Land Use

7 posts

Pipeline crossing wetlands. Photo by Steve Hillebrand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Permitting CO2 Pipelines: Overcoming State and Federal Barriers to CO2 Pipeline Networks

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 directed the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to support the development of four regional “direct air capture hubs” (DAC Hubs)—networks that connect direct air capture projects with sequestration facilities and commercial users of captured carbon dioxide (CO2). To support these DAC Hubs, […]

Renewable Energy Projects Face Opposition in 49 States, Local Restrictions in 31 States

By Leah Adelman and Jacob Elkin Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law has published an update to its Report on Opposition to Renewable Energy Facilities in the United States, which documents local restrictions on and opposition to the siting of renewable energy projects. The updated report highlights […]

Final Programmatic EIS Establishes Plan for Southwestern Solar Development

By Katee Kline, Legal Intern On July 24, the Department of the Interior released a final programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) identifying prime areas for solar development, approving seventeen large-scale energy projects on public lands, and outlining the procedure for approval of similar projects.  The PEIS, authored by the DOI’s Bureau […]

Heat Wave in Northeast Provides Glimpse of What Awaits Us in a Warmer World

By Rose Winer, Intern The severe heat wave that blanketed the U.S. mid-Atlantic and Northeast at the end of last week indicates a trend of heat-related climate change impacts that will intensify over the next century, according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). […]

Massachusetts Leads the Way in Ensuring Biomass Facilities Reduce GHG Emissions

By Julia Ciardullo Fellow On April 27, 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) published a proposed final regulation regarding the use of forest biomass for generating energy in Massachusetts.  If adopted, the regulation would be the first to set greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for determining the eligibility […]

Ninth Circuit Vacates NIETC Designations in Calif. Wilderness Coalition v. Dept of Energy

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). […]