Environment & Energy

Our planet faces unprecedented environmental challenges, threatening ecosystems, species, coastal communities, and all too often, human life itself. Heading the list of threats is climate change, with its promise of drastic environmental, economic, and cultural upheaval. But we also face persistent problems of air and water pollution, toxic wastes, cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and other Great Waters, and protecting natural resources and wildlife.

Central to the environmental health of the nation and the planet is decreasing our dependence on energy derived from burning fossil fuels. Our continued reliance on these sources is literally endangering the planet's ability to sustain life as we know it. Yet many policymakers, with the financial and rhetorical support of energy companies bent on making a profit at the cost of the planet's health, continue to resist desperately needed reforms. Read about CPR’s work protecting the environment in reports, testimony, op-eds and more. Use the search box to narrow the list.

Regulation as Social Justice Convening Briefing Memo

In this briefing memo for participants in CPR's June 5, 2019, Regulation as Social Justice conference, James Goodwin sets the table for discussions aimed at devising reforms for the regulatory system so that it can do a better job promoting social justice and addressing unmet community needs.

Type: Reports (June 5, 2019)
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Author(s): James Goodwin
Letter to EPA on 2019 Chesapeake Bay WIPs

CPR joined 35 other members of the Choose Clean Water Coalition in comments to EPA on the 2019 Watershed Implementation Plans submitted by the Chesapeake Bay states, noting that the plans "do not ... provide the necessary assurances and accountability." May 24, 2019.

Type: Letters to Agencies (May 24, 2019)
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The 2019 WIPs: An Evaluation of the Watershed Implementation Plans Submitted by Maryland, Virginia & Pennsylvania

In April 2019, each of the Chesapeake Bay states submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the public drafts of their Phase III Watershed Implementation Plans, encompassing their plans for meeting the 2025 pollution reduction targets. CPR's Evan Isaacson evaluates the plans put forward by the three states responsible for the bulk of the pollution in the Bay, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. A companion analysis by David Flores examines whether and how well the plans account for the impacts of climate change.

Type: Reports (May 16, 2019)
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Author(s): David Flores, Evan Isaacson
How Climate Change Will Affect Real Lives

Dan Farber, writing in the Revelator takes a close look at how climate change will play out in the life of someone born in 2000.

Type: Op-Eds (May 3, 2019)
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Author(s): Daniel Farber
Comments on EPA's MATS Reconsideration Proposal

Joint comments from CPR's Dan Farber, Catherine O'Neill, Rena Steinzor, and James Goodwin on the EPA's effort to undercut the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS rule), by eliminating consideration of "co-benefits," and with it, to lay groundwork for eliminating consideration of co-benefits from cost-benefit analyses for future environmental regulation, April 17, 2019.

Type: Letters to Agencies (April 17, 2019)
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Author(s): Daniel Farber, Catherine O'Neill, Rena Steinzor, James Goodwin
Comments on Proposed Waters of the United States Rewrite

Comments on Proposed Waters of the United States Rewrite. Joint comments from more than 20 CPR Member Scholars on the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers proposal to weaken the Waters of the United States rule, April 15, 2019.

Type: Letters to Agencies (April 15, 2019)
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A defeat on offshore drilling extends the Trump administration's losing streak in court

A defeat on offshore drilling extends the Trump administration's losing streak in court, op-ed by Alejandro Camacho and Robert Glicksman

Type: Op-Eds (April 9, 2019)
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Author(s): Robert Glicksman, Alejandro Camacho
Enforce environmental laws before there's a fire

Enforce environmental laws before there's a fire, op-ed by Victor Flatt

Type: Op-Eds (April 7, 2019)
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Author(s): Victor Flatt
Opinion analysis: The justices wish Sturgeon 'good hunting' in Sturgeon v. Frost
Opinion analysis: The justices wish Sturgeon 'good hunting' in Sturgeon v. Frost, op-ed by Sandra Zellmer
Type: Op-Eds (March 27, 2019)
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Author(s): Sandra Zellmer
Relax: Green New Deal Means Practical Innovations

Relax: Green New Deal Means Practical Innovations, op-ed by Joseph P. Tomain

Type: Op-Eds (March 22, 2019)
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Author(s): Joseph Tomain

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