Administration Ups the Ante on Federal Government's Use of Renewable Energy
Client Alert | 1 min read | 12.17.13
On December 5, the White House issued a memorandum directing federal agencies to sharply increase their use of renewable energy, from the current level of 7.5% of all energy consumed to a new goal of 20% by the year 2020. In what is likely to be good news for contractors in the emerging renewable energy field, under the White House guidance, agencies will increase their reliance on renewable sources by (i) installing agency-funded renewable energy on-site at federal facilities and retain renewable energy certificates; (ii) contracting for energy that includes the installation of a renewable energy project on-site at a federal facility or off-site from a federal facility and the retention of renewable energy certificates for the term of the contract; (iii) purchasing electricity and corresponding renewable energy certificates; and (iv) purchasing renewable energy certificates.
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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
