Climate Law Blog

Teresa Parejo Navajas Professor of Law Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) On March 1, 2013, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved a Preliminary Law regarding electric systems, which includes a section about environmental control of the technique of hydrofracturing (“fracking”). The preliminary law proposes that those projects that would need to use fracking in [...]

by Moneen Nasmith Energy efficiency measures provide tremendous opportunities for achieving effective and cost-friendly reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases. In the absence of more comprehensive legislative efforts, proponents of energy efficiency projects can look to existing environmental laws for tools to promote and encourage energy efficiency and conservation. One such law is the [...]

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 by requirements of federal and [...]

Teresa Parejo Navajas Professor of Law Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) Mayor Bloomberg has declared war on polystyrene (Styrofoam), a material that is generally used for fast-food packaging, due to its “destructive” impact on the environment. Most forms of Styrofoam are, to some extent, recyclable, but there aren’t many facilities that accept this material [...]

by Anne Siders On February 14, for the first time ever, climate change was added to the Government Accountability Office (GAO)’s “High Risk List.”  The GAO risk review is conducted every two years at the start of a new Congress and lists government operations deemed to be at high risk for fraud, waste, abuse, or [...]

by Shawna Ganley On February 11th EPA announced that it has awarded almost $725,000 to study wetlands development to protect shorelines in New York.  Most interesting to climate change adaptation, the funding aims to “evaluate the potential for salt marshes to move inland due to rising sea levels,” in addition to identifying which marshes and [...]

On January 28, FEMA released updated flood maps for parts of Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, New Jersey, and Westchester County.   The updated maps will help New York officials determine the best policies for re-building in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.  But the maps do not account for future effects of climate change, such as sea [...]

by Shawna Ganley As New York City receives its first distribution from the recent $51 billion federal disaster aid package for Hurricane Sandy ($61 billion including flood insurance funding), the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 contains only a few forward-looking measures to prevent future losses from projected increased storms due to climate change. To [...]

On Wednesday, February 13, 2013, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, the Center for Climate Change Law will host a discussion with Tony deBrum, Minister in Assistance to the President of the Marshall Islands and former Foreign Minister, and Dr. Radley Horton, Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University, focused on the UN Climate Negotiations from [...]

by Shelley Welton On February 7, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative released a new Model Rule that memorializes several important recommendations coming out of its 2012 review process. Most significantly, the new Model Rule calls for a major readjustment to the regional emissions cap, lowering the 2014 cap by 45% (from 165 million tons to [...]