Supreme Court
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Another reason why Elena Kagan might be a green Supreme Court justice
Conventional thinking is that there’s not much exciting about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, either in her life story or in her legal area of expertise, administrative law. But there’s an interesting argument that Kagan’s drab-sounding expertise is precisely what environmental advocates need on the court. Climate-change overlaps quite a bit with administrative law — […]
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Did Elena Kagan really flunk a food-policy litmus test?
Former Gourmet contributing editor Barry Estabrook, now writing for The Atlantic‘s online food section, has raised concerns that President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan may be too sympathetic to biotech giant Monsanto: It’s a good thing for Elena Kagan that there’s no non-GMO litmus test for Supreme Court nominees. She’d flunk. As solicitor general, […]
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Elena Kagan, climate realist
Photo: White House / Lawrence Jackson Here’s the dirt on Earth-hating Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan: On more than one occasion she was so consumed by her work that she accidentally left her car running overnight, a longtime “friend” told the New York Times. But it’s worth looking beyond this personal eco-foul to examine Kagan’s […]
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First look at Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s green cred
Update: Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan hasn’t said much about her environmental views, but she has a solid record of supporting climate law. Here’s the full story on her green cred. Courtesy Doc Searls via Wikimedia Commons—– Well, President Obama picked Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his second Supreme Court nominee. Here’s what we learned […]
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What the green movement needs from the next Supreme Court justice
Courtesy Kyle Rush via FlickrFederal-court watcher Glenn Sugameli suggests two ways President Obama’s next Supreme Court nominee can help make the court more ecologically intelligent. Nine years ago Sugameli founded Judging the Environment, a clearinghouse for info on how federal judges (who get lifetime appointments) determine environmental policy. He’s also a staff attorney at Defenders […]
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Justice Stevens’ pro-environmental legacy embodies a simple approach: follow the law
Following last Friday’s announcement that Justice John Paul Stevens will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of this term, President Obama hailed the Court’s most senior Justice as “an impartial guardian of the law.” This description is certainly accurate, and is perhaps best illustrated by Justice Stevens’ numerous rulings in environmental cases. First, […]
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How green are Obama’s potential Supreme Court picks?
Update: Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan hasn’t said much about her environmental views, but she has a solid record of supporting climate law. Here’s the full story on her green cred. President Barack Obama is reportedly considering about 10 people to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, although popular consensus has quickly […]
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What the John Paul Stevens retirement means for energy progress
Stevens (center) with President Obama and Justice Anthony Kennedy last September.Collection of the Supreme Court of the United StatesSupreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced his long-expected retirement Friday, meaning we can expect another testy/goofy/”contentious” confirmation process in the Senate this summer. Stevens’ retirement means a few other things too: 1. The court loses an […]
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Supreme Court ruling increases importance of local energy
The vision of a massive nationwide superhighway of high voltage transmission lines may have died last week in the Supreme Court. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Overshadowed by the (terrible) Citizens United ruling, the Supreme Court essentially upheld the right of states to block high voltage transmission wires. At issue was the […]
