A breakthrough for natural resource access and congressional oversight
Editor's note: On January 21, 2026 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal the Public Land Order blocking access to the Duluth Complex. The resolution now moves to the Senate. For the first time in history, a Public Land Order is being submitted to Congress for review. That ...
Washington Post : The law that is trapping America in the past
Enacted in 1969 — before the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act — the National Environmental Policy Act was meant to ensure that federal agencies consider environmental effects before approving major actions. But today, NEPA has become a blockade that prevents common-sense projects from moving forward. The result is an America tr ...
Real Clear Energy : To Create an Abundant America, Congress Should Pass the SPEED Act
With energy and housing costs climbing, the need to construct more power infrastructure and housing is urgent. However, that straightforward mission is often thwarted by layers of red tape, including permits, environmental reviews, and other procedural hurdles, which can delay or even halt projects capable of creating jobs, lowering costs, and expa ...
California’s last nuclear power plant will remain open—for now
There's only one nuclear power plant left in California: the Diablo Canyon plant, which sits near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County and provides almost 10% of California's energy. The California Coastal Commission will allow the plant to remain open for five more years—but only because the plant's owner, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), ...
From Steinway to sawdust : The fight to save Alaska’s last mill
For decades, specialized wood from Alaska's Tongass National Forest has shaped the sound of Steinway pianos and Martin guitars and strengthened everything from NASA wind tunnels to helicopter blades. Much of that wood comes from one family-owned mill: Viking Lumber on Prince of Wales Island. Now, a broken promise from Washington bureaucrats threate ...
The Washington Post : Even Trump’s EPA can’t get it quite right on this silly wetlands law
When the Supreme Court ruled in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency in 2023, which I argued on behalf of Michael and Chantell Sackett, it finally brought clarity and common sense to a part of environmental law that had long baffled courts, agencies and landowners. The Clean Water Act, the court held, regulates "waters of the United States," ...
The Washington Post : A century-old law could cost these fishermen their livelihoods
For more than four decades, Bob Conrad has made his living fishing the waters of the North Atlantic. He's a Vermonter who knows the rhythms of the ocean as well as most people know their morning commute: the best tides for squid, the subtle signs that butterfish are nearby. Frank Green, a New Yorker with nearly 50 years experience at sea, studies s ...
New York fracking spends a decade in regulatory limbo
In December 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation further expanding the State's fracking ban to prohibit carbon dioxide extraction methods. This is just the latest in a series of regulatory "whack-a-mole" moves designed to prevent resource extraction altogether and keep clean natural gas "in the ground," as opponents openly admit. ...
A Phony Fish Story Reveals the Need for Endangered Species Act Reform to Unleash American Energy
A remarkable story emerged as The New York Times rewrote an infamous 1970s trope when it revealed that scientists had invented an 'endangered species' -- a tiny fish called the snail darter -- to stop a southeastern energy project. "Saving" the snail darter became a model for how to leverage laws designed to protect the environment to kill energy a ...