CleanLaw

Professors Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, and Professor Richard Lazarus discuss the Supreme Court case West Virginia v. EPA. The Court's decision in this case will address the scope of EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, potentially impacting future EPA rules. Transctipt: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Jody-and-Richard-WV-v-EPA-transcript_.pdf CleanLaw Production Team: Robin Just, Andy Dolph, and Sara Levy

EELP Legal Fellow Hannah Perls speaks with Joel Scata, a Water and Climate Attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where he works on clean water and climate change adaptation policy solutions. They discuss the ins and outs of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which, for the past fifty years, has helped define floodplain development by issuing federally-backed flood insurance policies to property owners and renters, and setting baseline building, land use and floodplain management criteria. However, many argue the program has failed, accumulating billions of dollars in debt and subsidizing risky development. In this episode, Joel and Hannah review the program’s history, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) latest reforms including Risk Rating 2.0, and what challenges remain if the NFIP is to help communities adapt to a climate changed world. Click here for a transcript of this episode https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Hannah-and-Joel-Scata-transcript.pdf For more information on this discussion you can see (links below) NRDC’s Climate Adaptation page, NRDC's & ASFPM's Petition for FEMA to update its NFIP Rules (Jan. 8, 2021), and NRDC’s Comments responding to FEMA’s Request for Information on the NFIP (Jan. 27, 2022). https://www.nrdc.org/issues/climate-adaptation https://www.nrdc.org/resources/nrdc-asfpm-petition https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/comments-nfip-floodplain-mgmt-standards-20220127.pdf To learn more about FEMA’s authority to integrate equity considerations into its programs, see EELP’s Report on Equitable Disaster Relief. https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/2021/10/equitable-disaster-relief/ CleanLaw Production Team: Robin Just, Andy Dolph, and Sara Levy

Our founding director Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, speaks with Chet France, who served as a senior executive at EPA and led the development of vehicle pollution standards at the agency, including overseeing, during the Obama administration, the first national greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks. They talk about the development of the clean car rules, the stalled progress under the Trump administration, and the Biden administration's renewal and strengthening of the original standards. With President Biden’s ambitious goals for electric vehicles, the major auto companies’ pledges to produce an all-electric fleet, Congress’s funding of charging infrastructure, and the new EPA standards, Jody and Chet discuss how we are at a potentially transformational moment in the history of the Clean Air Act, the auto industry, and climate change. Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Jody-and-Chet-Transcript_.pdf CleanLaw Production Team: Robin Just, Andy Dolph, and Sara Levy

Lowry Yankwich, a recent graduate of Harvard Law, speaks with Doug Christel, policy analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. They discuss the approval of the South Fork Wind Project, which is only the second commercial-scale offshore wind project to be approved in federal waters. The project is small but has garnered outsized attention particularly due to its potential impacts on Cox Ledge, an important fish habitat area. The two discuss possible impacts on fisheries from the South Fork project specifically, and wind development generally, and explore ways in which developers and government agencies are attempting to address and mitigate concerns raised by fishers. They put the South Fork project into perspective and show how it represents a significant milestone in the story of offshore wind development in the U.S. Note: at 34 minutes Doug questions his recollection of the micro-siting diameter for turbines, whether it's 500 feet or meters. He later confirmed it's 500 feet. You can read more about the legal implications of this topic here https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/the-implications-of-boem-decision-on-the-south-fork-wind-farm/ A transcript of this episode is available here https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Doug-and-Lowry-transcript.pdf

Our executive director Carrie Jenks speaks with Kate Konschnik of Duke University about EPA’s recently proposed methane rules for new and existing oil and natural gas sources. They discuss some of the input EPA is seeking from stakeholders related to advanced technologies and how regulations could enable their deployment to achieve emission reductions. Learn more in our white paper, EPA’s Methane Proposal for the Oil and Gas Sector—A Strong Foundation to Reduce Methane Emissions and Regulatory Path. https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/EPAs-Methane-Proposal-for-the-Oil-and-Gas-Sector_Legal-Analysis_November-16-2021.pdf Stay updated on our Regulatory Tracker page https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/tracker/epa-voc-and-methane-standards-for-oil-and-gas-facilities-2/ Transcript of this episode https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/CleanLaw-63-Kate-and-Carrie-Talk-Methane.pdf

Our staff attorney Hana Vizcarra speaks with Madison Condon, associate professor of law at Boston University who studies how climate change relates to corporate governance, market risk, and regulation. They discuss her research on how the market has failed to properly price climate risk and how the Securities and Exchange Commission might address that failure through new regulation. You can read Madison's paper here. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3782675 Here is a full transcript of this episode https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Hana-and-Madison-Transcript.pdf

Our executive director Carrie Jenks speaks with Kevin Poloncarz, a partner at the law firm Covington and Burling. Kevin co-chairs the firm’s Environmental and Energy Practice Group, Energy Industry Group, and ESG Practice. Kevin and Carrie discuss what is at stake with the appeals to the Supreme Court of the D.C. Circuit decision to vacate the Trump Administration’s Affordable Clean Energy Rule for the power sector. They also discuss advice to new litigators. Note: this episode was recorded on August 24th, the day the petitioners' replies were due. Here is a full transcript of this episode https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Carrie-and-Kevin-Discuss-ACE-Rule.pdf

Legal Fellow Hannah Perls speaks with Aminta Ossom, a Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law’s International Human Rights Clinic, where she focuses on equality, inclusion, and economic and social rights. They discuss how looking at environmental problems through a human rights lens can provide new insights and legal strategies for addressing environmental injustice in the United States and beyond. They also feature guest commentary from Tripti Poddar, a litigating attorney practicing in Delhi and Assam. She's also a consultant with legal empowerment organization called Nazdeek, based in Delhi, where she supports community-led advocacy and research on economic and social rights. Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CleanLaw-60-Hannah-Aminta-Tripti-Human-Rights.pdf Links from the show: The Center for Economic and Social Rights' OPERA Framework https://www.cesr.org/opera-landing Nazdeek https://nazdeek.org/ Our Federal Environmental Justice Tracker https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/ejtracker/ Our Biden 100 Days Report https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Bidens-First-100-Days-FINAL.pdf

Our Electricity Law Initiative Director Ari Peskoe speaks with Brandon Smithwood, Senior Director of Policy at Dimension Renewable Energy. They talk about business models for development of small-scale renewable energy and storage systems. Please see here for a transcript of this episode https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/CleanLaw-59-Ari-and-Brandon-Smithwood-on-Distributed-Energy-Business-Models.pdf

EELP Staff Attorney Hana Vizcarra and Fellow Hannah Perls talk about the progress of the Biden administration on climate and environmental priorities now that the first hundred days have passed. We originally posted this as a video, which you can view at the link below. Transcript of this episode https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/CleanLaw-58-Hannah-and-Hana-Assess-Biden-Progress-in-First-100-Days-1.pdf Video link: https://youtu.be/EhvV80q8kx8 Other links we mention: Corporate Climate-Related Disclosure https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/topic/corporate-climate/ Rethinking the “One National Program” for Clean Cars https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/rethinking-the-one-national-program/ US Regulatory Barriers to an Ambitious Paris Agreement Commitment https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/us-paris-commitment/ And check out our extensive report on the first 100 days! https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Bidens-First-100-Days-FINAL.pdf