Green Building Law Update

The Intersection of Real Estate, Science, and Law

Archives: Environmental

Subscribe to Environmental RSS Feed

Microplastics – The Next Environmental Crisis We Can No Longer Ignore

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Environmental
For decades, environmental law has been built around visible harms: smokestacks, discharge pipes, landfills, and oil spills. We regulate what we can see. Microplastics represent the opposite problem, an environmental threat that is largely invisible, already ubiquitous, and increasingly understood to be biologically active. In many contemporary risk assessments, microplastics now rank among the top … Continue Reading

2025 Year in Review of Environmental Blog Posts

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Climate Change, Energy, Environmental, greenwashing, Legal, wind turbine
As 2025 draws to a close, environmental law once again proved to be less about ideology and more about adaptation. The environmental issues that resonated most this year, from political, cultural to economic, reflected in our Top 10 most read blog posts, were those that sat squarely at the intersection of regulation, innovation, and market … Continue Reading

Inhalers and the Planet: Breathing Room in Environmental Policy

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Environmental, greenhouse gas, Sustainability
The mainstream press was quick to report this week on a startling new study out of UCLA: inhalers used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) produce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 530,000 cars on the road each year. Published on October 6, 2025, the study quantified that inhalers approved for asthma and … Continue Reading

EPA Seeks Public Comment on Genetically Engineered Mosquito Risk

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, Federal
As an environmental attorney, I am often asked to evaluate the legal processes surrounding emerging technologies that intersect with protecting human health and the environment. Few issues illustrate this intersection more vividly than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s latest announcement concerning genetically engineered mosquitoes for mosquito control. This is a significant environmental matter. For those … Continue Reading

Maryland Expands Bat Protections: New Law Shifts Approach to Biodiversity

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, Federal, State
Biodiversity degradation is an existential crisis affecting planetary and human health. Since the enactment of the federal Endangered Species Act in 1973, populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, and fish have dropped a shocking 68%. As scientists and policymakers grapple with addressing the rapid and widespread decline in species, states like Maryland are exploring regulatory strategies … Continue Reading

Maryland is About to Regulate Mold: But is the Cart Before the Horse?

By Stuart Kaplow on Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental, State
In a sweeping act moving into a new regulatory space, “where no [hu]man has gone before,” aimed at addressing indoor mold, the Maryland General Assembly passed Senate Bill 856 during the just concluded 2025 legislative session. This legislation, not yet signed by the governor, sets Maryland on a path to becoming maybe the only state … Continue Reading
LexBlog