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How Brown is Brown Enough? An Update on the IRA ITC Adder for Brownfield Sites

It is now almost 18 months since Congress enacted the Inflation Reduction Act. One of the IRA’s provisions was an adder to the ITC for renewable energy projects located in an “energy community”. One way to be in an energy...more

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act – Still – Preempts Berkeley’s Ban on New Natural Gas Connections

Last week, the 9th Circuit voted against rehearing en banc its decision from last April finding the City of Berkeley’s ban on natural gas connections in new construction to be preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation...more

Berkeley’s Ban on Natural Gas in New Construction is Preempted: What Will Happen to Other Local Bans?

On Monday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the City of Berkeley ordinance entitled “Prohibition of Natural Gas Infrastructure in New Buildings” was preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. The relevant...more

Another Day Older and Deeper in (Carbon) Debt

The International Energy Agency has released its 2022 Coal analysis and forecast. It is sobering. By the time 2022 is over, world-wide coal consumption will have exceeded 8 billons tonnes for the first time. In other words,...more

Wondering How States Will Respond to West Virginia v. EPA? Massachusetts Provides An Early Answer

Those wondering what states can do to at least partially ameliorate the impacts of West Virginia v. EPA need look no farther than Massachusetts, which issued its Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2025 and 2030 the same day...more

FERC Proposes to Reform Transmission Planning; It’s Not a Small Task

Late last month, FERC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking.  Its intent is to “remedy deficiencies in the Commission’s existing regional transmission planning and cost allocation requirements.”  In short, it’s time for a...more

AIG Integrates Climate Into Its Investment and Underwriting Decisions: It’s Progress, But Is It Enough?

Last week, AIG significantly restricted its underwriting of and investment in fossil fuel projects. Specifically, it announced the following actions: With immediate effect, committed to no longer invest in or provide...more

State Law Climate Damage Cases (Still) Belong in State Court

In the first appellate decision to decide the issue since the Supreme Court decision in BP P.L.C. v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, the 10th Circuit ruled this week that climate damage claims brought by several Colorado...more

How To Straighten the Long and Winding Road that We Call NEPA

So CEQ has proposed to amend the NEPA regulations in order to eliminate some of the changes made by the Trump Administration in 2020. Important changes include: • explicit consideration of indirect impacts • renewed...more

At What Level of Government Are We Going to Regulate Climate Change? (Hint — It Is a Global Problem.)

Last week, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that the Berkeley ordinance essentially banning use of natural gas in new construction was not preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. I’m not here to opine on the...more

The Massachusetts Climate Bill is Very Much “Not Dead”

In January, when Governor Baker vetoed the Legislature’s effort to go big on climate, my colleague Zach Gerson made clear that the bill was not even “mostly dead.” I am pleased to say that Zach’s diagnosis was correct. The...more

When the Music’s Over, Turn Off the Dakota Access Pipeline

Last week, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed vacatur of the easement issued to the Dakota Access Pipeline by the Army Corps of Engineers. As I noted last month in connection with the Biden Executive Order...more

President Biden Pulls the Plug on Keystone XL — Let’s Make Sure It Sets the Right Precedent

Yesterday, President Biden hit the ground running on environmental policy, issuing an Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. There’s a lot in it,...more

The New Midas Touch — Everything He Touches Turns To Dung

Everyone noticed when President Trump issued an order earlier this month banning offshore oil and gas drilling in certain areas until 2032. It was obvious to everyone that this was a campaign stunt, intended to improve his...more

Dakota Access Lives to Pump Another Day

On Wednesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the injunction requiring the shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline.  It’s a victory for the operator, Energy Transfer LP, simply because it lives to fight another day. ...more

Governor Jim Justice and the Progress of Man

On Monday, Judge David Faber found Bluestone Coal Corporation liable for 1,904 days of violations of its discharge permit at the Red Fox Surface Mine. All of the violations related to excessive discharges of selenium. ...more

Dakota Access Must Shut Down. Is It a Harbinger?

I don’t like to speculate, so I won’t say that July 6, 2020, was the beginning of the end of fossil fuel infrastructure in the United States. I will say, with apologies to Judith Viorst, that it was a Terrible, Horrible, No...more

Perhaps, Some Day, There Will Be a Carbon Tax

There are few people left, at least in my orbit, who don’t share the goal of prompt decarbonization of the economy. The quaintly named $64,000 question ($64 trillion question?) is how we get from here to there...more

More Evidence About Methane Emissions From Fracking

Earlier this month, I reported on a study showing that methane emissions from Permian Basin fracking operations were quite high. Since that study acknowledged that there are reasons to think that methane emissions from the...more

5/18/2020  /  Energy Sector , Fracking , Methane , Oil & Gas

It’s the Energy Markets, Stupid (And Energy Markets Are Complex)

This week, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office released a white paper documenting the results of a symposium convened last fall to discuss how electric markets should be organized to manage the transition to a “low /...more

The Wehrum Memo Still Isn’t Final Agency Action

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the petition for rehearing in the “once in, always in” case. It was a one sentence order. Judge Rogers, who dissented from the original panel opinion, dissented from the denial....more

A Carbon Fee on Transportation Fuels Is Not Coming Your Way Any Time Soon If You Live In New Hampshire

On December 17, 2019, I noted with enthusiasm the announcement that the states participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative had released a new draft Memorandum of Understanding outlining the framework of what...more

Coming Your Way (Relatively) Soon: A Carbon Fee on Transportation Fuels

The 12 states and the District of Columbia participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative announced yesterday the release of a new draft Memorandum of Understanding that outlines the framework of what they are...more

It’s Not Going to Be Easy to Be Green

The New York Citizens Budget Commission has released a report regarding the state’s ability to meet its ambitious GHG reduction targets. It’s sobering reading. The CBC states that it is “uncertain” whether New York can meet...more

In Case You Missed It, We're in a Climate Emergency

Last week, BioScience published the “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency.” It’s actually a nice piece of work – short, readable, to the point. In barely 4 pages, it concisely summarizes the fine mess we’ve gotten...more

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