Commission's Energy Roadmap 2050 - What Direction for EU's Climate Change Policy?
On 15 December 2011, the European Commission published its “Energy Roadmap 2050” in the form of a Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.(1) The Roadmap should be read in light of the fourth meeting of the Advisory Group on Energy Roadmap 2050 whose minutes were published on DG ENER’s website on 16 January 2012.(2)
Continue Reading...McKenna Long & Aldridge Launches "Politics, Law & Policy" Blog
The team here at Climate Change Insights wants to welcome a phenomenal group of commentators to the McKenna Long & Aldridge blogosphere. Earlier this week, MLA launched its newest blog, “Politics, Law and Policy,” authored by a bipartisan group of attorneys and public policy advisors in the firm’s nationally-recognized government affairs practice. The blog will serve as an important resource for those seeking analysis and resources on the impact of federal and state politics and public policies on a wide range of issues and debates, including health care, energy, infrastructure, taxes, transportation, cybersecurity, and campaign and election compliance.
Continue Reading...Will California LCFS ruling affect other state and regional climate initiatives?
On December 29, U.S. District Judge Lawrence O’Neil issued a preliminary injunction against California’s Air Resources Board’s (“CARB”) low carbon fuel standard (“LCFS”). The lawsuit, brought by the ethanol, oil and trucking industries, alleged that California’s LCFS violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and is preempted by federal law. Judge O’Neil held that California’s LCFS violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, because the regulation impermissibly attempts to regulate interstate commerce. The ruling, however, dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim that federal law preempted California’s LCFS. An important question will be the influence that this recent decision will have on other state and regional climate initiatives.
Continue Reading...Watch What Happens: Top 5 U.S. Climate & Energy Questions in 2012
President Obama came into his first term in office focused on 3 key energy and climate issues: 1) cap & trade legislation, 2) offshore oil production and 3) scaled-up support for nuclear energy. 2011 saw all those issues depart as centerpieces of U.S. policy direction. 2012 will bring a set of high stakes questions that will set the direction.
Continue Reading...Corporate Social Responsibility - an effective tool for promoting climate change?
On 25 October 2011, the European Commission (‘Commission’) adopted a Communication addressed to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.
Continue Reading...Would a CES Raise Electricity Prices?
At the request of House Science and Technology Committee Chair Ralph Hall (R-TX), the Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) released a study this week on the potential impacts of a clean energy standard (“CES”). In January’s State of the Union address, President Obama called for Congress to pass legislation creating a CES, which would require that utilities generate 80% of their electricity from “clean” sources by 2035. “Clean” sources would include not only renewables but also nuclear, natural gas and coal-fired power plants employing carbon capture and sequestration technology.
EU-sponsored conference on "Prevention and Insurance of Natural Catastrophes": a call for increasing public-private partnership
Co-authored by Nora Wouters and Nicolas Croquet
The European Commission organized on 18 October 2011 a conference in Brussels titled “Prevention and Insurance of Natural Catastrophes”. The conference gathered EU officials, a member of the World Bank, representatives of think tanks and of insurance associations, and finally academics. The conference centered around four themes, namely the general framework for approaching the prevention and insurability of natural catastrophes, ‘insurance availability’, ‘public-private interaction’, and finally ‘natural catastrophes and insurance value chain’. Focus here will be on the third theme. In particular, emphasis will be put on the way in which the EU does and can contribute to promoting and fostering public-private partnership (‘PPP’) in the prevention and insurability of natural catastrophes.
Continue Reading...AES Corp v. Steadfast
In a major victory for insurers, the Virginia Supreme Court held that insurance companies do not have to defend utility companies accused of intentional wrongdoing in connection with climate change liability lawsuits. In AES Corp. v. Steadfast Insurance Co.,[1] the court concluded that the underlying climate change claims in the Kivalina lawsuit did not constitute an “occurrence” under AES’ commercial general liability (CGL) policies. Because the court decided the case on the occurrence issue, the court did not reach the issue of whether the pollution exclusion might apply.
Continue Reading...Rhetoric increases over alleged EPA regulatory "train wreck" but will reliability really be imperiled?
As part of their fall jobs agenda, House Republicans are targeting a number of controversial EPA regulations, including the utility MACT and cross-state air pollution (“CSAP”) rules. Opponents of these and other rules argue that they will result in a regulatory “train wreck,” which could threaten the reliability of domestic electricity grid. Next week, the House is expected to consider H.R. 2401, the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act, which would require an analysis of the cumulative economic impacts of EPA’s air, waste, water and climate change rules. In addition, two House Committees held hearings this week regarding the potential impacts of these rules. The House Energy and Power Subcommittee held a hearing with commissioners from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) on the potential reliability and costs implications of the utility MACT, CSAP and other proposed EPA regulatory actions. A House Science Committee also heard testimony from EPA, utilities and state regulators regarding the CSAP rule.
Continue Reading...U.S. Solar Spin, China Moves Ahead
Congressional oversight and press coverage of DoE’s failed $500 million loan guarantee to Solyndra, a now bankrupt
With President Obama’s green jobs push, it is easy to see why Solyndra is such a hot political button. There are also reports of campaign contributions linked to both the decision to approve by solar interests and zealous scrutiny by some critics in Congress linked to fossil fuel interests.
Continue Reading...Blocking the Keystone XL Pipeline Won't Help Climate Change
Beginning this past weekend, environmentalists descended onto Washington, D.C. for a two-week protest designed to pressure President Obama to deny a Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL pipeline project. TransCanada is seeking to construct this pipeline, which would transport up to 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Alberta to delivery points in Oklahoma and Texas, where the product will be refined. The State Department is expected to decide by the end of the year as to whether to grant TransCanada a Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL project.
Continue Reading...DOE-Commissioned Study Highlights Role that U.S. Can Play in Helping Other Countries Responsibly Develop Shale Resources
Last week, Rice University’s James Baker’s Institute for Public Policy released a Department of Energy-commissioned study entitled “Shale Gas and U.S. National Security.” Consistent with other recent studies, the report concluded the new U.S. domestic shale development offers significant benefits, including reduced liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and lower natural gas prices.
Continue Reading...Guest Blogger: AEP's Decision Reveals Legal, Political, and Economic Realities Associated with Implementing Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Technology
By John S. Wyckoff, CPG
Senior Regulatory Scientist, Technology Sciences Group, Inc. Washington, DC[1]
In less than four weeks after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of American Electric Power Company and four other power companies (see SCOTUS Holds That Plaintiffs Cannot Maintain Federal Common Law Nuisance Claims Against GHG-Emitting Utilities,) American Electric Power (AEP) announced on July 14, 2011 that it terminated its cooperative agreement regarding its Mountaineer Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Demonstration project with the U.S. Department of Energy due to the uncertain status of the U.S. climate policy and the continued weak economy. As part of its announcement AEP stated that it is impossible to gain regulatory approval to recover its share of costs for validating and deploying the technology without federal requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions already in place. (see AEP Announcement).
Continue Reading...A Challenging Legislative Environment - Democratic and Republican Staff Directors Provide Legislative Outlook for Energy Policy
In a Politico sponsored event this morning, the Republican and Democratic Staff Directors for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (SENR) Committee both called this current Congress “the most difficult legislative environment” since either one of them has worked on Capitol Hill. This sentiment is common on the Hill with a divided Congress and deep ideological and partisan divides.
Continue Reading...Flying Green: Jobs for Europe, Lawsuits for the United States
Based on research by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the aviation industry accounts for just over 2% of all global greenhouse gas emissions and that figure will increase to at least 3% by 2050. In an increasingly carbon and fuel constrained world, some aviation firms and governments are seeing a competitive advantage in going green while unfortunately the U.S. is lagging behind.
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