By David Spence* Visionaries imagine better futures. Skeptics worry about proof of concept — whether the technically-possible is in fact possible. Regulators who oversee transitions to new and better futures ought to do so slowly and carefully — not only because the devil is in the details, but because some […]
by Justin Gundlach and Romany Webb Resilience—the capacity to withstand, absorb, recover from, and better adapt to disruption—is currently a popular topic of discussion and debate. Several factors, including a string of disasters and unrelated but coincident regulatory processes, have made resilience a key objective for a wide array of […]
By Romany Webb and Justin Gundlach On February 15, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced that it would convene a technical conference to explore issues relating to the wholesale market participation of distributed energy resources (DERs). These resources, which consist of solar panels and other small-scale energy systems installed […]
By Dena Adler Donald Trump claims to have delivered on deregulation in his first year as President. While independent reporting questions the veracity of his assertions, climate change is one arena where the Trump Administration’s regulatory rollbacks have been both visible and real. The Administration has delayed and initiated the […]
By Richmund Sta. Lucia Extreme weather patterns can be easily seen in floods. Severe storms, especially during the rainy season, cause record rainfall to inundate both cities and countryside alike. Storm surges, another weather abnormality, create havoc in coastline areas by pushing meters-high water from the seas towards land. Indeed, […]
Each month, Arnold & Porter and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law collect and summarize developments in climate-related litigation, which we also add to our U.S. and non-U.S. climate litigation charts. If you know of any cases we have missed, please email us at columbiaclimate at gmail dot com. HERE ARE THE ADDITIONS […]
By Justin Gundlach and Romany Webb The speedy and opaque process that ended in December 2017 with passage of the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has meant that different sectors and companies are just now figuring out what its provisions mean for them. For regulated utilities, which collect money […]
By Susan Biniaz In the midst of the negotiations leading to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the U.S. Senate adopted the “Byrd-Hagel Resolution,” co-sponsored by Senators Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. Passed by a vote of 95-0, it reflected the Senate’s view that the international climate […]