Environmental Law

In The News (October 22)

By Dennis Pfaff and Kevin Livingston, Editors

• Wind energy goes local, with word that the city of Flagstaff, Arizona, is moving forward on an an ordinance that could allow wind turbines standing nearly 100 feet tall in commercial and industrial areas, according to the Arizona Daily Sun.
• Britain will boost the generation of power from wind farms by a third next year as part of efforts to hit renewable energy targets, says a government minister in this Reuters report.
• China's greenhouse gas pollution could more than double over the next couple of decades, according to a new Chinese state think-tank, again as reported by Reuters.
• A court has thrown out a legal challenge filed by environmental groups to force the Canadian government to abide by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, from another Reuters dispatch.
• As the result of the expiration of federal moratorium on offshore drilling, 19 coastal states now face tough decisions involving energy and the environment, reports Stateline.org, which includes a suite of multi-colored maps to illustrate the issue. 
• Going back to the future with wood-fired heat might save some money at times of high oil prices, but environmental benefits are in question, as analyzed by the Christian Science Monitor's Bright Green Blog. 
• House Oversight Committee Chair Henry Waxman is apparently trying to head off Bush administration attempts to weaken the Clean Air Act, even as there is word the Environmental Protection Agency is considering a new rule favored by power providers on "new source review," as reported by Grist.
• Giant retailer Wal-Mart is pushing to make its stores and suppliers in China more environmentally-friendly, raising questions about how green efforts will fare in the midst of the current economy, as reported by the Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital. Meanwhile, leaders of the Environmental Defense Fund are meeting the company's suppliers as part of an effort to green the supply chain.
• California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced a new partnership with a private company, SunEdison, to provide 8 megawatts of solar power at 15 California State University campuses, as reported by the Central Valley Business Times.

Full post as published by Climate Law Update on October 22, 2008 (boomark / email).