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.
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