On Nov. 20, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) proposed a regulation that would allow national banks and federal savings associations to refuse service to fossil fuel companies and other businesses in “politically controversial” industries only if a specific company failed to meet quantitative, risk-based standards established in advance by the covered … Continue Reading
Two recent developments, the finalization of Part B of the coal combustion residuals, or CCR, rule and the finalization of the 2020 Steam Electric Reconsideration Rule have triggered conversation about, and litigation over, the path forward for long-term management of CCR in the United States. Click here to access the full article, “The State of … Continue Reading
In 2016, the incoming Trump Administration stated its intention to reduce substantially federal environmental regulation. The president issued executive orders requiring two rule repeals for each new rule and directing the reorganization of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He also carried through on promises to announce the country’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords … Continue Reading
On Nov. 5, 2020, at 11 a.m. CST, join Greenberg Traurig, in collaboration with Rubicon Capital Advisors, for a webinar on the current renewables climate in Latin America, with a focus on Chile and Colombia. Guest speakers include: Invenergy LLC’s Gabriel Monroy, VP of Finance & Capital Markets; Patricia Tatto, ATA Renewables’ VP of America; … Continue Reading
The ongoing battle over Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) – environmentally-beneficial, beyond-compliance projects that defendants agree to undertake for potential penalty mitigation in settlement of environmental enforcement actions – heated up last week when an environmental group sued the attorney general and others for violating the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in issuing a legal memorandum effectively … Continue Reading
Hydrogen recently has been touted by various political leaders around the world as a clean panacea to the problem of energy storage or heat or electricity. Hydrocarbons traditionally have served that role and have been stored in above-ground tanks and below-ground caverns or geologic formations. Future use of hydrocarbons, however, in some jurisdictions is not … Continue Reading
On Oct. 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat) issued a statement of intent. The governments aim to jointly stimulate future hydrogen research & development and demonstration activities. Hydrogen has caught … Continue Reading
Earlier this year New York state, conceding that its previously enacted siting law had not been effective in siting large-scale renewable energy projects, enacted the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act (codified primarily in N.Y. Executive Law § 94-c; hereinafter, the Act). The Act, effectively a new siting law for renewable projects, created, … Continue Reading
On Sept. 14, 2020 the Dutch minister of Economic Affairs and Climate informed the Dutch Parliament that the EU Commission does not consent to the granting of subsidies for the environmentally friendly production of hydrogen through sustainable energy (so-called ‘green hydrogen’) under the Dutch SDE++ scheme in the form requested by the Dutch government. State-aid … Continue Reading
Last month, I wrote about the “Environmental Justice for All Act,” a bill that proposes a finding that vulnerable populations are disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards. New Jersey is following the federal environmental justice debate, passing historical environmental justice legislation in both the House and Senate, where it is currently awaiting Governor Phil Murphy’s approval. … Continue Reading
Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) refers to the three central factors in measuring sustainability and societal impact of an investment in a company or business. An update of one of the main frameworks used in ESG, the Equator Principles (the EPs), is scheduled to take effect on Oct. 1, 2020. This latest iteration, “EP4,” … Continue Reading
Confusion permeates the public arena as to what the U.S. Supreme Court recently did – and didn’t do – by ruling in favor of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, a federally recognized Native American tribe, and against the state in McGirt v. Oklahoma. Not since a grinning incumbent President Harry S. Truman hoisted The Chicago Daily … Continue Reading
On July 30, Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) unveiled the “The Environmental Justice for All Act.” The bill proposes a finding that communities of color, low-income communities, tribal communities, and other vulnerable populations, such as children, elderly, and persons with disabilities, are disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards. The premise … Continue Reading
