Articles

Today’s Supreme Court decision in Michigan, et al. v. EPA (consolidated with Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA and National Mining Assoc. v. EPA) invalidated EPA’s regulation on electric power plant hazardous air pollutants for not taking its enormous costs into account. It affirms a common-sense principle that EPA too often ignores: ...

The Center for Biological Diversity is threatening to sue the Fish & Wildlife Service for not imposing ruinous and unnecessary restrictions on private property owners throughout 37 states to protect the Northern long-eared bat. It contends that heavy-handed “take” regulations should be imposed despite the fact that the species is th ...

Today, PLF filed its opening brief in a challenge to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s denial of a petition demanding that the agency follow the law. This case centers on a sea otter compromise that Congress struck between the Service, environmentalists, and those who work and play in Southern California waters. Recently, the Service has ̷ ...

Adherents of free markets and limited government have much to be gloomy about this year. Is now the summer of our discontent, made piteous winter by the loss of Scalia, increasing terrorist attacks, and concern about whether the next president will exceed the abuses of the past? Our concerns run deep, but we who fight … ...

For administrative law nerds, U.S. Tenth Circuit Court Judge Neil Gorsuch’s concurring opinion this week calling for the High Court to reconsider its Chevron doctrine is about as thrilling as it gets!  Although it is hard to top, Tony Francois and I also savored the timing, given that we foreshadowed this type of opinion just … ...

Judges often defer to the government’s interpretations of its own power. PLF fights this trend because it upsets the balance of separated powers and threatens liberty. But recently, in a case called Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association v. Perez, judicial deference slumped to a new low. … ...

PLF argues “no,” in an amicus brief supporting four states, industry groups, and an Indian tribe in their challenge to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) unlawful fracking regulation. It purports to regulate all fracking on federal lands based on the potential impacts of fracking to underground drinking water sources, despite t ...

In her most recent column, Kimberly Strassel writes that an idea I’ve been promoting is a “Regulatory Game Changer” that would allow Congress to “overrule Obama regulations going back to 2009.” This is incredibly flattering praise from Strassel, who is a Bradley Prize winner and author of the Potomac Watch column every ...

One key provision of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) requires streamlined procedures in the Senate when it votes to overturn an agency regulation. Specifically, when a resolution is referred to the Senate floor, it cannot be amended nor filibustered, and debate on the resolution is limited to a maximum of 10 hours. Some reporters and … ...