Environmental Law

In The News (October 29)

Posted on October 29, 2008
Growing acceptance of environmental challenges is making commodity-linked "cleantech" investing a hot spot, something to which "long-view investors might want to pay heed," according to this Barron's article. The Goldman Sachs Group and Blue Source LLC have created a strategic alliance to market "verified emissions reductions" resulting from certain greenhouse gas reduction projects in Blue Source's portfolio, reports Clean Edge News...

Thelen LLP to Disappear; Climate Law Update Loses Corporate Home

Posted on October 29, 2008
Thelen LLP, whose attorneys provided the legal know-how to build such iconic Western projects as the Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam, recently announced that it will likely close its doors Dec. 1, a victim of "recessionary pressures" and other factors...

Pennsylvania Moves to Boost Energy Efficiency

Posted on October 28, 2008
Pennsylvania, it seems, is making some pretty significant moves to improve energy efficiency in that state, and also to promote alternative energy use and development. In the past few weeks, the state's Democratic Gov. Edward G. Rendell (pictured) has signed legislation that he said would help save Pennsylvanians save $500 million in the next five years by prodding utilities to increase energy efficiency...

In The News (October 28)

Posted on October 28, 2008
The Environmental Protection Agency is working on a new rule that would weaken pollution regulations for power plants, allowing them to increase emissions without adding controls, with officials on a fast track to meet a Saturday deadline, reports McClatchy Newspapers...

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Clean Energy Technologies Investment Outlook: Partly Cloudy

Posted on October 27, 2008
Anyone who can figure out the economy is probably too rich to be reading this, anyway, but a recent survey of reports conducted by a U.S. Department of Energy publication suggests the puzzling, if not downright contradictory nature of the situation, as it faces the clean energy industry...

In The News (October 27)

Posted on October 27, 2008
British scientists report the Arctic ice cap is now shrinking at record rates in the winter as well as summer, adding to evidence of disastrous melting, reports The Times of London. It would cost trillions of dollars, but the world could eliminate fossil fuel use by 2090 by turning to renewable energy, according to a new report from renewable energy advocates and environmentalists, according to this Reuters dispatch...

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Going the Wrong Way -- Up

Posted on October 24, 2008
Some newly released data suggests just how difficult will be the battle to control emissions of gases believed to contribute to climate change. A new analysis from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that despite widespread concern about climate change, annual carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels and manufacturing cement have grown 38 percent since 1992...

In The News (October 24)

Posted on October 24, 2008
In North Carolina, Duke Energy has halved a $100 million plan to place solar panels on hundreds of rooftops after consumer advocates for the state's utility regulators called the proposal too aggressive and expensive, reports the Charlotte Observer...

Wind Up, Wind Down, Wind Over There

Posted on October 23, 2008
A series of recent reports and business developments serves to illustrate both the promise and turbulent nature of the renewable energy industry in today's challenging economy. First, for the promise. The American Wind Energy Association this week reported that the United States is on track to install about 7,500 megawatts worth of new turbines this year...

In The News (October 23)

Posted on October 23, 2008
Huge areas of federal land in the West would be open to geothermal energy development under a plan released by the U.S. Interior Department, which identifies acreage nearly twice the size of California for potential development, according to the Los Angeles Times...

Military Goes Green?

Posted on October 22, 2008
"Eco-friendly" might not be the first term that comes to mind when thinking of the United States military, which is, after all, an institution well-supplied with things that explode and are otherwise capable of creating an environmental mess...

In The News (October 22)

Posted on October 22, 2008
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...

Nations Must Spend Big on Carbon Capture, International Body Says

Posted on October 21, 2008
An international advisory agency is urging the world's wealthiest countries to pony up as much as $20 billion to support testing of technologies to capture and store carbon, including the emissions from coal-fired power plants. According to an executive summary of the new report from the International Energy Agency, a major stumbling block to the research has come in the form of rising costs over the past few years...

In The News (October 21)

Posted on October 21, 2008
'Tis the season for politics and here's another take on the similarities and differences between Barack Obama and John McCain on energy policy, from a report that says the two candidates share similar goals -- but different approaches, as analyzed by McClatchy Newspapers...

California Energy Policies Boost Jobs, Economy, Study Says

Posted on October 20, 2008
California's energy efficiency policies enacted since the 1970s have served to boost the state's economy by hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars, according to a new study released Monday. The analysis, produced by a researcher at the Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability at the University of California-Berkeley, also found economic benefits from policies to enact California's groundbreaking climate change law, AB 32...

In The News (October 20)

Posted on October 20, 2008
Opportunities in the renewable energy technology sector are becoming more diverse as regulatory support extends to technologies other than wind farms, according to a venture capitalist cited in this dispatch from Reuters. Here's a possible consequence of climate change that it's likely not a lot of folks saw coming:  tigers are attacking people in some parts of India with more frequency, a development experts think might be related to habitat loss from an altered climate, reports Reuters...

Reasons for Economic Optimism in a Greener World: Reports

Posted on October 17, 2008
In a world that has sent lots of frightening and contradictory financial signals lately, there remain trillions of reasons to be hopeful that moving toward a lower-carbon future can also provide enormous economic benefits, as gleaned from some recent reports...

In The News (October 17)

Posted on October 17, 2008
California utility and energy regulators have approved a set of recommendations for how the state should comply with its legal mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; the list includes urging that utilities ramp up their renewable power sources to 33 percent of their supply, and that at least some carbon emissions permits be sold at auction when a cap-and-trade program gets going; from a joint statement issued by the California Public Utilties Commission and the California Energy Commission...

California Reports Record Solar Installations

Posted on October 16, 2008
Sunny California, indeed. Utility regulators in The Golden State reported recently that 93 megawatts of grid-connected rooftop photovoltaic solar panels had been installed during the first nine months of the year under the California Solar Initiative...

In The News (October 16)

Posted on October 16, 2008
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has signed into law an energy conservation bill that proponents say will save consumers $500 million over the next decade by encouraging utilities to buy cheaper energy sources and mandating reductions in energy use, reports the Morning Call...

California Officials Release Revised Climate Change Plan

Posted on October 15, 2008
California officials on Wednesday released a revised blueprint for meeting the state's ambitious greenhouse gas reductions required by its landmark anti-global warming law, AB 32. Among other new elements, the plan revealed that officials are thinking about imposing some new fees on certain types of greenhouse gases, and on all water connections...

In The News (October 15)

Posted on October 15, 2008
Further evidence, as if any is needed, that the issues surrounding renewable energy -- particularly how to get it from one place to another -- are complicated comes from a new environmental impact statement in California that gives low marks to plans for a 150-mile transmission line linking a San Diego utility with wind, solar and geothermal projects; the Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital takes a look at the document, which gives a higher ranking to the construction of new gas-fired plants...

Economic Uncertainty Prompts Calls to Stay the Green Course

Posted on October 14, 2008
As the worldwide economy does its frightening impression of a bungee jumper who might -- or might not -- be attached to an actual bungee cord, it's probably no wonder there are a lot of different ideas of what this is all going to mean for renewable energy and efforts to tackle climate change...

In The News (October 14)

Posted on October 14, 2008
All 10 states in the East Coast and mid-Atlantic carbon market are expected to offer allowances for emissions from power plants in the next auction scheduled for December, with the bidding process now open, according to a statement from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative...

Solar Environmental Study Elicits Positive Comments, Caution

Posted on October 13, 2008
An effort by federal agencies to analyze the environmental impacts of large-scale solar energy projects on public lands in the West has generated a mostly positive response from individuals and groups so far, according to a summary of the comments released Monday...

In The News (October 13)

Posted on October 13, 2008
Here's another journalistic take on the possible disconnect between the world's financial woes and efforts to deal with climate change, with environmentalists worried that economy trumps the green movement, from the San Francisco Chronicle...

Locking Up California's Inmates Behind Green Walls

Posted on October 10, 2008
It might not make the residents any happier, but the institutions housing some of California's criminals are on their way to becoming a lot more earth-friendly. That became apparent recently when state officials and utilities formally unveiled a program to green the state's enormous prison system with energy efficient building retrofits and renewable power installations...

In The News (October 10)

Posted on October 10, 2008
The ongoing debate over the economic impacts of environmental protection emerges again with France, Germany and Austria calling for an easing of European Union efforts to curb climate change and green groups saying that cutting fossil fuel use would buffer rising energy prices, says this Reuters dispatch...

U.S. Has Vast Untapped Geothermal Resources, Government Says

Posted on October 09, 2008
The United States has huge untapped geothermal reserves, which if developed could nearly triple the amount of power now coming from the renewable resource, according to a recently released government report. Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, the document estimated that the country's geothermal resources that could produce about 9,000 megawatts of power...

In The News (October 9)

Posted on October 09, 2008
An immediate focus by the United States on curbing climate change and making the transition to clean energy could start the economic engine needed to pull the world back from the financial brink, a top climate policy expert tells Reuters. At the same time, there might be pushback from some sectors, with leaders of European Union countries planning to use the global financial crisis as an excuse to go back on climate change commitments, according to sources cited by the U...

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