On September 21, 2023, the Biden administration outlined plans to expand federal agencies’ consideration of the social cost of carbon—a metric for the economic cost of each additional ton of carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere. This announcement tilts the balance of cost-benefit analyses in favor of activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and it
Earlier this month, Judge William Young dismissed for lack of standing claims brought by the Conservation Law Foundation alleging that bus companies violated anti-idling regulations. The opinion is important, because it does not make life easy for citizen plaintiffs and it provides something of a roadmap for defendants to follow in challenging plaintiffs’ standing.
The
Last week, Inside EPA (subscription required) reported that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has basically informed EPA that EPA may not promulgate guidance on cumulative risk assessments because of questions about its legal authority to require CRAs.
If EPA plans to interpret such environmental regulations as providing EPA with the authority to require that
Last month, Judge John Hunderaker held that the Endangered Species Act requires EPA to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service before issuing recommended water quality criteria. He also vacated EPA’s 2016 chronic freshwater criterion for cadmium. The case is potentially important for a number of reasons.
First, it’s
[This post is part of our Hydrogen Blog Series. Read the rest of the series here.]
The Department of Energy (“DOE”) held a webinar on Friday, August 18, 2023 on the U.S. government’s national hydrogen strategy. The main announcement was the formation of the Hydrogen Interagency Taskforce, or “HIT,” but the webinar was otherwise
Earlier this week, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated EPA’s disapproval of Montana’s regional haze plan for the PacifiCorp’s Wyodak power plant. The basis for the disapproval was an issue near and dear to my heart. In rejecting Montana’s SIP, EPA repeatedly pointed to Montana’s failure to comply with EPA’s guidelines for determining
As more advisory services, investment companies, and public companies have publicized their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a set of new rules intended to create a consistent, comparable, and reliable source of information regarding climate change impacts and sustainability efforts to inform and protect investors
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 briefly reviewing what the case was actually about and what the decision says.
First, it’s important to
Greenwire (subscription required) reported this week that the Fish & Wildlife Service Recovery Plan for the Oregon spotted frog estimates that the cost to achieve recovery of the frog will be roughly $2.7 billion over 40 years. This post isn’t about the Oregon spotted frog or even about the Endangered Species Act as a whole.
On July 31, 2023, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed an executive order ending the use of fossil fuels in new construction and major renovations of city-owned buildings. Although city buildings comprise a small percentage of overall carbon emissions in Boston, the new executive order aligns with larger efforts to decarbonize both publicly and privately owned
