc.] More about EarthRights International, group assisting that effort [Spencer Walrath, Energy In Depth]
- Unintentional take of migratory fowl: “Interior Department Axes Flighty Bird Regs” [Joshua Hardman, Economics 21]
- Swirling islands of plastics in ocean may have a composition different than you expect [David Mastio, USA Today]
- So mysterious when housing prices escalate: “Every New House In California Will Now Have To Have Solar Panels” [Jim Dalrymple II/BuzzFeed, Amel Ahmed/KQED]
- “The Ecuador Saga Continues: Steven Donziger now owes Chevron more than $800,000” [Michael Krauss, earlier]
June 28 roundup
- Unlike some other states, Massachusetts has not passed a law making it unlawful to encourage suicide; confidante nonetheless convicted of involuntary manslaughter over texts encouraging fellow teenager to do that [New York Times, NPR]
- New Emoluments Clause lawsuits against President Trump vary from previous pattern, still face uphill battle [Victor Li, ABA Journal; earlier]
- “Putting occupational licensing on the Maryland reform agenda” [my new Free State Notes]
- “Interpreting State Constitutions,” judges’ panel discussion with Judith French, Jeffrey Sutton, Steve Yarbrough, Matt Kemp [Ohio Federalist Society chapters]
- SCOTUS closes a door, and rightly so, in the long-running Chevron-Ecuador-Donziger saga [Michael Krauss]
- Green Bay fan sues Chicago Bears over “no opposing team gear at pregame warmups” rule [WDEZ, Howard Wasserman/Prawfs]
Supreme Court roundup
- DoJ reverses Obama predecessors’ stance on whether NLRA rights to collective action bar individual-arbitration clauses in employment contracts [BNA via Indisputably; consolidated trio of Murphy Oil, Ernst & Young, Epic Systems Corp. cases] Ninth Circuit OKs California end-run around Supreme Court’s jurisprudence on workplace arbitration class actions, time for review [WLF on Bloomingdales, Inc. v. Vitolo; update on cert denial: Deborah LaFetra, PLF]
- Roberts joins liberals to hold 5-3 that cities can sue alleging Fair Housing Act violations; damages theories are to be constrained, though [Josh Blackman, SCOTUSBlog roundup on Bank of America v. Miami, earlier here and here]
- How much deference should appellate courts give district courts in ruling on subpoenas issued by EEOC? [Ross Runkel and Federalist Society podcast with Karen Harned on McLane Co. v. EEOC]
- Court unanimously disallows stratagem by which class action lawyers voluntarily dismiss individual claim so as to secure immediate appeal of certification denial [Howard Wasserman, James Freije on Microsoft v. Baker]
- Chevron used racketeering law to fend off giant foreign judgment in Ecuador saga, losing side would like Supreme Court relief from that [Paul Barrett, Business Week on Donziger v. Chevron] Update Monday morning: Court will not hear;
- “To Be Liable for Fraud, You Have to Have Actually Defrauded Someone” [Ilya Shapiro and Thomas Berry on Cato cert amicus in SGE Management v. Torres]
Environment roundup
- Didn’t realize former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld had written a novel sympathetic to the persons displaced by one of the great eminent domain binges, the 1930s creation of Quabbin Reservoir (“Stillwater,” background) And down in Virginia: “Sixty years ago they were evicted from the Blue Ridge to make way for Shenandoah National Park. But the refugees haven’t forgotten their lost mountain homes.” [Eddie Dean, Washington City Paper]
- Tokyo’s wide-open policy on development is one reason its house prices have not skyrocketed despite rising population [Alex Tabarrok, more, contrast with cities like Delhi and Mumbai]
- “Chevron Paves The Way For Corporations To Fight ‘Shakedown Lawsuits'” [John Shu, Investors Business Daily, related editorial drawing FedEx and SEIU parallels] More: Roger Parloff and Michael Krauss on Canadian enforcement action in ongoing Ecuador dispute;
- “The Environmental Lightning Rod Known as Fracking” [Ned Mamula, Cato]
- Massachusetts voters in November will face ballot measure sharply restricting methods of handling a host of livestock animals [Baylen Linnekin]
- Do woodpiles attract termites? Chamber backs Flower Mound, Tex. man facing billions in fines for storing wood [Dallas News, earlier]
Appeals court: $18 billion Chevron Ecuador verdict a fraud, can’t be enforced
Just published: my new Storify on the ignoble demise of what had been billed as one of the world’s biggest human rights lawsuits, the so-called Lago Agrio case against Chevron over pollution in Ecuador. We’ve covered it for years, before and after the tainted $18 billion verdict obtained by attorney Steven Donziger, and the Storify feature links to many of our key posts. Big-name environmental groups like the Sierra Club, 350.org, and EarthJustice promoted Donziger’s case long after they had reason to know better.
Environment roundup
- An extraordinary tale of fraud and justice: Second Circuit puts definitive kibosh on tainted $9 billion Chevron/Ecuador judgment [decision, Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal, our coverage over many years] “Attorney Who Took Chevron to Court for $18 Billion Suspended by Amazon Defense Front” [Roger Parloff, Fortune]
- New Zealand accords legal personality to river and former national park through treaty settlements with Maori groups [New York Times]
- “The looting of Volkswagen: The company deserves a fine, but politicians keep demanding more” [WSJ editorial]
- Property owners have constitutional rights against NYC landmarks-law NIMBYism [Ilya Shapiro and Randal John Meyer] Where court protection of owners is weaker, cities designate more properties as historic [Nick Zaiac, Market Urbanism] “Against Historic Preservation” [Alex Tabarrok]
- “The growing battle over the use of eminent domain to take property for pipelines” [Ilya Somin]
- “How Anti-Growth Sentiment, Reflected in Zoning Laws, Thwarts Equality” [Conor Dougherty, New York Times, via John Cochrane] Life without zoning goes on in Houston [Scott Beyer, The Federalist]
Environment roundup
- Urban planning itself “has become the externality” [Randal O’Toole, Cato, quoting a New Zealand official]
- New William Fischel book Zoning Rules! [Emily Washington, Market Urbanism]
- If you didn’t catch the earlier update, Jim Epstein at Reason has a critique of the New York Times’s claim to have discovered a miscarriage cluster among nail salon workers;
- Now available: latest annual report on bounty-hunting under California’s Prop 65 [Bruce Nye/Cal Biz Lit with analysis]
- Jane Jacobs vs. Robert Moses: the opera [Jesse Walker, Reason]
- Urbanization is good for the environment [Marian Tupy, Cato]
- Regarding those reports that a major witness in the Chevron Ecuador case “recanted” [Paul Barrett, Business Week]