The Hill : How the federal government is forcing states to spy on lobstermen
The federal government is forcing constant, warrantless GPS surveillance on thousands of small fishing businesses — and threatening their livelihoods if fishermen or state governments object. A federal regulation requires ten East Coast states to adopt and enforce an electronic tracking requirement for federally permitted lobster vessels. Comp ...
American Heroes : When the government wipes out your property rights and your family legacy—overnight
What happens when the government doesn't just regulate your property, but effectively erases its value? That's the reality for John Morgan and his family. In the latest episode of American Heroes, Kathy Hoekstra sits down with John to unpack a California law (SB 1137) that has shut down access to oil and gas resources—wiping out both the va ...
Introducing Free to Flourish
Last summer, Pacific Legal Foundation launched our Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) practice—doubling down on our 50+ years of success as America's leading defender of property rights and environmental common sense. With this new practice, our mission is threefold: Defend the freedom to use both public and private land productively ...
Minnesota’s batty restriction on timber operations
Over a third of Minnesota is forested, and the state's forest products industry ranks as its fifth-largest manufacturing sector by payroll employment. Citizens' ability to use these resources, however, has been unconstitutionally restricted by a state and federal government scheme to protect three bat subspecies. Two of these species were listed as ...
The state wants to track lobstermen’s every move. One is asking the Supreme Court to end it.
Everyone in Vinalhaven knows two things: the weather and the price of a lobster — $6. Ten miles off the coast of Maine, this rugged outcropping of fewer than 1,300 people is one of the cradles of the New England lobster industry. Dark evergreens cling to the hillsides above its blue coves; granite cliffs take the full force of the North Atlant ...
Who owns the rain? When government regulation loses common sense
There are moments when you hear a legal argument and wonder whether common sense has quietly left the building. Take the case of an Oregon man who went to jail in 2012 for collecting rainwater in basins. The state water department said he was interfering with local rivers because they're usually filled by the rain. If you "interrupt the flow of ...
California Globe : In California, You Can Do Everything Right, and Still Get Crushed
Take an oil and gas operator who spends millions upgrading equipment, filing emissions reports, and complying with air-quality rules that change more often than a coastal forecast. Every form is filed. Every inspection is passed. And yet, a permit is suddenly delayed or reinterpreted, a new reporting requirement is layered on top of the old one, or ...
Youth climate suits don’t have a constitutional leg to stand on
A federal appeals court has just announced an April hearing date in the youth climate suit Lighthiser v. Trump. The lawsuit was filed against the Trump administration in May 2025 by a group of 22 youth plaintiffs and spearheaded by the environmental activist organization "Our Children's Trust." The lawsuit asks the court to strike down a group o ...
Florida is leading the next nuclear revolution
Across the country, energy demand is rising. Data centers, advanced manufacturing, population growth, and electrification are all putting new pressure on the grid. Unfortunately, that has spilled over and is now also putting pressure on your wallet. If Florida wants to lower electricity costs and attract continued investment, the state needs to ...