Environmental

Recent Posts

Wind Projects: Bald Eagles Don't Surf
Posted on 13 Feb 2013 by J. Wylie Donald

By J. Wylie Donald, Partner, McCarter & English One would think that preliminary estimates of bird fatalities at a proposed 78 MW wind farm in southeastern Minnesota were hardly news. After all, there are over 60,000 MW of wind energy installed... Read More

Tags: wind power , bald eagles , alternative energy , green energy , mccarter english , Renewable Energy , J. Wylie Donald

Gifford v. USGBC - Dismissed (But Not on the Merits)
Posted on 1 Sep 2011 by J. Wylie Donald

By J. Wylie Donald, Partner, McCarter & English One of the more infuriating things about lawyers is that often, if they do their job right, their client wins and no one else benefits from it. This is what happened on August 15 before Judge Sand... Read More

Tags: Southern District of New York , Gifford v USGBC , Green Buildings , LEEDS , standing , mccarter english , Lanham Act , commercial misrepresentations , energy efficiency , J. Wylie Donald

Ceres and a Series of Serious Thoughts About the NAIC Climate Disclosures - A Three Part Series
Posted on 24 Oct 2011 by J. Wylie Donald

Ceres released last month the first analysis of the insurer climate change disclosures submitted to state regulators pursuant to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners rule. The report is eye-opening. The authors have combed through the disclosures... Read More

Tags: NAIC , Ceres , National Association of Insurance Commissioners , insurers , Climate Change , insurance regulation , Sustainability , mccarter english , disclosure , climate risk , J. Wylie Donald

The Debt Ceiling Furor Will Change the Climate of Climate Change Responses
Posted on 11 Aug 2011 by J. Wylie Donald

By J. Wylie Donald, Partner, McCarter & English We hope you don't come to this blog for stock tips but it doesn't take John Bogle to know that the debt ceiling impasse and the budget furor do not bode well for renewable energy stocks... Read More

Tags: carbon emissions , Climate Change , mccarter english , Renewable Energy , energy efficiency , greenhouse gases , EPA , J. Wylie Donald , BULB Act , Ethanol , debt ceiling

National Weather Service 30-Year Averages Confirm the Climate is Getting Hotter in the U.S.
Posted on 16 Aug 2011 by J. Wylie Donald

By J. Wylie Donald , Partner, McCarter & English Half a degree doesn't sound like much. And it isn't, if you are talking about a baccalaureate. But in a world of climate change, a half a degree increase in Baltimore's average temperature... Read More

Tags: carbon dioxide , Climate Change , National Weather Service , English & McCarter , temperature increases , average temperatures , greenhouse gases , climate studies , J. Wylie Donald , global warming

Looking Forward and Looking Back - Some Climate Change Response Perspectives and Predictions
Posted on 10 Jan 2011 by J. Wylie Donald

By J. Wylie Donald, Partner, English & McCarter Another year done, another time to look back and to look forward. In the climate change space, the increasing tempo of regulation was halted, but that does not mean that there were not significant... Read More

Tags: insurance coverage , carbon dioxide , public nuisance , Climate Change , cap-and-trade , emissions , occurrence , McCarter & English , greenhouse gases , J. Wylie Donald

Coal Exports to China and Rising Temperatures
Posted on 4 Jul 2011 by J. Wylie Donald

By J. Wylie Donald, Partner, McCarter & English Front page news in Baltimore early in June were two stories. The first notes record temperatures in Maryland in the first full week of June, 2011. The second was a lead article on June 12 on the... Read More

Tags: exports , coal , Climate Change , rising temperatures , environmental impact , anthracite , Port of Baltimore , greenhouse gases , J. Wylie Donald , global warming

Gifford v. USGBC - Dismissed (But Not on the Merits)
Posted on 1 Sep 2011 by J. Wylie Donald

By J. Wylie Donald, Partner, McCarter & English One of the more infuriating things about lawyers is that often, if they do their job right, their client wins and no one else benefits from it. This is what happened on August 15 before Judge Sand... Read More

Tags: Southern District of New York , Gifford v USGBC , Green Buildings , LEEDS , standing , mccarter english , Lanham Act , commercial misrepresentations , energy efficiency , J. Wylie Donald

Predicting Sea Level Rise - The Arctic Council Raises the Ante
Posted on 8 Jun 2011 by J. Wylie Donald

By J. Wylie Donald, Partner, McCarter & English Last month Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and other prominent diplomats signed the first ever treaty under the auspices of the Arctic Council; specifically, the member nations addressed Arctic... Read More

Tags: AMAP , Arctic Council , permafrost , Climate Change , force majeure clauses , sea level rise , Arctic , greenhouse gases , J. Wylie Donald , global warming

Plugging in Electric Vehicles May Raise IQs
Posted on 13 Dec 2011 by J. Wylie Donald

By J. Wylie Donald, Partner, McCarter & English It's not Gone with the Wind or Harry Potter, but an article just published in the public health journal, Health Affairs , is worth picking up, if only to start you thinking. In Six Climate... Read More

Tags: Ethyl Corp v EPA , electric vehicles , electric car , leaded gas , Climate Change , health care costs , mccarter english , plug in vehicles , hybrid cars , J. Wylie Donald