Judge Merrick Garland would bring an uncommon level of environmental law expertise to the Justice Department’s top spot if confirmed as attorney general in the incoming Biden administration.
The former Supreme Court pick, whom President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate as attorney general, has helped decide the fate of dozens of federal air, water, and energy policies in more than two decades as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. That bench carries a heavy load of environmental cases.
Previous attorney general picks from Democratic and Republican administrations had “nothing comparable on environmental ...