By William C. Rose, Managing Editor at N.Y.U. Environmental Law Journal This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate.  Introduction  E-bikes[1] were legalized across New York State in April 2020 following a period of unintentional illegality that spawned punitive enforcement measures against the food delivery riders who rely on e-bikes in New York City. In the course of legalizing the bikes, however, the legislature created a special carve-out for the Hudson River Greenway (“the Greenway”)—a major bike path on the west side of Manhattan—banning e-bikes from what is likely the safest north-south route on the island. The ban…

By Lilly Leibu, Digital Editor at N.Y.U. Environmental Law Journal.  This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate.  Introduction    Former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Andrew Wheeler purported to rid EPA of “secret science” and “[empower] the American people to demand future transparency” with a regulation that stakeholders such as Big Tobacco and coal-funded groups have lobbied for since the mid-1990s.[1] Under his directive, EPA published a notice for the proposed rule “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” in 2018. The agency broadened its scope and published a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) two years later…

By Cole Jermyn, Editor-in-Chief at Harvard Environmental Law Review.  This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate. Read the original here and leave a comment.  Introduction The offshore wind power industry in the United States is at an inflection point. Only two projects have been constructed up to this point: the Block Island wind farm off Rhode Island, and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project off Virginia.[1] Together, these projects consist of seven turbines with a combined maximum capacity of only forty-two megawatts (“MW”) of electricity.[2] But all signs point to an explosion in the construction of…

By Grace Weatherall, Managing Editor at the Harvard Environmental Law Review. This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate. Read the original here and leave a comment. Introduction Bostock v. Clayton County was marked for a place among landmark Supreme Court jurisprudence as soon as it arrived.. The decision protected LGBTQ+ employees from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and LGBT activists and allies rightly celebrated it as an affirmation of basic human rights and dignity. But amidst this celebration, excitement arose from a different, surprising, quarter: climate change activists. Before the ink had dried…

By Sarah L. Fine Sarah Fine is a J.D. candidate at Lewis & Clark Law School and an Online Journal Editor of Environmental Law. This post is part of the Environmental Law Review Syndicate. As the old saying goes, whiskey is for drinking—water is for fighting over. I. Introduction The mythic Dead Sea—the highly salinated, low-altitude lake of international interest and importance—is drying up.[1] Although the Jordan Rift Valley, where the Dead Sea is located, is known for frequent droughts, the decline of the Dead Sea is primarily due to human intervention—namely, the diversion of the Jordan River, the main…