-
Blog
State Attorneys General Stand Up for Conservation
State attorneys general have been successfully waging high-profile fights against the administration’s efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and other bedrock environmental laws.
-
Blog
DOE’s Latest Attempt to Neuter Its Statutory Energy Efficiency Responsibilities
Despite DOE’s successful program that requires manufacturers to produce more energy-efficient products, the Trump administration has declared war on DOE’s energy efficiency program.
-
Blog
Buckle Your Seat Belts For A Battle Royale Around Cars & Coal
An important reckoning is near. Two of the Trump administration’s most significant anti-environment initiatives are on deck. In the coming weeks, EPA will put a new Clean Air Act rule in place for the coal industry and, later this summer, it will do the same for the automobile industry.
-
Blog
The U.S. Is Taking on the Climate Crisis – No Thanks to the Trump Administration
The architecture for solving major challenges in the U.S. typically stands on four pillars: the federal government; state governments; the private business sector; and public support. When it comes to the climate crisis, three of these four pillars are in place, rooted in a solid foundation of facts and science. Only the federal government is missing.
-
Blog
How the Conflict Between States and the Federal Government is Hurting the Emerging Clean Energy Economy
From the outset, the Trump administration has painted federal environmental regulations as constraints that “unduly burden” the promotion of domestic fossil fuels, and its manic (and mostly unsuccessful) efforts to remove key environmental protections has since reinforced it.
-
Blog
What a Recent Court Decision Means for Future Environmental Deregulation
The Trump administration has an abysmal track record in defending its deregulatory actions in the courts. The administration’s poor performance has been due, in large part, to its repeated attempts to unlawfully delay or otherwise avoid enforcing legal requirements that are on the books. Courts have not been patient with such antics
-
Blog
Learning from the Past to Help Resolve Future Health & Environmental Challenges
Major health and environmental controversies burst on the national scene with some regularity, often raising challenging legal and policy issues around liability, restoration and restitution. These issues are often tough for single courts, or for our legal system generally, to handle
-
Blog
The Rollback of Six Critical Environmental Regulations Will Increase U.S. Climate Pollution by More Than 200 Million Metric Tons Each Year
It is challenging to keep track of the Trump administration’s many rollbacks of environmental and health protections. Dozens of rollbacks are in process, and new ones are surfacing all the time
-
Blog
Everyone is a Fan of Saving Energy… Except the Trump Administration
Since 1975, Congress has directed DOE to develop national energy efficiency standards that are technically feasible and cost-effective for consumers and manufacturers alike. Despite the maturity and success of Energy Department’s energy efficiency standards program, the Trump administration clearly would prefer not to implement it
-
Blog
Why the Controversy Around PFAS Chemicals, and What the EPA Can (and Should) Do About It
The EPA has yet to use any of its authorities to take decisive action regarding the alarming levels of toxic PFAS (per- and Poly Fluoro Alkyl Substances) confirmed to be present in hundreds of drinking water sources throughout the nation.
-
Blog
State Attorneys General Are Clearing the Way for Clean Energy
Clean energy is on a roll, and it’s not by accident. States are leading the clean energy revolution that is now underway in our country. And state attorneys general are on the front lines protecting clean energy gains, and clearing the way for more progress
-
Blog
The Energy & Environmental Stakes in 2019 Couldn’t be Higher
Over the past two years, rather than advocating specific (de)regulatory actions, the EPA, Interior Department and Justice Department have focused primarily on delaying or otherwise avoiding enforcement of existing requirements. Thanks to excellent work by state attorneys general and other advocates, these procedural efforts have been mostly unsuccessful
Insights by David J. Hayes (Past Executive Director)
David J. Hayes was the State Impact Center’s executive director from August 2017 through January 2021, when he left the Center to serve in the Biden administration as Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy, a role he filled until late 2022.