Climate Change Blog | McCarter & English

Soldiering On: The Western Climate Initiative and RGGI in 2012 and Beyond

January 8, 2012 23:47
by J. Wylie Donald
Last week a big step forward was taken by the Western Climate Initiative (WCI). Or what remains of it. On January 1, 2012 members were to establish binding caps on emissions of carbon dioxide from electricity generators and certain industrial sources, issue allowances for those emissions and then permit the trading of those allowances.  At least that was the plan back in September 2008 when  Design Recommendations for the WCI Regional Cap-and-Trade Program was released and when cl...

Carbon Dioxide | Carbon Emissions | Greenhouse Gases | Regulation

2011: Notwithstanding Extreme Weather, US Climate Policy Does Not Move Forward

December 31, 2011 01:01
by J. Wylie Donald
NOAA reported that 2011 was one for the record books:  12 weather and climate-related disasters each causing over $1 billion in damage.  One might expect (or hope) that a national climate change policy would be coming into place to prevent repeating or setting a new record.  One would be disappointed.  U.S. climate policy is "uncertain," to quote Michael Morris, CEO of American Electric Power, "dysfunctional" is the word applied by Resources for the Future, "ha...

Climate Change Litigation: The Second Wave - Our Children's Trust Goes to Washington

December 16, 2011 22:09
by J. Wylie Donald
2000 years ago all roads led to Rome.  Nowadays, as Our Children’s Trust recently found out, the road of a climate change lawsuit leads to Washington.  All are familiar with the path to Washington taken by Massachusetts v. EPA and American Electric Power v. Connecticut.  Last week a different path surfaced:  the trial court.  The District of the District of Columbia became the Washington venue of Alec L. v. Jackson when  the Northern District of California tra...

Climate Change Effects | Climate Change Litigation | Regulation

Oral Argument in Kivalina: Winds of Change or Climate Change Liability Suits Becalmed?

December 4, 2011 23:16
by J. Wylie Donald
On November 8-9, 2011 an Arctic gale bore down on the peninsulas, islands, salt marshes and beaches of the Alaska littoral.  Named the Bering Sea Superstorm it pounded Alaska with 8-10 foot storm surges, wind gusts up to 75 mph and blizzard conditions.  One small community was particularly fearful.  Many readers already know of whom we are speaking:  Kivalina.  The National Weather Service wrote:  "WIDESPREAD MAJOR COASTAL FLOODING AND SEVERE BEACH EROSION IS E...

Carbon Dioxide | Climate Change Litigation | Supreme Court

Good COP, Bad COP - Durban and the Future of a Climate Change Treaty

November 26, 2011 08:39
by J. Wylie Donald
Durban, South Africa.  Home to the Shark Tank (where Kwazulu-Natal's rugby team, the Sharks, plays), extensive beaches and South Africa's busiest port.  But not home to a new treaty to address climate change.  COP-17 gets underway on Monday and the delegates haven't even met yet; some might think we are being somewhat premature.  We think not.  There is an election here next year.  Europe is mired in a sovereign debt crisis.  China and India will not derail the...

Carbon Emissions | Climate Change | Regulation

Plugging in Electric Vehicles May Raise IQs

November 12, 2011 00:22
by J. Wylie Donald
It's not Gone with the Wind or Harry Potter, but an article just published in the public health journal, Health Affairs, is worth picking up, if only to start you thinking.  In Six Climate Change–Related Events In The United States Accounted For About $14 Billion In Lost Lives And Health Costs, the authors (two senior scientists at the NRDC, two professors and a law student) grapple with the health costs of climate-change related events.   In the authors' words:  "...

Climate Change Effects | Sustainability

Renewable Fuels Take Off - Algae Arrives and Certiorari Denied

November 8, 2011 11:41
by J. Wylie Donald
Yesterday was a good day for renewable fuels enthusiasts and not because someone figured out how to make ethanol cocktails from pond scum.  In Houston American renewable fuel use literally took off on its maiden flight and in Washington the Supreme Court denied certiorari in a suit brought by the oil industry challenging the USEPA's regulations promulgating a revised renewable fuels standard. In National Petrochemical Refiners Association and the American Petroleum Institute v. EPA, the pl...

Green Marketing | Greenhouse Gases | Regulation | Renewable Energy | Sustainability

Cap and Trade - California Leads the Way

November 1, 2011 23:39
by J. Wylie Donald
Subchapter 10 Climate Change, Article 5, Sections 95800 to 96023, Title 17, California Code of Regulations, to read as follows: Article 5: CALIFORNIA CAP ON GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND MARKET-BASED COMPLIANCE MECHANISMS Note: All text is new. "All text is new."  And so it is and so begins a new chapter in California's odyssey into the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, which began over 5 years ago with the passage of AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.  Under th...

Carbon Emissions | Regulation

House Passes Bill Challenging Application of EU ETS to American Carriers - Will It Fly?

October 25, 2011 23:58
by J. Wylie Donald
When people bring up new climate change legislation today they aren't seeking to reinvent the Clean Air Act or implement the Kyoto Protocol.  Rather, the goal is to block responses to climate change. A case in point is a bill that passed the House of Representatives on a voice vote yesterday, H.R. 2594, the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011. As its name implies, H.R. 2594 is not about a climate change fix. Instead it is all about getting in the way of a fix. I...

Carbon Emissions | Climate Change Litigation | Regulation

Notwithstanding Solar Bankruptcies, Government Clean Technology Funding Has Not Stopped (For Electric Vehicles Anyway)

October 10, 2011 00:13
by J. Wylie Donald
Notwithstanding the bad press garnered recently by some clean technology business models that relied on government largesse (most notably the failure of Solyndra LLC and its accompanying half-billion dollar government guarantee), government funding of "green" is not going away.  Last Thursday, ECOTotality announced the award of a five year $26.4 million contract with the Department of Energy to continue to test and evaluate advanced vehicles.   As stated by ECOTotality, "The prim...

Green Marketing | Renewable Energy


McCARTER & ENGLISH CLIMATE CHANGE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY PRACTICE GROUP

The business case for the development of renewable energy projects, from biodiesel and ethanol to wind, solar, and distributed generation, is more compelling than ever as tax and regulatory incentives combine to attract investments. Emerging issues in environmental law and increasingly recognized principles of corporate social responsibility are encouraging public companies to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions, install clean energy alternatives, and invest overseas in projects under the Kyoto Protocol to respond to climate change concerns.

Click here for more information and a list of our group members.
Copyright 2007-2010 McCarter & English disclaimer
navbottom image