As 2024 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on the environmental matters that dominated the year, those that captured attention, sparked debate, and influenced the trajectory of environmental policy and innovation. In the spirit of David Letterman’s iconic countdowns, we present a Top 10 List (with a bonus two for good measure!) of our most read blog posts this year.

This retrospective provides more than a glance back; it’s a lens into the priorities and passions of 2024, a year shaped by technology, legal battles, and a pivotal U.S. presidential election. Our readers gravitated toward posts exploring bold policies and their implications, none more so than Maryland’s ambitious and controversial plans to ration electricity in the name of making the state “a leader in clean energy and the greenest state in the country.”

As we prepare for 2025, let’s revisit the blog posts that defined environmental change in 2024:

12. Transforming the Built Environment: LEED Green Building Hits 29 Billion Square Feet
A milestone in green building, this post celebrated the explosion of the LEED certified built environment, underscoring the importance of sustainable construction when Americans spend nearly 90% of their time indoors.

11. Greenwashing Lawsuit Alleging Plastic Pollution by PepsiCo is Dismissed
This post explored the dramatic dismissal of a government brought greenwashing lawsuit, highlighting the complexities of corporate sustainability claims and the role of the courts as the final arbiter in environmental matters.

10. SEC Climate Disclosure Rule Stay and Venue Now in the 8th Circuit
The legal twists and turns surrounding the SEC’s proposed climate disclosure rule captivated readers interested in corporate transparency and regulatory hurdles in what, for a time, was the biggest environmental story of the day.

9. Does Federal EPCA Trump Colorado Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS)?
This analysis examined express federal preemption of state and local energy regulation relying on recent federal court decisions from California, providing a great case study for a review of the evolving checkerboard of BEPS regulations.

8. Environmental Justice at Risk After Louisiana Ruling
A court ruling in Louisiana raises significant questions about the future or lack thereof, of environmental justice initiatives across the country, sparking heated discussions on the federal role in enforcing equity through environmental policy.

7. Maryland Offshore Wind Project Faces Legal Storm from Coastal Communities
The President elect has vowed to kill “horrible” off shore wind turbines on day one, so the Ocean City, Maryland and Fenwick, Delaware coastal communities will ultimately prevail in this judicial review of federal permitting and otherwise stopping these offshore wind turbine projects.

6. Maryland’s War on Fossil Fuel Appliances: Criminalizing Plumbers?
This provocative post delved into Maryland’s efforts to ban fossil fuel appliances by Executive Order, going further than authorizing laws and adopted codes, including the consequences of these proposed Clean Heat and Zero Emission Heating Equipment standards.

5. Legal Showdown in DC: Lawsuit Challenges Gas Appliance Ban as Preempted
The local government push for decarbonizing buildings by making them all electric and banning natural gas is not only wrongheaded but preempted by Federal law and as such not enforceable.

4. Gas Stoves Saved: Washington Voters Reject All Electric Building Mandates
A major voter decision in progressive Washington state reflected resistance to the mandated electrification of buildings and underscored the ongoing debate over energy policy and consumer choice.

3. EPA Takes Action: PFOA and PFOS Now Hazardous Substances Under Superfund Law
The EPA’s landmark decision to classify “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances signaled a turning point in toxic contamination and public health, but this may be bad environmental public policy.

2. Maryland 2024 BEPS Regulations: A Critical Analysis of Legal and Economic Risks
Readers were drawn to this critical examination of Maryland’s Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) proposed regulations, revealing potential pitfalls in the outsized dollar costs for compliance and that this space is preempted by federal law, that as of December 23, 2024, have been adopted, and will phase in “energy use intensity” rationing of power. Watch for more activity about BEPS.

1. Maryland Needs to Produce More Electricity
Our most read post tackled Maryland’s ambitious clean energy policies and the stark reality of electricity shortages in a state that already imports more than 40% of its electricity. It resonated with readers grappling with dramatically increasing electricity costs and lessening reliability in the state’s electric grid.

Awaiting us in 2025

This list is more than a “year in review,” it’s a roadmap to understanding the environmental challenges and opportunities awaiting us in 2025. As we prepare for new policies and technological breakthroughs, it’s clear that the choices we make today will shape our environmental future.

And when we said “one eye on the future” above, sadly we were not referring to Procol Harum’s masterpiece 2008 album, but rather to the early English quote inspiring us to learn from the past and look forward to the future.

Next week, we’ll dive into what we believe will be the defining environmental issue of 2025. Until then, Happy New Year, and thank you for being part of our journey this year!
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Join us for the first in the new year of our “carbon based life forms” webinar series, “How to Order a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment” on Tuesday, January 14 from 9 – 9:30 am. The webinar is complimentary, but you must register here.