Environmental Law

California On A Carbon Diet: Denser Cities, Less Windshield Time

Posted on March 20, 2008
Top California officials Thursday laid out a vision of a reduced-carbon future that included some very un-California-sounding notions, such as denser cities and cars driven fewer miles.“I’m not even sure this is politically helpful to you,” California Attorney General Jerry Brown told about 200 local government officials and planning experts at a gathering in Oakland...

Groups Bring Challenges to Federal Transmission Corridor Designations

Posted on March 19, 2008
Environmental groups are pursuing a slew of lawsuits against a U.S. Department of Energy determination that large areas in the Southwest and Mid-Atlantic states could suffer from electric transmission congestion. The energy department action opens the regions to a process under which federal regulators can approve new transmission lines, even if states object...

World Demand for Renewables May Test Needed Components

Posted on March 18, 2008
Recent reports originating in Europe and Asia suggest the worldwide extent of the booming interest in renewable energy. One consequence, according to experts and observers, could be new pressure on critical supplies needed by the industry...

Some Companies Push for American Action On Global Warming

Posted on March 18, 2008
Even during a period of scary economic headlines, some experts see efforts to control climate change through market mechanisms as a green light at the end of a dark tunnel.The green lobbying group Environmental Defense Action Fund has enlisted top officials from manufacturing companies Deere & Co...

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Report Assesses Transmission Access Future for Renewables

Posted on March 17, 2008
It’s not billed as picking winners and losers but a new report issued by consultants to a multi-agency effort planning California’s transmission infrastructure gives some idea of what types of renewable energy projects have a bright future, at least when it comes to getting access to the grid...

Costs of Congress' Greenhouse Gas Bill Debated

Posted on March 14, 2008
Legislation in Congress to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions might carry a hefty economic price tag, according to a new analysis released Friday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But sponsors of the bill, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn...

CA Energy Regulators Okay Recommendations for Greenhouse Gas Cuts

Posted on March 13, 2008
Utility and power plant regulators in California this week agreed on basic approaches, including implementing a cap-and-trade system, for reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. But they left some critical decisions until later in the year...

Big Boosts Seen in Renewable Revenues, Investments

Posted on March 12, 2008
A flurry of new reports from consultants, industry officials and scientists paint a decidedly upbeat picture for renewable energy -- with the startling possible exception of electricity from Hoover Dam. The overall conclusion: Government policies and larger market trends are boosting the fortunes of non-traditional energy, even in the face of a stressed economy...

Department of Energy and EPRI Team Up to Study Efficiency

Posted on March 11, 2008
The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced it had worked out a cooperative arrangement with the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit whose research is supported by electric utilities, to look at ways to promote energy efficiency...

Enviros Prod Feds On Polar Bears, See Way To Attack Global Warming

Posted on March 10, 2008
Environmental groups Monday (March 10) sued to prod the federal government into listing polar bears as threatened due to the climate change-related loss of sea ice, which is vital to the animals' survival. Such a move could have far-reaching regulatory implications beyond the fact that the iconic bear would be the first mammal receiving Endangered Species Act protection because of global warming...

Government Sees Slight Decline In Greenhouse Gases -- Cites Renewables

Posted on March 07, 2008
Emissions of greenhouse gases in the United States dropped a small but eye-catching 1.5 percent between 2005 and 2006, according to a new inventory (which can be accessed here) put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA cited a number of reasons for the decrease -- which saw the first drop in carbon dioxide emissions since 2001 -- including greater reliance on renewable power generation...

New Mexico Governor Signs Energy Efficiency Law

Posted on March 06, 2008
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, himself a former secretary of energy, has signed legislation in that state requiring electric and natural gas utilities to beef up their efforts to improve energy efficiency.  Under HB 305, by 2014, utilities must achieve a minimum of 5 percent energy efficiency savings compared to 2005, and 10 percent by 2020...

Government Support For Coal Plants Erodes, Environmentalists Claim Victory

Posted on March 04, 2008
Environmentalists are claiming victory in their efforts to at least temporarily shelve federal financial support for rural coal-fired power plants the critics believe contribute to climate change. An official of the Rural Utilities Service,  an arm of the U...

SF Bay Area Regulators Propose Four-Cent Per Ton Greenhouse Gas Fee

Posted on March 03, 2008
Officials of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in San Francisco are pursuing what they believe to be the first regulatory fee on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.The new fee, which would be set at 4.2 cents per metric ton, would generate an estimated $1 million annually, according to a district spokeswoman, Karen Schkolnick...

EPA Chief Lists Reasons for California Waiver Denial

Posted on February 29, 2008
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson, who has been under fire from environmentalists, politicians and even some agency staffers for his decision last year to deny California's greenhouse emissions standards for cars, issued his formal reasoning for the rejection Friday (Feb...

House Passes Renewable Energy Tax Credit Bill, Future Uncertain

Posted on February 28, 2008
The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday (Feb. 27) approved a bill that would extend tax credits for renewable energy projects while reducing breaks for petroleum production. Under the measure, the tax credit for production of electricity from renewable resources would be extended through 2011 and a credit for solar energy and fuel cell projects through 2016...

Carbon Conference Draws Major Financial Players

Posted on February 28, 2008
Recession around the corner? There was no sign of that at a recent conference in San Francisco dedicated to examining issues pertaining to the brave new world of greenhouse gas emissions markets. Instead, around one corner of the vast Moscone Center was JP Morgan and around another Deutsche Bank...

Accountability: Utility Buys 'Verifiable' Carbon Offset Forest Credits While Groups Move to Boost Trust

Posted on February 26, 2008
Northern California utility Pacific Gas and Electric Company on Tuesday (Feb. 26) announced it had entered into a large carbon offset deal amounting to 214,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. A Wall Street Journal Web site reported the company was spending more than $2 million on the initiative, or about $10 per ton...

Energy Guru Predicts Bright Future for Renewables, 'Clean' Power

Posted on February 25, 2008
Daniel Yergin, a widely known energy expert who closely advises  the oil and gas industry, is predicting a rosy future for renewable energy, and other "clean" technologies such as nuclear and hydropower, partly as a result of public concern over global warming and driven by subsidies and government mandates...

Businesses Seek Congressional Extension of Renewable Energy Credit

Posted on February 21, 2008
Renewable energy advocates are prodding Congress to extend tax credits, the loss of which they warned could threaten 42,000 megawatts of planned developments and put billions of dollars of potential investments at risk.As part of the lobbying campaign, in a letter to congressional leaders of both parties, the American Council On Renewable Energy, a nonprofit representing hundreds of companies and groups involved in or advocating the development of wind, solar and other forms of sustainable energy, demanded quick action on investment and production tax credits...

California Regulators Approve Renewable Energy Pricing

Posted on February 21, 2008
For some time, countries such as Germany have adopted "feed-in tariffs" as a way of providing an incentive to develop new renewable generation. Renewable energy advocates have pushed for a similar boost in the United States for some time...

"Environmental Justice" Opposition to Cap-and-Trade Emerges

Posted on February 20, 2008
The notion that a cap-and-trade program provides the best way of forcing and/or encouraging reductions in greenhouse gas emissions appears to be running into some opposition from one sector of the environmental community. The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday (Feb...

Wall Street Journal: Johnson A Target For Rejecting CA Greenhouse Plan

Posted on February 20, 2008
The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 19) recounts the saga of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson (pictured at left), whom it calls a "a rare breed of Washington career" bureaucrat who survived multiple administrations but who now finds himself a target of the Democrats...

Maryland May Adopt Tough Greenhouse Limits, Paper Says

Posted on February 19, 2008
Maryland's Gov. Martin O'Malley will support a bill that would impose some of the nation's toughest limits on global warming pollution, according to administration and legislative sources, the Baltimore Sun reported Feb. 18. The measure, SB 309, now under consideration in the state Legislature,  would impose a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gases from all industries in Maryland by 2020 and a 90 percent cut by 2050...

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