By Julia Ciardullo Fellow On January 31, 2011, five investor-owned utilities[1] (Petitioners) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), an electric utility owned by the US government, filed separate briefs with the United States Supreme Court (USSC) in American Electric Power Co. Inc., et al., v. Connecticut, et al. (No. 10-174). […]
Clean Energy
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by Bahrad Sokhansanj J.D. Candidate, Columbia Law School On February 1, 2011, a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a landmark Department of Energy (DOE) electricity transmission Congestion Study, together with the agency’s designation of the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs). […]
by Cullen Howe & Danielle Sugarman Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL) has prepared a first draft of a model municipal wind siting ordinance (PDF). The model ordinance presents a framework for the adoption, implementation and enforcement of standards to promote effective and efficient use of wind […]
Gregory E. Wannier Deputy Director One result of the 2010 midterm elections was the replacement of several climate-receptive state governors with more skeptical administrations in governor mansions around the country. As a result, the continuation of many state and regional climate activities has been thrown into question. Nowhere is that […]
By Julia Ciardullo Fellow On December 29, 2010, Massachusetts released its Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2020, which sets out an ambitious state-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target and lays out a framework for how the state will achieve that target. The Plan was released in compliance with […]
by Danielle Sugarman Fellow On December 16, 2010 the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted 9 to 1 to approve regulations that will establish a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases (GHGs) in California. This move marks a significant step in achieving obligations set under CA’s 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act […]
The Colorado Public Utility Commission (CPUC) issued formal written orders on December 15 approving two utilities’ plans, pursuant to a new state clean air law, to shut down a number of coal burning power plants across the state. Under the orders, Xcel Energy, the state’s largest power provider, will decommission […]
Daniel M. Firger Associate Director Foreign companies are buying up U.S. coal mines. In a statement on November 12, the chairman of Coal India Ltd., a state-controlled entity and the world’s largest coal producer, with a near-monopoly on Indian coal mining, confirmed that the firm was in talks with several […]