Now that the dust has cleared on the Paris climate agreement, many are asking what it means for both investing and climate policy in the United States. I’m excited to report that I’ve been involved in an exciting project for the past year now that is exploring how U.S. business can lead the way to invest in a clean energy economy that will achieve an 80% reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The project is sponsored by the Risky Business Project, which is chaired by Henry Paulson, … [Read more...]
Why Paris Matters for Climate Disruption: a Podcast and a Blog Interview on “Slargon”
Paris has been in the news and on our minds over the past few weeks in the wake of the deadly, horrific attacks there on the night of November 13, 2015. For those of us engaged in the field of climate and energy law and policy, though, we’ve had our sights set on Paris much longer: the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will gather there from November 30 through December 11 to set the stage for the next step in the planet’s … [Read more...]
Drought, Climate Change, and the Water in the West
The ongoing drought in the western United States has garnered a lot of public attention in recent months, with national news media focusing on California and the state’s policy responses to manage a dire water situation that has and will continue to affect millions of people and billions of dollars of economic activity. Three questions repeatedly come up around the situation: (1) is the drought caused by climate change?; (2) why are some water users facing severe restrictions while others are … [Read more...]
Desert Development: Dilemmas and Opportunities
Meeting our need for renewable energy to deal with climate change has led to a “Green Civil War,” in the words of Dustin Mulvaney, as environmental activists in California debate the relative environmental value of developing large utility-scale renewable energy projects in the desert. Those projects invariably involve a conflict between competing environmental values: (1) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and therefore lessen climate disruption versus (2) their impact on wildlife habitat, … [Read more...]
Keystone, Climate, and California
The current debate in Congress over whether or not to compel President Obama’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline (which needs a permit to cross the border with Canada) has generated more heat than light on the relationship between Keystone XL, energy prices, and climate change. Meanwhile, the precipitous drop in world oil prices over the past six months (from a high of nearly $115 per barrel to a low of under $50 per barrel) has made some question the value of renewable energy sources in … [Read more...]
The Climate Deal with China
You probably saw the announcement recently when President Obama was in Beijing that the United States and China are jointly committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. China stated that it would get 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and that it would reach its peak greenhouse gas emissions in 2030. The U.S is committed to a 30 percent reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. This is the first time China has ever agreed to cap its … [Read more...]
Climate Week and the Road to Paris
You may have read about the People’s Climate March in New York City on September 21, where an estimated 300,000-350,000 people converged to walk several miles to draw attention to the pressing need to address climate change. The timing of the walk was in anticipation of a United Nations climate summit hosted two days later by the Secretary General. President Obama attended and spoke at the event, which included representatives from 125 countries—mainly heads of states. But notably absent were … [Read more...]
Constitutional Law and the States’ Policy Power Over Climate and Renewable Energy Law
The U.S. Supreme Court gave California a big victory recently by declining to hear a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding whether the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) violates the so-called “dormant” Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. A federal judge for the Eastern District of California found in December 2012 that the LCFS was unconstitutional, but the 9th Circuit reversed the district court last fall while remanding the case back to the district judge on … [Read more...]
EPA’s Goal Tally at the Supreme Court: losing one round 5-4 but really winning 83-3?
The Supreme Court issued its big decision in the Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency (UARG v. EPA) case last week, and some headlines emphasized that the Court split 5-4 to invalidate some portions of EPA’s climate change regulations. Looking more closely, though, Justice Scalia’s comments from the bench tell the real score: “It bears mention that EPA is getting almost everything it wanted in this case.” The headlines may report this as a 5-4 rebuke of EPA, but EPA … [Read more...]
Losing the Battle While Winning the War? EPA’s climate law case now before the Supreme Court
Climate law and policy experts like myself have been anxiously awaiting the Supreme Court’s impending decision in a major climate change case challenging the U.S. EPA’s regulations (NOT the regulations that EPA proposed this month, but a different set of regulations that set the stage for the new regulations affecting existing power plants). The case, Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency (UARG v. EPA), resulted in a big victory for the EPA at the D.C. Circuit Court of … [Read more...]