Environmental

Recent Posts

Marten Law Group: EPA Issues Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule; Monitoring To Begin January 1, 2010
Posted on 16 Oct 2009 by Svend Brandt-Erichsen

“On September 22, 2009, EPA released final regulations that require approximately 10,000 facilities to report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually. Covered facilities must begin monitoring January 1, 2010, and file their first annual reports... Read More

Jenner & Block: U.S. EPA Issues Proposed Rule - Stationary Sources of GHG Emissions Will Comply with "Tailored" Clean Air Act Permit Requirements
Posted on 16 Oct 2009 by Gabrielle Sigel & Allison Torrence

“On September 30, 2009, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule that will, if finalized, prescribe how the Clean Air Act (CAA) permitting requirements are applied to stationary sources of greenhouse gas... Read More

Jenner & Block: U.S. EPA Finalizes Rule Mandating Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Posted on 16 Oct 2009 by Gabrielle Sigel and Jennifer Cassel

“On September 22, 2009, U.S. EPA issued a final rule imposing mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This rule is the Obama administration's first major regulatory action on GHGs,” explain Gabrielle Sigel, a partner at... Read More

Sierra Club claims 100 coal-fired powerplants cancelled since 2001; reasons for cancellations appear to be in dispute
Posted on 28 Aug 2009 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

With the cancellation of a coal-fired powerplant in Utah in July, the Sierra Club asserted that there have been 100 such plants have "been shelved" since 2001, when approximately 150 plants were at least a twinkle in someone's eye. However... Read More

EPA to reconsider 3 Bush-era NSR-related emissions rules
Posted on 28 Apr 2009 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

EPA is reconsidering three rules finalized under the Bush Administration related to air emissions, and noted that under its New Source Review permitting program it was reviewing rules that determine when and how facilities are required to keep records... Read More

More elucidation re content of HR 2454, the House GHG legislation
Posted on 28 Aug 2009 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

As noted previously, when addressing a 1,200-page bill , it takes some time to find all the interesting pieces. A prior post noted some of those pieces; this post addresses several more. Water Resources Without 2 years of enactment, EPA is required... Read More

FutureGen project to restart
Posted on 16 Jul 2009 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

Prior posts have noted the history of the FutureGen project and its cancellation by the Bush Administration; prior posts have also noted a USGS study that suggests that there is considerably less coal available economically than has been assumed. FutureGen... Read More

Cap and Trade: Towards an International Scheme?
Posted on 12 Jan 2010 by Colleen Theron

There are various means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the impact of climate change, including: · the ‘cap and trade’ policy · the use of carbon taxes, and · the so called ‘command and control’... Read More

Clean coal power plants get go-ahead....in Britain
Posted on 26 Apr 2009 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has announced that the UK budget will include funds for 2, and possibly 4, demonstration coal-fired power plants that will be used to prove, or disprove, the technology to capture and store CO2 emissions underground. The... Read More

CFC replacements have huge GHG effect
Posted on 20 Jul 2009 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

The old problem. The ozone hole. The solution? Replace CFC's with other, more ozone-benign chemicals. The result? Considerable success in terms of preserving the ozone layer. The new problem? The replacements chemicals are GHG's with thousands... Read More

Computer modeling supports supposition that Antarctic ozone hole may be key factor explaining why seas around Antarctica are absorbing less CO2
Posted on 10 Jul 2009 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

Recent research has indicated that the oceans surrounding Antarctica are not absorbing nearly as much planet-warming CO2 from the atmosphere as they did in previous decades. This assessment has been subject to criticism. [See https://www.sciencemag.org... Read More

Is reality setting in as the difficulties of an effective cap-and-trade program appear on the horizon?
Posted on 2 Apr 2009 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

What will be the goal of a cap-and-trade program? How much of a decrease in CO2 emissions will be the ultimate objective? For discussion purposes, many commentators seem to take the hypothesized goal from the Dingell-Boucher "discussion draft"... Read More

Should real estate investors be interested in energy efficiency?
Posted on 8 Feb 2010 by Colleen Theron

The built environment accounts for over a third of total indirect CO2 emissions in the US and the UK, based on studies carried out in both countries. In a new report, “Energy Efficiency in Real Estate Portfolios” Ceres, the leading coalition... Read More

What would an acidic ocean look like? Here is an example, though extreme
Posted on 24 Apr 2009 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

As noted in prior posts, scientific concern has been expressed for several years over the potential for an increase in atmospheric CO2 levels to acidify the oceans. Ironically, a natural laboratory exists on what an extreme acidification might look like... Read More

EPA takes initial key step toward labeling CO2 as "pollutant" under CAA, which would allow the CAA to be used as part of a GHG control program
Posted on 24 Mar 2009 by Thomas H. Clarke, Jr.

As noted in prior posts, to regulate CO2 under the CAA, EPA needs to find that CO2 is a danger to public health and welfare. According to media reports, EPA has sent a draft report to OMB in which EPA concludes that CO2 in a danger to public health and... Read More