Good morning! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings...more
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is pressing ahead with its plan to ban Fast Ferries between the Massachusetts mainland and Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket between November 1st and May 30. I first wrote...more
By 2050 rising sea levels will exacerbate episodic storm surges and inundate an estimated 87,000 square kilometers (21.5 million acres) of coastal areas worldwide, exposing $1.7 trillion of real estate to catastrophic damage....more
In recent years, the global concentration of methane present in the atmosphere has increased dramatically. In fact, in 2021, methane increased by almost 18 parts per billion in the atmosphere, the largest single year increase...more
Good evening! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past two weeks and forthcoming climate-related events and...more
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment report, released most recently in spring 2022, sounded the alarm on the current state of the Earth’s climate. Today, with just 1.1 degrees Celsius in warming,...more
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) into law on Aug. 16, 2022, following its passage along party lines in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The comprehensive legislation is the...more
FTC Publishes Blog Post That Could Expand Data Breach Notification Requirements – On May 20, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a blog post suggesting that, in certain instances, a company may have to do...more
Eighty-nine organizations (collectively “Coalition”)two sent letters, respectively, to United States Senators Merkley and Murkowski, and Congresswoman Pingree and Congressman Joyce urging their support to enable the U.S....more
It is one of the most well worn maxims in the English language: better late than never! But yesterday the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report concluding that the waters off the coast of...more
Two studies confirming the increase of precipitation across New Jersey over the last 20 years due to climate change will provide a scientific basis for the continuing development of an initiative, known as Protecting Against...more
Can you still build a bulkhead along the shoreline in coastal Virginia to protect your property? Well, it depends, but now the answer is more likely to be “no.”...more
On May 29, 2021, the Biden administration released its full FY2022 budget request. Several key energy and environmental agencies, including the Department of the Interior (DOI), Department of Energy (DOE) and the...more
Consistent with the Biden-Harris administration’s “whole of government” approach to climate change as announced in its Day 1 and Day 7 executive orders, on March 29 the administration announced a variety of concrete...more
Recent legislation and just proposed regulatory amendments present a new opportunity, but also potential concerns, for implementing climate change resiliency measures on properties subject to Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay...more
This is a brief review of the recently released “Climate 21 Project” policy memo. It is the work of many former members of the Obama Administration who are deeply concerned about climate change and what steps the new...more
On Tuesday, 20 October, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Chair Kathy Castor (D-FL) introduced the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2020,...more
The Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) in Washington, D.C., has announced its intent to propose significant changes to its flood hazard regulations at Title 20 DCMR Chapter 31. These changes are designed to make the...more
The gravity of the problem of climate change is rapidly coming into focus. On November 23, 2018 thirteen federal agencies under the leadership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including among others the...more
"Natural" disasters cost the United States a record amount of $306 billion in 2017, topping the previous record of $215 billion in 2005, the year of Hurricane Katrina. This past year also tied with 2011 for the highest number...more
The Washington Post reported this week that Utqiagvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow), has gotten so warm, so fast, that NOAA’s computers can’t even believe it. The data for Utqiagvik (that’s hard to type!) were so high...more
The US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) has released the Climate Science Special Report (CSSR or the Report). Published on November 3, 2017, this US-focused authoritative climate change science assessment serves as a...more
The Trump Administration unveiled significant rollbacks in funding for federal agencies when it released its Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again on March 16, 2017. The President's proposed budget priorities would...more