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The document examines the conflict between Vattenfall and Germany arising from the 13th Amendment to the Atomic Energy Act, which mandated the closure of nuclear plants by 2022. It explores how the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) allows foreign investors to bypass domestic courts and seek compensation through the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The report compares the investor-friendly standards of international arbitration—such as 'fair and equitable treatment' and 'indirect expropriation'—with the more public-interest-oriented protections of the German Basic Law. It concludes that the current investor-state dispute settlement system lacks transparency and predictability, potentially creating a 'chilling effect' on environmental policy-making.

The report identifies systemic barriers to evidence-based decision-making regarding hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the U.S., including industry interference in academic and government research, legal loopholes in federal environmental laws, and a lack of transparency regarding chemical use. It highlights how non-disclosure agreements in legal settlements silence affected citizens and hide scientific data. The document provides a framework for communities to seek reliable information and calls for comprehensive laws requiring baseline and ongoing environmental monitoring and full chemical disclosure.

The author criticizes a House amendment that exempts coal ash ponds and landfills from federal regulation, arguing it prioritizes the interests of the coal industry over public health and ignores the risks demonstrated by the 2008 Kingston, TN spill.

The report evaluates five brick-firing technologies: Fixed Chimney Bulls Trench Kiln (FCBTK), Zig-zag Kiln, Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK), Down-Draught Kiln (DDK), and Tunnel Kiln. VSBK is identified as the most energy-efficient and lowest emitting technology, while DDK is the least efficient. Zig-zag kilns are proposed as the most logical replacement for the prevalent FCBTKs due to lower investment costs and better performance. The study highlights significant barriers to modernization in India, including labor shortages, rising fuel costs, and land lease restrictions. It recommends a roadmap including the phase-out of FCBTKs by 2020, promotion of internal fuels through semi-mechanization, and the launch of a national brick development programme to improve profitability and working conditions.

The report analyzes the challenges of defining 'indirect expropriation'—measures that deprive an investor of the economic value of an investment without formally seizing the title. It contrasts the 'sole effect doctrine,' which focuses exclusively on the prejudice suffered by the investor, with more balanced approaches like proportionality and the 'police powers' doctrine, which protect legitimate non-discriminatory public regulations. The author argues that current investment treaties often lack precise definitions, leading to inconsistent arbitral rulings that may discourage states from implementing essential public health, environmental, or social protections due to the risk of costly compensation claims.

The briefing highlights the lack of transparency in international arbitrations between foreign investors and sovereign governments, noting that many proceedings are conducted behind closed doors. It warns that proposed limitations by some delegations could render new UNCITRAL transparency rules irrelevant by preventing their application to existing and future treaties.

The report details how corporate interests corrupt science through research suppression, ghostwriting, and the vilification of scientists, while also manipulating federal agencies, Congress, and the judiciary. It assesses the initial steps taken by the Obama administration to improve transparency and scientific integrity and provides a comprehensive set of recommendations for further federal and private-sector reforms to ensure policy is based on independent science.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), acting for groundWork and the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA), submitted a statement to the Department of Environmental Affairs on 31 January 2012. The document objects to proposed amendments to the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004’s list of activities resulting in atmospheric emissions, arguing that the changes generally relax emission limits, extend compliance time-frames, and were developed through a non-transparent process that favored industry representatives over affected communities.

The document criticizes 260 U.S. House members who voted on June 21, 2012, to include a provision in a transportation bill that allows coal ash ponds to operate without basic safety standards and prevents the EPA from establishing national health and safety regulations. It highlights that these members represent districts containing the vast majority of the U.S.'s hazardous coal ash sites and notes a correlation between these votes and campaign contributions from the electric utility and mining industries.

The document criticizes the GOP-controlled House and Senate legislation S. 1751 for attempting to bar the EPA from establishing disposal standards for coal ash. It highlights scientific findings from Dr. Michael Kosnett and Dr. David Kosson, which indicate that coal ash leaches carcinogens and toxic chemicals—including arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and thallium—into groundwater at levels often hundreds or thousands of times above federal drinking water standards. The text references a specific coal ash spill in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and the TVA disaster as evidence of the risks posed by improper disposal.

The document opposes H.R. 2273, a bill that would prevent the EPA from designating coal ash as hazardous waste and limit federal oversight of coal ash management. It highlights the 2008 Kingston coal ash disaster in East Tennessee as evidence of the risks associated with poor management and alleges that the bill's sponsors have received significant financial donations from coal interests.

The briefing proposes that the US congressional super committee avoid austerity cuts to social services and environmental enforcement by targeting "environmentally harmful spending" and generating revenue through a carbon tax and other levies. It highlights the "Green Scissors 2011" report, which identifies up to $380 billion in potential savings over five years from subsidies to the oil, gas, coal, nuclear, and biofuels industries. Additionally, the authors suggest a carbon tax could generate significant revenue, citing a proposal that could have yielded $600 billion over 10 years, alongside potential taxes on sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions and a currency transaction levy.

The document analyzes the Austrian Model Investment Treaty, noting that while it introduces innovations to protect public welfare and limit 'treaty shopping,' it retains problematic features such as an expansive umbrella clause, a vague Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) standard, and a lack of transparency in investor-state dispute settlement.

The authors argue that the EPA's cost-benefit analysis for cooling water intake structures (CWISs) is fundamentally flawed due to the systematic underestimation of environmental benefits and the overestimation of costs. By incorporating a wider range of non-use values, correcting recreational value estimates based on the Bay Shore Power Plant study, and using revised cost estimates from Powers Engineering, the authors demonstrate that the most stringent regulatory options (Options 2 and 3) can yield positive net benefits. They further contend that the economic impact on electricity rates would be minimal and that stricter regulation would actually be more beneficial for national GDP and employment. Finally, they strongly oppose the use of site-specific calculations, suggesting instead a national standard with a higher threshold (e.g., 500 MGD) to protect smaller facilities while maintaining high environmental benefits.

The document details a 2010 UNEP study aimed at mapping oil pollution in Ogoniland, Nigeria, to facilitate a clean-up plan. It highlights the historical conflict between the Ogoni people and Shell, the political tensions surrounding the study's publication, and the broader need for environmental remediation across the Niger Delta, calling for the home governments of international oil companies to provide expertise and pressure for regulation.

The analysis concludes that the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 (S. 847) provides the legal authority required for the U.S. to ratify the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the LRTAP POPs Protocol, and the Rotterdam Convention. Key mechanisms include closing the TSCA export loophole and granting the EPA authority to prohibit the manufacture, use, and distribution of chemicals inconsistent with treaty obligations. The report also highlights the bill's ability to allow the U.S. to regulate persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals independently of international consensus, potentially restoring U.S. global leadership on chemical safety.

A coalition of environmental and health organizations is urging U.S. Senators to reject a proposal by Senators Conrad and Enzi to weaken coal ash regulations. The coalition argues that coal ash contains toxic chemicals like arsenic and mercury, posing severe risks to public health and the environment, as evidenced by a 2008 spill in Tennessee. They advocate for the EPA to regulate coal ash as a "special waste" under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to phase out wet disposal and establish enforceable national standards, rather than adopting voluntary guidelines under subtitle D.

The report concludes that the Hong Kong Convention does not provide an equivalent level of control to the Basel Convention and therefore fails to ensure the environmentally sound management of shipbreaking. It argues that the Hong Kong Convention undermines key Basel protections through narrower scope, a weaker notification system that allows tacit consent, a lack of criminalization for illegal traffic, and the absence of a duty to re-import waste. Furthermore, the analysis finds that the Hong Kong Convention fails to sufficiently consider the interests of developing countries, where most shipbreaking occurs, by lacking funding mechanisms and mandatory minimum standards to phase out dangerous 'beaching' practices.

The author contends that coal- and oil-fired power plants have lacked national air toxics regulations for a decade, leading to an 'intolerable situation' for public health and the environment. The text asserts that the EPA's economic benefit analyses are incomplete because they primarily measure particulate matter reductions while ignoring the benefits of reducing carcinogens, heavy metals, and respiratory irritants. It highlights that mercury controls can yield rapid environmental benefits and that some existing sources have already achieved mercury emission reductions of 'upwards of 98% from inlet' with minimal additional investment. The author argues that robust standards, alongside the Clean Air Transport Rule and New Source Performance Standards for greenhouse gases, would drive technological innovation in the energy generation sector.

SEI economists Frank Ackerman and Liz Stanton reviewed the EPA's proposed rule on coal combustion residues and found the accompanying Regulatory Impact Analysis to be deeply flawed, arguing that it exaggerates costs, underestimates benefits, and relies on coal industry claims that could undermine U.S. regulatory efforts.