CleanLaw

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, process-intensive exemption procedure. Andy and Erika break down how the Act usually works and why this maneuver is so legally extraordinary. They discuss why the administration's litigation-focused explanation is surprising, how this approach short-circuits potential action by courts and Congress, what may happen with legal challenges to this exemption decision, and what it may mean for endangered species protections in the Gulf. Note: Andy's views are his own. Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CleanLaw-EP113-Transcript.pdf

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 announcement to withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. They explain what the UNFCC does, the domestic and international legal implications of withdrawal, and what this move—along with the earlier withdrawal from the Paris Agreement—means for US credibility on the global stage. They also look ahead, exploring how climate progress can continue beyond the UNFCC and Paris, and the need to develop bipartisan consensus for durable climate actions.  Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/CleanLaw-EP112-Transcript.pdf Legal and Practical Implications of the U.S. Withdrawal from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change by Sue Biniaz and Jean Galbraith https://www.justsecurity.org/128687/implications-us-withdrawal-unfccc/

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 transition to clean energy.    Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/CleanLaw-EP111-Transcript.pdf

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 cutting emissions.

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 discuss the growing field of cumulative impacts analysis and how states are increasingly using this tool in permitting and other programs to advance meaningful protections for overburdened communities across the country. Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/CleanLaw_EP109-Transcript.pdf Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States: https://www.ucc.org/what-we-do/justice-local-church-ministries/efam/environmental-justice/environmental-ministries_toxic-waste-20/ New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Environmental Justice Archives: https://dep.nj.gov/ej/archive/#meeting-20210624 EELP's EJ Tracker page on EPA's cumulative impacts efforts: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/tracker/epa-released-interim-framework-for-advancing-consideration-of-cumulative-impacts/ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's State-of-the-Science and the Future of Cumulative Impact Assessment report: https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/state-of-the-science-and-the-future-of-cumulative-impact-assessment The New School Tishman Environment and Design Center's Cumulative Impacts Dashboard map of EJ laws: https://www.tishmancenter.org/cumulativeimpacts