In Law360 Article Series, Akin Gump Lawyers Discuss Key Environmental and Energy Considerations for the 2020 Elections

Law360 has published the article series “Environmental Policy And The Election,” a three-part series by Akin Gump partners James Tucker and Stacey Mitchell and associate Bryan Williamson outlining the key environmental and energy policies of President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. The series also looks at how the outcome of the congressional elections could affect policy in these areas.

The first article identifies the Trump administration’s “significant late-term rules that a unified Democratic Congress may seek to invalidate to minimize Trump’s legacy.” The authors write that this could be done through the Congressional Review Act, which they describe as “the equivalent of a legislative veto.” They then outline the specific “environmental- and energy-related rules and proposed rules (if finalized) that may be subject to review and possible rejection by the next Congress.”

To read the article in full, please click here.

In the second installment, Tucker, Mitchell and Williamson analyze “the policy differences between Trump and Biden on environmental issues including domestic energy, air quality and international climate diplomacy.” They also look at some likely consequences of those differences.

Click here to read this article.

The third article in the series (click here to read) looks at the candidates’ positions on water quality, biodiversity and federal lands, and environmental justice. The authors note that, while President Trump and Former Vice President Biden “take strongly diverging stands on virtually every facet of energy and environmental policy,” whoever wins the election is likely to use “similar tools such as executive orders, regulatory rulemakings, permitting decisions and the use of federal funds to advance their agendas.”