Monthly Archives: March 2013

10 posts

Panel Provides Insight on Challenges, Opportunities, and Legal Issues in Coastal Managed Retreat

Five months after Superstorm Sandy, the recovering northeast region continues to debate whether to rebuild in the most vulnerable coastal areas or whether to retreat and leave those lands as protective buffers.   A decision to engage in managed retreat would face significant legal, political, and practical challenges, but, according to […]

EPA Water Pollutant Discharge Rules Rely on Antiquated Rainfall Maps

By Shawna Ganley. While the Clean Water Act prohibits discharge of pollutants into waterways, EPA regulations make exceptions for certain discharges in the event of extreme weather events, such as 10-year and 25-year storms.  These exceptions run the gamut from toxic pollutants such as DDT, to waste from factory farm […]

Pennsylvania sells thousands of home energy efficiency loans on secondary market

In early March 2013 the Pennsylvania Treasury announced that it had sold approximately 4,700 loans made through its Keystone Home Energy Loan Program.  In exchange for the loans, the Treasury received $23 million in cash and $8.3 million in deferred payments, for a total sale value of $31.3 million.  The […]

President Obama’s proposed Energy Security Trust and reducing the dependence of US cars on gasoline

On March 15, 2013, President Obama formally announced his plan to create an “Energy Security Trust” to promote research and development of clean energy technologies.  The Trust was first mentioned by President Obama in his State of the Union address earlier this year, but he had not elaborated on the […]

Preliminary Review of Compliance Filings in response to FERC Order 1000: Mostly Business as Usual, a Few Bright Spots

The Center for Climate Change Law has completed a preliminary analysis of compliance filings submitted by regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) amending operating tariffs in response to the requirements of FERC Order 1000. Order 1000 institutes region-wide transmission planning requirements including analysis of transmission needs created […]