I’ve written previously about the urgency associated with the problems caused by waste plastic. However, there’s a big difference between me blogging about it and Michael Bloomberg opening his wallet to try to do something about it. And the news this week was that Michael Bloomberg is putting $85 million into a new “Beyond
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The Senate Ratifies the Kigali Amendment: Is Bipartisan Climate Action Possible?
Earlier this week, the Senate ratified the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. The amendment, which has already been ratified by most other countries, will result in the phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons, a group of potent greenhouse gases. Substantively, this is a big deal. Estimates are that it will prevent about ½ a degree Celsius in
IRA Side Deal on Permitting Raising Ire
In order to pass the Inflation Reduction Act (“Act”) last month, a deal was struck with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to create separate legislation to reform federal energy project permitting. Now that the Act has been signed into law, Senate Democrats are making good on their promise but, as might be expected, not all parties
It’s Good to Be a Brownfield Site — As Long As It’s Not Too Brown
Tucked away in the recesses of the Inflation Reduction Act is a provision that reminds everyone why they love Superfund so much. On its face, it’s simply an incentive for renewable energy development, giving an adder to the amount of the investment tax credit (ITC) or production tax credit (PTC) to which certain renewable energy
EPA Proposes to List PFOA and PFOS as Hazardous Substances: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
EPA announced today that it is proposing to list PFOA and PFAS as hazardous substances under CERCLA. EPA appears to be sanguine about how the listing will play out in the real world. 
EPA is focused on holding responsible those who have manufactured and released significant amounts of PFOA and PFOS into the environment. EPA
Massachusetts to Require Disclosure of Energy Usage from Large Buildings
Lost amid the more high profile items in Massachusetts’ recently enacted Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind is a requirement that the Department of Energy Resources establish a program requiring large buildings across the Commonwealth to report energy usage on an annual basis. The requirement goes into effect on July 1, 2024, but DOER
IRA Incentives for Carbon Sequestration and Low Carbon Fuels
Yesterday, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, creating a law that contains the most significant climate-related incentives in U.S. history. In the few short weeks since the bill was introduced in the Senate, a flurry of economic activity has already begun, with entities already beginning to align their business practices to the incentives laid
The Inflation Reduction Act: Investments in Environmental Justice
The Biden administration has made it a priority to target environmental justice issues as part of the administration’s broader economic agenda. On August 7, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Act), which would provide about $369 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below their 2005 levels by 2030 as
Coming soon to Massachusetts cities and towns: all electric buildings
As we’ve discussed before, multiple cities and towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have tried to ban fossil fuel hookups for new buildings by zoning or other ordinance over the past few years. But in July 2020, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Municipal Law Unit struck down the first such ban that came across its
NEPA Is Indeed Posing a Really Big Obstacle to Coal Mining On Public Lands
On Friday, I posted about a decision invalidating BLM Resource Manage Plans for failure to comply with NEPA. My caption was “NEPA Is Still Going to Pose an Obstacle to Leasing Public Lands for Fossil Fuel Extraction.” Little did I know how prescient I was, because later on Friday, Judge Brian Morris – the same