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President Obama and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the issuance of the long-anticipated Federal Clean Power Plan, which regulates emission to the atmosphere of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from existing fossil fuel-fired electric...

By Meredith Odato Graham This week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposal to amend Subpart W of the greenhouse gas reporting program rules, which affects the Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems source category. According...

Several States, a city, and land trusts filed federal common law public nuisance claims against various power companies; they requested that the court set CO2 emission limits. In American Electric Power Co. et al v. Connecticut et al , 2011 U.S. LEXIS...

By Sarah M. Wong, Marquette University Law School The United States has entered a heightened state of environmental awareness. America's history of industrialization and consumerism in the early 1900s resulted in the realization that an increasing...

Prior posts have noted both the various impacts of Global Climate Change ("GCC") on various aspects of the Earth and its atmospheric systems, as well as the failure of many/most models to include such impacts within their parameters. For example...

By Michael B. Gerrard and Cullen Howe This chapter from Environmental Law Practice addresses both the factual background of global climate change and its legal implications. The chapter is divided into two parts, discussing the factual background...

A recent posting noted that because the Sun is at a solar minimum, the impact of GHG increases in the atmosphere have been less than would otherwise be anticipated. Now, a new report suggests that the Sun is entering an unanticipated, a potentially prolonged...

By Keri L. Holleb Hotaling Recently, the Board of the Green Climate Fund (the "Fund") met in Bali, Indonesia. The Fund was designated as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate...

The oceans emit an estimated 30% of the nitrous oxide (N2O) entering the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide gives rise to NO (nitric oxide) when it reacts with oxygen atoms, and this NO in turn reacts with ozone. As a result, N2O is the main naturally occurring...

By Dianne Saxe, Ontario Environmental Lawyer Clare Booth Luce, the famous American playwright, journalist, ambassador, and Congresswoman, used to say, "no good deed goes unpunished". To my regret, this sardonic and rather depressing phrase...

The Amazon has long been conceived of as a CO2 sink because of its mass of vegetation. Researchers are now concerned that drought and deforestation may make it a net emitter. Because of regular measurements of about 100,000 trees, researchers estimate...

Researchers have been following the penguin population off the tip of the West Antarctic Peninsula since the 1970's. Winter air temperatures in the region have climbed a significant 5 to 6 degrees Celsius in recent decades with a concomitant loss...

Yesterday's post noted some of the adverse consequences that are likely to arise from acidification of oceans. Another recent study shows that such acidification can influence the behavior of fish because of impacts on their brains; the response of...

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) last week proposed new rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas drilling operations in the Centennial State. His proposals include a first-in-the-nation call to force drillers to reduce the emission...