Richard Lazarus – Page 12 – Environmental and Energy Law Program

Bio

Professor Lazarus teaches environmental law, natural resources law, Supreme Court advocacy, and torts at Harvard Law School. He has represented the United States, state and local governments, and environmental groups in the United States Supreme Court in 40 cases and has presented oral arguments in 14 of those cases. He served as the Executive Director of the National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill as well as on the Biden Transition Team for the U.S. Justice Department.

Faculty Profile

Latest

In the Media
Living on Earth

Ruth Bader Ginsburg left behind a powerful environmental legacy

Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus, author of “The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court,” believes the “classic example” of Ginsburg’s contribution to environmental jurisprudence was the 2007 case Massachusetts v. EPA, which is widely considered the most important environmental case ever decided by the US Supreme Court.

October 13, 2020

In the Media
New York Times

New Supreme Court Term Could End Roberts’s Dominant Role

“The chief’s leadership of the court, which just a few weeks ago appeared to be at its zenith, is now in peril,” said Richard J. Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard who has taught courses on the Supreme Court with Chief Justice Roberts. “An addition of yet another very conservative justice could quickly eliminate the chief’s ability to steer the court toward moderation.”

October 6, 2020

In the Media
Bloomberg

‘Bloomberg Markets: The Close’ Full Show (9/28/2020)

Romaine Bostick & Taylor Riggs bring you the latest news and analysis leading up to the final minutes and seconds before the closing bell on Wall Street and tackle the SCOTUS impact on the Affordable Care Act, the delayed TikTok ban and oil’s lackluster demand Guests Today: Meb Farber of Cambria Investment Management, Jonathan Gruber of MIT, David Conrod of FocusPoint, Jose Antonio Vargas of Define American, Chris Davis of Davis Advisors, Jason Katz of UBS, Richard Lazarus of Harvard Law School.

September 30, 2020

In the Media
Axios

The Supreme Court’s coming rightward shift on climate

Axios also asked Harvard Law School’s Richard Lazarus about whether the more conservative court might upend Massachusetts v. EPA: “While the Court sometimes overrules it constitutional rulings, it almost never overrules its rulings on the meaning of federal statutes. I don’t think they would do it here.”

September 30, 2020

In the Media
Washington Post

Trump’s Supreme Court move deepens fears of an authoritarian power play

It is difficult for the public to see the court as politically neutral “when a primary reason being given in favor of an expedited Senate confirmation hearing is … so the new justice can be there in time to vote in a way that will ensure the reelection of the president who just nominated them,” Richard J. Lazarus, a Harvard University law professor, told The Washington Post’s Robert Barnes.

September 28, 2020

In the Media
E&E News

How the agency came to regulate greenhouse gases

“The Obama administration took the Bush administration’s loss with Massachusetts v. EPA and then they ran with it for eight years,” said Richard Lazarus, a Harvard Law School professor and author of “The Rule of Five,” which chronicles the Supreme Court case in close detail. “They never got legislation, so [the court case] became the ballgame for climate change in the United States.”

September 28, 2020

In the Media
Living on Earth

Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Environment

In addition to championing women’s rights, the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg left a strong and sophisticated environmental legacy. Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus speaks with Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering about some of “RBG’s” key environmental votes and written opinions.

September 28, 2020

In the Media
Bloomberg Law

INSIGHT: RBG’s Everlasting Impact on Environmental Jurisprudence

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg played a significant role in shaping environmental law, Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus writes. Her greatest contributions were rooted not in her ideology, but in her skills as one of the most talented lawyers ever to serve on the court. What makes Ginsburg’s record in environmental cases striking is that although she voted frequently in ways applauded by environmentalists, if she was not persuaded by their legal arguments she would not hesitate to vote against them.

September 24, 2020

In the Media
Washington Post

Partisan fight over Supreme Court could affect issues and image

“The nomination battle is a huge threat to the court,” said Richard Lazarus, a Harvard law professor who closely studies the justices. “The chief justice and most of the associate justices believe strongly in the court’s image as a nonpartisan institution. But it is a battle they will lose if the other two branches insist on making the court into a partisan political institution.”

September 24, 2020