On April 8, the White House issued an Executive Order aimed at “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach.” While the direct effects from this Executive Order are hard to assess, the Trump Administration clearly intends...more
On Monday morning, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Juliana v. United States. The cert. denial leaves in place the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that ordered the case dismissed for lack of standing. At least for...more
We previously reported on New York State’s enactment of the Climate Change Superfund Act (the “Climate Superfund Act” or the “Act”), groundbreaking legislation that seeks to recover $75 billion from fossil fuel producers for...more
3/12/2025
/ Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New York ,
Oil & Gas ,
Superfund
As readers of this space will have noted, geothermal energy is one of the few renewable sources treated positively by early Trump Administration efforts to attain “energy dominance.” Given the favorable treatment of...more
President Trump began his second term by issuing a barrage of executive orders, memoranda, and other directives, many of which targeted U.S. energy policy and the federal employees who implement it. Trump had campaigned on...more
1/24/2025
/ Clean Energy ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Energy & Climate Debates ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Offshore Wind ,
Paris Agreement ,
Permits ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Energy ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration ,
Wind Power
Last week, we posted about New York State’s enactment of the Climate Change Superfund Act. We promised to continue to monitor developments concerning climate superfund legislation and to update readers as necessary. It’s been...more
1/14/2025
/ California ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CERCLA ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Public Health ,
State and Local Government
With the incoming Trump administration poised for an attack on federal environmental regulations, states are quickly emerging with actions on climate change. On December 26, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into...more
1/10/2025
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
State and Local Government ,
Superfund
Earlier this week, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling in favor of plaintiffs in a climate case based on certain provisions of the Montana constitution. Specifically, the court ruled that:
- The...more
12/20/2024
/ Citizen Suits ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Injunctions ,
Montana ,
MT Supreme Court ,
Permits ,
State Constitutions
As the election approaches, lawyers, clients, and those who don’t have enough to do are beginning to speculate about what the election might mean for the Supreme Court. In my little world, people are particularly concerned...more
11/4/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Chevron Deference ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
SCOTUS
On October 16, 2024, the United States Supreme Court shot down requests from states and industry groups to stay the implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rule to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired...more
10/17/2024
/ Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Utilities Sector
In this Issue: Permitting Reform, the Supreme Court, EV’s, and Climate Week 2024 -
After nearly a decade as New York State’s environmental chief, I recently joined Foley Hoag to help the firm’s clients emerge as global...more
9/19/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Electricity ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Reform ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Renewable Energy ,
Utilities Sector
Last week, Vermont became the first state to enact a “Climate Superfund” law. As I noted in January, I fear that this will not end well. It seems odd to model a statute on a law frequently given the accolade – deserved, in my...more
On Wednesday, the 9th Circuit granted a petition for mandamus from the United States and ordered the District Court to dismiss the complaint in Juliana v. United States. The 9th Circuit had previously ordered the case...more
On February 7, 2024, EPA finalized a rule lowering the primary annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM2.5 to 9.00 ug/m3. This is a significant reduction from the current 12.00 ug/m3 standard and a victory for...more
In my discussion yesterday of the shortcomings of the Climate Superfund Act, I actually ignored arguably its biggest flaw. While the Act certainly looks much like a tax, I failed to point out that the Act omits what is...more
As I’ve noted many times, criticizing CERCLA is like shooting fish in a barrel. Apparently, however, my criticism is not universally shared. According to WBUR, some legislators around the country are so pleased with how...more
Late last month, the Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases quietly released a three-paragraph memo on how agencies should determine the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions. I hesitate to call it...more
Yesterday, the plaintiffs prevailed in the Montana climate litigation. Time will tell whether the decision will end up being seen as a watershed moment or just a blip. In trying to answer that question, it does seem worth...more
I’ve posted previously about the importance of extreme heat among the impacts of climate change. Much of the popular literature focuses, rightly, on the public health impacts. Without at all minimizing the public health...more
On July 16, 2023, Climatewire (subscription required) released a peer review letter on EPA’s Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (SC-GHG), which got a fair bit of press last year, because EPA’s metric was $190/ton, even though...more
The Wharf District Council recently released its “District Protection and Resiliency Plan.” My immediate reaction is just a quiet OMG regarding the size of the task. Of course, that’s no excuse for inaction and I found the...more
Greenwire (subscription required) reported yesterday that more than 150 wildfires in Quebec have blanketed large swaths of the United States with unhealthy levels of particulate matter. Indeed, as of 9:00 AM on Thursday,...more
On Thursday, the Office of Management and Budget released proposed revisions to “Circular A-4”. It also released a separate preamble, explaining its thinking and asking for comment on certain identified issues....more
Today, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed for lack of standing claims by a number of states challenging the Biden Administration’s Interim Estimates of the Social Cost of Carbon. The Court had telegraphed this...more
Last week, Judge Donald Malloy vacated the Environmental Assessment for the Bull Mountains Mine No. 1 in central Montana. Judge Malloy had already vacated the EA once; when the 9th Circuit affirmed Judge Malloy’s decision...more