Gregory E. Wannier Deputy Director As discussed previously, implementation of EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations necessitates a large program of regulation under the Clean Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program. EPA has attempted to give states authority to implement these changes, but not all parties have been compliant. A […]
Clean Energy
by Daniel Firger Associate Director As a result of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, speculation is mounting that Japan will be unable to meet its greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol and may declare “force […]
Gregory E. Wannier Deputy Director As discussed previously, EPA has issued a series of four rules designed to initiate regulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) under the Clean Air Act (“underlying regulations”). As litigation challenging the legality of these regulations moves forward in the DC Circuit, and legislation seeking to limit […]
by Laura Mulry Fellow The national public interest in developing renewable energy projects, expedited by the Obama Administration’s goal of generating 80% of the nation’s electricity from clean energy sources by 2035, is being met with opposition from Native Americans seeking to preserve sites sacred to their cultural heritage, some […]
By Danielle Sugarman Fellow On February 23, 2011, the New Hampshire House of Representatives took another step forward in its efforts to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (“RGGI”). Originating in the Science, Technology and Energy Committee (the “Committee”), House Bill 519[1] passed in the House of […]
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). […]
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 […]