The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to decide whether or not to list the greater sage-grouse as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.[1] The proposed listing has caused conflict between two groups of environmentalists: conservationists... Read More
By Tricia Caliguire Some say you can't go back, but last week, I did go back -- to Austin, Texas, where I went to law school. Things changed -- the east side has been gentrified, the traffic is horrendous, and Molly Ivins is gone – and... Read More
STATES' TRANSPORTATION FUNDING NEEDS TRUMPING TAX AVERSION : This month Virginia's Republican-controlled House and GOP-Democrat-split Senate gave final approval to a $6 billion transportation funding overhaul proposed by the state's Republican... Read More
ENVIRONMENT: The MONTANA House rejects SB 143, a bill that would have increased the number of hunting licenses for bison and prohibited the future relocation of the animals (HELENA INDEPENDENT RECORD]). • The INDIANA House approves SB 487, a bill... Read More
The World Resources Institute recently published new guidelines for entities to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from purchased electricity, Scope 2 emissions. This is the first major update to the GHG Protocol in many years, and responds to changes... Read More
By Daniel R. Simon Today's regulatory regime for a biomass qualifying facility (QF) is challenging. Long gone are the days when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission required a host utility to purchase a biomass QF's energy output and exempted... Read More
By Roger D. Stark and Darin Lowder The U.S. Army has announced plans to solicit and award multiple indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contracts which will be used in awarding Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) task orders for up to an aggregate... Read More
The cash grant program for renewable energy expires at the end of this year. When cash grants end, renewable energy projects will once again rely on "tax equity investors" to offer lower-cost financing in exchange for the tax credits and accelerated... Read More
This article is written by Edward Epstein , Office Managing Partner of Troutman Sanders' Shanghai Office. It appeared first in ACORE's Summer 2011 US-China Quarterly Market Review and is reprinted with ACORE's permission. To access the full... Read More
The EPA on July 1, 2011 issued a final rule deferring for three years application of the Clean Air Act's Prevention of Significant Deterioration ("PSD") and Title V permitting requirements to carbon dioxide ("CO2") emissions from... Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has announced that it has expanded its project finance and renewable energy capabilities with the addition of partners Thomas B. Trimble and Jeremy R. Schwer, who have re-joined the firm's... Read More
The Section 1603 cash grant program has encouraged investments in solar, wind, and other non-traditional energy projects since its enactment in 2009. The latest U.S. Treasury estimates indicate that nearly 20,000 grants have been awarded with total funding... Read More
Owners, and in some cases, lessees, of qualified renewable energy projects are eligible for either an investment tax credit (ITC) equal to 30% of the tax basis for the project, or until the end of this year, a cash grant paid directly by Treasury in the... Read More
The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its most recent "Monthly Energy Review" on March 28, 2012. The Monthly Energy Review is the U.S. Energy Information Administration's primary report of recent and historical energy statistics... Read More
By Daniel R. Simon The U.S. House of Representatives voted June 16 to defund the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) as part of the agriculture appropriation bill (H.R. 2112) for fiscal year 2012. The U.S. Department of Agriculture created BCAP... Read More