CleanLaw
CleanLaw is a podcast produced by the Harvard Law School Environmental & Energy Law Program. It focuses on environmental, climate, and energy policy issues, offering robust legal analysis and practical governance solutions. Episodes aim to move policy discussions forward by exploring relevant legal frameworks and current debates. The show is designed for listeners interested in the intersection of law, policy, and environmental challenges.
Episodes
Ep 119 — Corporate Climate Targets Project Tracks Commitments and Actions on GHG Emissions
EELP founding director and Harvard Law professor Jody Freeman talks with Mike Toffel, a professor at Harvard Business School and faculty chair of the HBS Business and Environment Initiative, and Joe Aldy, a professor of the practice of environmental policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Jody, Mike, and Joe discuss the Salata Institute Corporate Climate Targets Database, a new tool they've developed to
EP 118 — Powering AI and the Energy Transition: Why Permitting Reform Matters
Electricity demand is surging, driven by data centers and the broader shift toward electrification. The United States faces a critical question: can the country build the energy infrastructure it needs fast enough to support economic growth while advancing the clean energy transition?
As Congress debates the scope and timing for permitting reforms, we are sharing a special joint episode of CleanL
Ep 117 — Forest Service Proposes to Remove Protections from Roadless Areas
EELP Associate Director Sarah Dewey talks to Andy Mergen, clinical professor and faculty director of the Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard and award-winning journalist, Ben Goldfarb, author of Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of the Planet. They discuss the US Forest Service proposal to rescind the 2001 roadless rule, the ecological value of roadless areas in o
Ep 116 — DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Past and Present
EELP Senior Attorney Erika Kranz speaks with Andy Mergen, Clinical Professor and Faculty Director of the Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, and Sommer Engels, Clinical Instructor with the Clinic. They take listeners behind the scenes at the U.S. Department of Justice to explain the role of its Environment and Natural Resources Division, or ENRD.
Erika, Andy, and Sommer, all ENRD alumni,
Ep 115 — Offshore Wind Development Under Trump: Legal Challenges and What's Next
EELP Executive Director Carrie Jenks talks with EELP Senior Attorney Erika Kranz about the Trump administration’s efforts to stop or delay offshore wind development. They discuss the industry’s complex permitting regulatory environment, the challenges the administration’s actions have faced in court, and what’s at stake for the future of clean energy.
Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-
EP114 — The Student Environmental Law Experience at HLS: Research, Clinics, and Community
Professor and EELP Founding Director Jody Freeman and Professor Richard Lazarus talk with three HLS students about what drew them to environmental law, their experience at the Emmett Environmental Law Center, including working at EELP and in the environmental law and policy clinic, favorite courses, and what life at HLS is really like.
Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/
EP113—The "God Squad's" Unprecedented Endangered Species Act National Security Exemption
EELP Staff Attorney Erika Kranz talks with Andy Mergen, Director of the Harvard Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic, about the recent decision to exempt oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf of Mexico from complying with the Endangered Species Act.
The administration has invoked a never-before-used national security provision to bypass the Endangered Species Committee's normal,
EP112—Legal Implications of the US Withdrawal from the UNFCCC
EELP Founding Director and Harvard Law Professor Jody Freeman speaks with Sue Biniaz, former Principal Deputy Special Envoy for Climate at the US State Department and lecturer at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs. For nearly three decades, Sue served as the United States’ lead climate lawyer and climate negotiator. Together, Jody and Sue break down the significance of the recent US announc
EP111—Behind the Curtain of the Clean Utility Transition
EELP director of State and Regional Climate Policies Dale Bryk talks with Jamie Van Nostrand, recent chair of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, the entity that oversees investor-owned electric and gas utilities. Together, they dive into the regulatory frameworks that govern utilities, how those rules drive utility investments, and what that means for consumer energy bills in the tr
EP110—How Maine Became a Heat Pump Leader
What does it take to electrify a cold-weather state? Maine is leading the nation in home electrification, with more than 150,000 heat pumps installed and counting. Efficiency Maine Trust executive director Michael Stoddard joins EELP’s Abby Husselbee to talk about how Maine’s independent approach, simple program design, and partnership with small businesses are transforming home heating and cuttin
EP109—Cumulative Impacts and the ‘Holy Grail’ of EJ Policy
EELP's Hannah Perls speaks with environmental justice pioneer Charles Lee, former director of EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and principal author of the landmark 1987 report, Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States, and now a visiting scholar at Howard University School of Law, and Sean Moriarty, former deputy commissioner with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. They
Ep108—What Science and the Law Say about EPA’s Authority to Regulate GHGs
EELP's Founding Director and Harvard Law Professor, Jody Freeman, speaks with Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus and Solomon Hsiang, Professor of Global Environmental Policy at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. They speak about EPA's recent proposal to repeal the agency's 2009 Endangerment Finding, and dig into the legal and scientific arguments offered by EPA. They discuss whether t
Ep107—Trump's Move to Kill the Clean Air Act's Climate Authority, Forever
In this special crossover episode of CleanLaw and Shift Key, Heatmap's weekly podcast on decarbonization and the shift away from fossil fuels, EELP’s Founding Director Professor Jody Freeman speaks with Shift Key hosts Robinson Meyer, the Founding Executive Editor of Heatmap News, and Jesse Jenkins, Professor of Energy Systems Engineering at Princeton University.
They discuss the Trump administr
EP106—Bipartisan Reflections on EPA’s Past, Present, and Future (Part II)
In the second of this two-part series, EELP's Founding Director and Harvard Law Professor Jody Freeman speaks with William Reilly, EPA Administrator under President George H.W. Bush, and Christine Todd Whitman, EPA Administrator under President George W. Bush. They discuss their time at EPA including efforts to simultaneously advance environmental protections and economic growth. They also discuss
EP105—Bipartisan Reflections on EPA’s Past, Present, and Future (Part I)
In the first of this two-part series, EELP's Founding Director and Harvard Law Professor Jody Freeman speaks with Gina McCarthy, EPA Administrator under President Obama and the White House National Climate Advisor under President Biden. They discuss Gina's time at EPA, including the agency's mission to safeguard public health and the environment through actions that rely on robust science, technol
EP104—Breaking Down Recent Changes to NEPA from Agencies, Congress, and the Courts
EELP attorney Hannah Perls speaks with Professor Andrew Mergen, faculty director of Harvard’s Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, about the latest updates to the National Environmental Policy Act, including new agency implementing procedures, the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Eagle County, and amendments included in the One Big Beautiful Bill recently passed by Congress. They talk abou
EP103—The Future of Environmental Justice with MA AG Andrea Campbell and Vernice Miller-Travis
EELP Senior Staff Attorney Hannah Perls speaks with the Attorney General of Massachusetts, Andrea Joy Campbell, and Vernice Miller-Travis, Executive Vice President and Environmental Justice Lead at the Metropolitan Group. They discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle federal environmental justice and equity programs, funding, and priorities, and what those changes mean for critical
Ep102—Unpacking the White House’s Legal Strategy for Attacking Environmental Protection
In this episode, EELP founding director and Harvard Law Professor Jody Freeman speaks with Carrie Jenks, EELP's executive director and Ari Peskoe, director of EELP's Electricity Law Initiative. They discuss President Trump's most recent executive orders on climate, energy, and the environment and what they are watching for as agencies begin to implement the administration’s directives to roll back
Ep 101—Who Will Pay for Data Centers’ Massive Power Bills? It’s Probably You.
Electricity Law Initiative Director Ari Peskoe and EELP Fellow Eliza Martin discuss their new paper, Extracting Profits from the Public: How Utility Ratepayers are Paying for Big Tech Power. As Amazon, Google, Meta, and other technology companies try to secure electricity for their new data centers, electric utilities are expanding their systems to serve them. Because utility companies profit by b
Ep 100—Trump’s Bold Reversal on Energy and Climate Policy: ‘It’s a Lot’
EELP founding director and Harvard Law Professor Jody Freeman speaks with Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus, Andy Mergen, director of the Harvard Law Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, and Carrie Jenks, executive director of the Environmental and Energy Law Program. They discuss the Trump administration’s actions to date on climate, energy, environment, and natural resources and break
Ep 99—Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Part II: Environmental Justice Lawyering in Practice
EELP senior staff attorney Hannah Perls speaks with speaks with Debbie Chizewer and Nick Leonard about environmental justice lawyering, including leveraging Title VI of the Civil Rights Act on behalf of frontline communities. Debbie Chizewer is a managing attorney with Earthjustice based in Chicago, where she leads the organization's Midwest litigation strategy. Nick Leonard is the executive direc
Ep 98—60 Years of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Part 1: LA v EPA
EELP Senior Staff Attorney Hannah Perls speaks with Olatunde Johnson, the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. Professor Johnson and Hannah discuss the history and evolution of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, a crucial legal tool for the environmental justice movement. Earlier this year, a federal judge blocked EPA and the Department of Justice from enforcing their Title
Monumental Decisions: The Antiquities Act and Presidential Authority
EELP senior staff attorney Sara Dewey speaks with Andy Mergen, Faculty Director of the Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School and former chief of the Appellate Section of the Environment & Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice. Andy and Sara discuss the origin and evolution of presidential authority to designate national monuments under the Antiquities A
Ep 96—Suite of Supreme Court Decisions Undermine Administrative Law
In this episode, EELP Founding Director and Harvard Law Professor Jody Freeman speaks with Andy Mergen, faculty director of the Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School and former chief of the Appellate Section of the Environment & Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice. Jody and Andy break down what they call the “Quagmire Quartet” of recent Supreme Court
Ep 95—The Road to Clean Cars and Clean Air: California's Pivotal Role
California has had a pivotal role in creating US clean car and clean air regulations under multiple administrations. In this episode, EELP Founding Director and Harvard Law Professor, Jody Freeman, speaks with Mary Nichols, former Chair of the California Air Resources Board and California's Secretary for Natural Resources, as well as former Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radia
Ep 94—FERC’s New Approach to Improving Transmission Investment, Order No. 1920
Ari Peskoe, director of our Electricity Law Initiative, speaks with Claire Wayner, senior associate at RMI's Carbon-Free Electricity program, and Casey Baker senior program manager at GridLab. They discuss how the utility industry thinks about building new high-voltage transmission lines and how FERC Order No. 1920 attempts to push the industry to develop more transmission to accommodate new, clea
Ep 93 — Wicked Resilient: Climate Adaptation in Massachusetts
Hannah Perls, EELP Senior Staff Attorney, and Deanna Moran, vice president of healthy and resilient communities at the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston, walk through some of the surprising ways that law and policy drive adaptation decisions in Massachusetts and beyond, including state and local building codes, design standards and risk disclosures, how to make our utilities more resilient wit
Ep 92 — The Endangered Species Act at 50: Potent Statute, Risky Future
The Endangered Species Act, which turned 50 years old on December 28, 2023, has been described as one of the most potent environmental law statutes ever enacted. Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus and Andy Mergen, director of the Harvard Law Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, discuss the initial bipartisan support for the act, the Supreme Court cases that shaped its implementation, and
Ep 91—Global and US Methane Initiatives
In this episode Harvard Law professor and EELP’s Founding Director Jody Freeman, speaks with Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, Chair of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative’s Oil and Gas Executive Committee, Riley Duren, CEO and Founder of Carbon Mapper, Peter Zalzal Distinguished Counsel and Associate Vice President of Clean Air Strategies at Environmental Defense Fund, and EELP’s Executive Director, Carrie Jen
Ep 90—Replacing the Utility Transmission Syndicate’s Control, Ari Peskoe & Hannah Dobie
Ari Peskoe, director of our Electricity Law Initiative, speaks with Staff Attorney Hannah Dobie about Ari’s new article about power sector governance, Replacing the Utility Transmission Syndicate’s Control. They discuss how FERC’s legal authority shapes regional governance, how independent decisionmaking by Regional Transmission Organizations is compromised by utilities and other incumbent firms,
Ep 89—3 lawsuits on auto emissions, 1 UAW strike, and the EV transition
Harvard Law Professor and EELP’s Founding Director Jody Freeman, speaks with Kevin Poloncarz, a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling and Jack Ewing, a New York Times business reporter who writes about the auto industry and electric vehicles. Jody, Kevin, and Jack discuss the three cases currently before the D.C. Circuit about how agencies set vehicle standards to reduce greenhouse gas emiss
Ep 88: Loper Bright and the fate of Chevron with Jody Freeman and Andy Mergen
Harvard Law Professor and EELP’s founding director Jody Freeman, speaks with Andy Mergen, director of Harvard Law’s Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, about a case the US Supreme Court will hear this fall, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which petitioners have asked the Court to overrule the Chevron doctrine — a legal doctrine that governs when a court should defer to an agency’s
Ep 87: Charleston: Race, Water, and the Coming Storm
EELP Senior Staff Attorney Hannah Perls talks with Susan Crawford, the John A. Riley clinical professor at Harvard Law School, and Michelle Mapp, an Equal Justice Works law fellow at the ACLU of South Carolina and former CEO of the South Carolina Community Loan Fund, about Susan's most recent book, Charleston: Race, Water, and the Coming Storm.
Read the transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp
Ep. 86: Sackett v. EPA Decision — What the Justices Said and What this Means for Water
Harvard Law School Professor and EELP's Founding Director Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, speaks with Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus and University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor of Law Steph Tai about the US Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sackett v. EPA.
They discuss how the Court’s reliance on a dictionary definition of waters will drastica
Ep 85: Quick Take — The Debt Ceiling Bill and NEPA Permitting Reform
EELP Senior Staff Attorney Hanna Perls, Executive Director Carrie Jenks, and Electricity Law Initiative Director Ari Peskoe break down recent changes to federal permitting passed as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, aka the debt ceiling bill, which President Biden signed on June 3rd.
Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CleanLaw-85.pdf
Mentioned link: https://
Ep 84: Quick Take — Good News for Clean Energy from the Supreme Court w/ Ari Peskoe and Carrie Jenks
Executive Director Carrie Jenks and EELP’s Electricity Law Initiative Director Ari Peskoe discuss the Supreme Court’s recent National Pork Producers Council v. Ross decision. Ari explains how this case about a California law regulating sales of pork products will help insulate state clean energy laws from certain types of legal challenges.
Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploa
Ep 83: EPA's Proposed Power Sector Rules w/ Jody Freeman, Jay Duffy, Kevin Poloncarz, Carrie Jenks
EELP’s Founding Director Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, and EELP's executive director, Carrie Jenks speak again with Jay Duffy, litigation director at Clean Air Task Force, and Kevin Poloncarz, a partner at the law firm Covington and Burling.
Jody, Jay, and Kevin recently joined CleanLaw to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision about the Obama Administration’
Ep 82: Equitable Disaster Insurance & Climate Change w/Hannah Perls, Carolyn Kousky, & Sean Hecht
EELP senior staff attorney Hannah Perls speaks with Dr. Carolyn Kousky, associate vice president for economics and policy at the Environmental Defense Fund, and Sean Hecht, who is the managing attorney of Earth Justice's California Regional Office.
They discuss the past, present, and future of disaster insurance, including the role that governments can play in helping design insurance markets th
Ep 81: Journey to the Electrification of the Transportation Sector w/Jody Freeman and Chet France
Harvard Law Professor and EELP's Founding Director Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, speaks with Chet France, a former senior executive at EPA who oversaw the first national greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks in US history. Jody and Chet analyze EPA's most recent proposal to update greenhouse gas emission standards for light-duty and medium-duty vehicle
Ep 80: The Making of Environmental Law with Richard Lazarus and Carrie Jenks
Executive Director Carrie Jenks speaks with Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus about his recently released book, The Making of Environmental Law, Second Edition. In this long-awaited update, Professor Lazarus describes how environmental law has developed over the last two decades and explores new challenges for the field, including the shifting role of the judiciary, long overdue efforts
Ep 79: The Good Neighbor Plan for Interstate Ozone Pollution with Carrie Jenks and Hannah Dobie
Carrie Jenks and Hannah Oakes Dobie talk about EPA’s latest regulation to address interstate ozone pollution, the “Good Neighbor Plan.” They discuss how the rule’s new design features will refine EPA’s longstanding air transport program to require power plants to reduce smog-forming pollutants. You can read more about the 2023 “good neighbor plan” in the link below.
This podcast was recorded on A
Ep 78—Quick Take: Legal issues from the East Palestine Train Derailment
Senior Staff Attorney Sara Dewey speaks with Hannah Perls talk about the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. They discuss the regulatory and legal implications of the derailment, including who is in charge of the response and the different roles that federal agencies play. They also discuss the cleanup order issued by EPA and possible federal reforms to railroad safety regulations.
You can
Ep 77—Quick Take: The Dakota Access Pipeline with Hannah Perls and Carrie Jenks
In our first CleanLaw Quick Take*, our Executive Director Carrie Jenks and Staff Attorney Hannah Perls walk through the latest updates on the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Hannah explains how the US Army Corps of Engineers' announcement about its upcoming draft environmental impact statement might affect the future of the pipeline, and how litigation between the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Army
Ep 76—BSEE’s Proposed Offshore Oil Drilling Safety Regulations with Lowry Yankwich and Chris Eaton
Recent HLS graduate Lowry Yankwich speaks with Earthjustice attorney Chris Eaton about the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's proposed Blowout Preventer Systems and Well Control Revisions rule for oil and gas operations in the Outer Continental Shelf.
This rule is intended to protect workers and prevent oil spills, and is part of the reforms instituted since the Deepwater Horizon tr
Ep 75—EPA’s Methane Regulations with Carrie Jenks, Kyle Danish, and Dan Zimmerle
Carrie Jenks, our executive director, speaks with Kyle Danish, a partner at Van Ness Feldman, and Dan Zimmerle, the director of the Methane Emissions Program at Colorado State University. They discuss EPA's recently released supplemental proposal to reduce methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector, and how the regulatory framework EPA has proposed is designed to enable the use of advan
Ep 74—Oregon's Clean Fuel Standards with Abby Husselbee and Cory-Ann Wind. Album: CleanLaw
EELP Legal Fellow Abby Husselbee speaks with Cory-Ann Wind, the Program Manager of Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program in the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Cory has worked for ODEQ for over 29 years, the last 12 in fuels, transportation, and climate policy. Abby and Cory discuss clean fuel standards and their benefits, Oregon’s program and history, prior legal challenges to their programs,
73—Current Challenges and Opportunities for Electric Transmission, with Ari Peskoe and Hannah Oakes
Director of our Electricity Law Initiative Ari Peskoe spoke with Staff Attorney Hannah Oakes about electric transmission regulation and how it has disincentivized regional transmission build out. They discuss Ari’s work in recent FERC transmission proceedings, and how Congress, states, and utilities can help catalyze transmission development to enable the clean energy transition.
Transcript: http
72-Legislating Environmental Justice in New York with Prof. Rebecca Bratspies and Hannah Perls
Hannah Perls speaks with Professor Rebecca Bratspies at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and founding Director of the Center for Urban Environmental Reform, which works with community groups seeking to obtain full and meaningful participation in environmental decision-making. They discuss recent environmental justice legislation (EJ) in New York, and what these legislative win
71-Corporate Net Zero Committments: GE’s Roger Martella speaks with Lowry Yankwich
Lowry Yankwich, a recent graduate of HLS, speaks with Roger Martella, GE's Chief Sustainability Officer. They discuss GE’s recent sustainability commitments and how the company is tackling its operational and downstream emissions across the aviation, public health, and power sectors.
A note for our listeners – this episode was recorded before Congress passed of the Inflation Reduction Act.
For a
70-IRA and its Clean Energy Implications with Jody Freeman and Greg Dotson
Harvard Law Professor and EELP’s Founding Director Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, speaks with Greg Dotson, an associate professor at the University of Oregon School of Law and recent Democratic chief counsel to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Jody and Greg discuss the climate and clean energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act and
69-WV v. EPA Pt 2: Implications for Regulating the Power Sector J. Freeman, K. Poloncarz, & J. Duffy
EELP’s Founding Director Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, speaks with Jay Duffy, an attorney at Clean Air Task Force, and Kevin Poloncarz, a partner at the law firm Covington and Burling, about what the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA means for their clients and the potential implications for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the power sect
68-WV v EPA Pt 1: Breaking Down the Court’s Opinion: Jody Freeman, Richard Lazarus, and Carrie Jenks
Professor Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, Professor Richard Lazarus, and EELP Executive Director Carrie Jenks discuss the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA. They break down the majority decision, concurrence, and dissent, and discuss how the major questions doctrine could affect EPA regulations addressing greenhouse gases and other key regulatory
67-Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Emissions and West Virginia v. EPA, What's Next? Freeman and Lazarus
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/
66-Fixing the National Flood Insurance Program with Joel Scata and Hannah Perls
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
65—Clean Car Rules with Jody Freeman and Chet France
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 rule
64—South Fork Wind Farm and Fisheries Management with Lowry Yankwich and Doug Christel
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 att
63—EPA's Proposed Methane Rules with Kate Konschnik and Carrie Jenks
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
62-How Does Climate Change Relate to Market Risk? With Hana Vizcarra and Madison Condon
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 M
61-Petitions to the Supreme Court of the decision vacating ACE with Kevin Poloncarz and Carrie Jenks
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 fo
60-A Human Rights View of Climate Change, Aminta Ossom and Hannah Perls
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.
T
59-Business Models for Distributed Energy Resources with Brandon Smithwood and Ari Peskoe
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-En
58-Biden's first 100 Days on Climate and the Environment with Hana Vizcarra and Hannah Perls
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-Pro
57-Environmental Racism in NC Hog Farming Pt 2 w/Naeema Muhammad, Elizabeth Haddix, & Hannah Perls
EELP Fellow Hannah Perls speaks with Naeema Muhammad and Elizabeth Haddix. Naeema is a life-long activist and the Organizing Co-Director of the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, where she has worked for the past two decades leading state-wide campaigns and supporting grassroots efforts for environmental and social justice.
Elizabeth is a Managing Attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee f
56 - Environmental Racism in NC Hog Farming with Naeema Muhammad, Alexis Andiman, & Hannah Perls
In this episode EELP Fellow Hannah Perls spoke with Naeema Muhammad and Alexis Andiman. Naeema is a life-long activist and the Organizing Co-Director of the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, where she has worked for the past two decades leading state-wide campaigns and supporting grassroots efforts for environmental and social justice. Alexis Andiman is a staff attorney with the Sustai
Ep 55-Energy Utility Regulatory Frameworks and Climate Laws with Justin Gundlach& Elizabeth Stein
Note: this episode was recorded in January, 2021.
In this episode our staff attorney Caitlin McCoy was joined by Justin Gundlach and Elizabeth Stein to discuss their recent article "Harmonizing States' Energy Utility Regulation Frameworks and Climate Laws. A Case Study of New York."
Justin is a senior attorney at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law. His work
Ep 54 - Electric Utility Mergers and Industry Consolidation with Scott Hempling and Ari Peskoe
Ari Peskoe, speaks with Scott Hempling, adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center about Scott’s new book, Regulating Mergers and Acquisitions of the U.S. Electric Utilities: Industry Concentration and Corporate Complication. Scott has also written about FERC’s review of utility merger applications in a 2018 Energy Law Journal Article entitled Inconsistent with the Public Interest:
Ep 53 - Climate Science, Communication, and Hope: Katharine Hayhoe and Joe Goffman
In this episode our executive director Joe Goffman interviews climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Texas Tech Climate Center and Professor in Public Policy and Public Law in the Department of Political Science. Professor Hayhoe talks about the cutting edge science of climate change attribution, how she tries to help the public understand the reality of climate change by making it lo
Ep 52 - Carbon Pricing with Matto Mildenberger and Ari Peskoe
In this episode, our Electricity Law Initiative director Ari Peskoe speaks with Matto Mildenberger, assistant professor of political science at the UC Santa Barbara, about the politics of carbon pricing. Note - we recorded this episode in late October, prior to the presidential election.
This is a link to the article they discuss http://bostonreview.net/science-nature-politics/matto-mildenberger
Ep 51 - Next Generation Environmental Regulations, Joe Goffman interviews Cynthia Giles
In this episode, our executive director Joe Goffman speaks again with Cynthia Giles, our guest fellow and former Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. They discuss her ongoing work examining how well environmental rules do in ensuring compliance with pollution and waste reduction requirements, where they fail, and how to make sure they succeed.
You can
Episode 50: Erin Brockovich and Caitlin McCoy Talk about Community Advocacy and US Water Regulations
In our 50th episode of CleanLaw, Erin Brockovich speaks with Caitlin McCoy about some of the major water issues in the U.S. today and what people can do to work toward better water quality in their communities and beyond. Their conversation covers community science, tips for effective advocacy, legacy water pollution issues, and the problems with current laws and regulations. Erin shares an inspir
Episode 49: The Department of the Interior Rollbacks under Trump with Laura Bloomer and Robin Just
Robin Just interviews our former EELP Fellow Laura Bloomer about changes in the Department of the Interior under the Trump administration. Laura interviewed dozens of former DOI career staff, former political appointees, and natural resources and American Indian law experts and distills their insights in our newest white paper - link below. She breaks down how these changes have been implemented,
Episode 48: Caitlin and Aladdine Joroff on the MA AG's Decision on Local Natural Gas Usage Laws
In this episode Caitlin McCoy talks with Aladdine Joroff, clinical instructor and staff attorney at our Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, about the recent decision by the Massachusetts Attorney General disapproving Brookline, MA’s law seeking to limit the use of natural gas in buildings, and comments the Clinic submitted on behalf of Mothers Out Front Massachusetts, arguing that Brooklin
Episode 47: Joe Goffman & Francesca Dominici on Air Quality, Covid-19, and Black Communities
"The progress is uneven. We are not cleaning the air in an even way for everybody."
In this episode our executive director Joe Goffman speaks with Francesca Dominici, Professor of Biostatistics, Population, and Data Science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Co-Director of the Harvard Data Science Initiative.
They discuss her team’s state-of-the-art science that shows air pollu
Episode 46: Joe Goffman and Sam Ricketts on Climate Change Policy Proposals
In this episode Joe Goffman speaks with Sam Ricketts, senior fellow for Energy and Environment at the Center for American Progress and former climate director for the presidential campaign of Govrnor Jay Inslee. He now also serves as a co-founder of Evergreen, an organization created by Inslee campaign alumni to continue to deploy the policy, communications, and organizing tools of a political cam
Episode 45: Hana Vizcarra and Kevin McClean on the Toxic Substances Control Act Revisions
Hana Vizcarra speaks with Kevin McClean, former Associate General Counsel for EPA’s Pesticides and Toxic Substances Law Office, about chemical substances regulation and implementation of the 2016 revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Transcript here https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/CleanLaw-45-Hana-and-Kevin-McLean-TSCA-Lautenberg.pdf
Kevin's paper on TSCA after t
Episode 44: Joe Goffman Speaks with Cynthia Giles about EPA's Enforcement Problems During COVID-19
Recorded on May 7, Joe Goffman speaks with Cynthia Giles, former Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, about EPA’s rollback of environmental enforcement in a COVID-19 enforcement discretion policy issued at the end of March 2020.
This issue is still playing out: three lawsuits are pending about the March enforcement policy, and EPA has given some additi
Episode 43: Ari Peskoe speaks with Leah Stokes about State Clean Energy Policies
In this episode Ari Peskoe speaks with Leah Stokes, Professor of Political Science at UC Santa Barbara about state clean energy policies.
Transcript https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/CleanLaw-43-Ari-and-Leah-Stokes-on-Interest-Groups-and-Utilities.pdf
Episode 42: Ari Peskoe talks about Attacks on Net Metering for Rooftop Solar
Ari Peskoe, Director of our Electricity Law Initiative, describes a petition filed at FERC by a group calling itself the New England Ratepayers Association requesting that FERC find state-regulated net metering arrangements violate federal law and are therefore invalid.
If FERC were to grant NERA’s petition, utilities across the country would likely press state regulators to change the rules th
Episode 41: Caitlin McCoy and Bethany Davis Noll on Cost-Benefit Issues in the Clean Cars Rollback
Caitlin McCoy is joined by Bethany Davis Noll, Litigation Director at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University Law School. They discuss the recently-finalized Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule, which weakens fuel economy and GHG standards for cars and light trucks. They share some insights into the rule and how it could be challenged.
A transcript of this episode is
Episode 40: Jody Freeman and Alex Griswold on Trump Environmental Rollbacks and Optimism
In this episode Alex Griswold, a research associate at the Harvard University Center for the Environment, interviews Professor Jody Freeman, our founding director and also an independent director of ConocoPhillips. They talk about the Trump-era environmental rollbacks that are most troubling to Jody, and why she is still optimistic that we can do better.
Transcript https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/w
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