Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Contracting
Client Alert | 1 min read | 05.28.09
In Doing Business with the Government in 2009: New Opportunities for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Contracting in the May 2009 issue of Bloomberg Sustainable Energy Law Reports, J. Catherine Kunz and Steve McBrady of Crowell & Moring examine the federal government's unprecedented investment in renewable energy infrastructure and related research and development via the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This substantial federal commitment will generate increased business opportunities for government contractors in energy efficient technology, renewable energy, energy infrastructure, and related fields; however, contractors must be aware that contracting under the ARRA will also require compliance with new regulations and a number of new oversight and reporting requirements.
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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
