On June 29, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxins (MATS) rule, ruling that the agency unreasonably overlooked the costs associated with the regulation. While the decision dealt a significant blow to the environmental agenda of the Obama administration and provided a rare win for the reeling… Keep reading →
President Obama has committed the United States to the goal of generating 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. “This would nearly triple the amount of wind- and solar-generated electricity on the national grid. The EPA ran afoul of the law by failing to conduct a cost-benefit analysis before it acted to reduce… Keep reading →
Last Friday, the incoming head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Faith Birol, provided a briefing to U.S. stakeholders about IEA’s new special report on climate change, which found that global emissions could peak by the end of this decade without reducing economic growth. The report outlines five key pillars for turning the emissions corner by… Keep reading →
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Michigan v. EPA, reversing a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and holding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must consider costs of compliance before deciding whether to regulate hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) emitted from power plants.
The Supreme Court dealt a major blow for clean energy companies by voting against mercury regulations as part of the Clean Air Act. “The Supreme Court ruled Monday the EPA has to factor in the costs of regulations aimed at curtailing mercury and other toxins from coal-burning power plants. Shares of the iShares Global Clean… Keep reading →
Consistent with longstanding administrative-law precedents, the D.C. Circuit has rejected two challenges to EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan rule as premature.
There is no great disagreement that the U.S. energy system is transforming. With or without additional environmental regulations, like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan, this transition is occurring. Our history and experience have demonstrated that we can weather it without threatening our uniform and non-negotiable commitment to reliability. But to do… Keep reading →
It’s been a big news day in the U.S. Senate, with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid announcing he won’t run for another term. But that’s not the only news. We have had our eyes on the Senate’s marathon “Vote-a-Rama” budget process that wrapped up around three-thirty this morning. A number of environmental and energy votes… Keep reading →
“Waters of the United States” or “WOTUS” in the esoteric taxonomy of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), is a term with which many are becoming increasingly familiar. This deceptively simple phrase is anything but simple in its application…
Two studies released today in the journal of Environmental Science and Technology provide new insights into methane emissions from significant sources in the oil and natural gas sector and underscore the urgency of taking action to address pollution from these sources. The studies—focusing on the gathering and processing segment and the transmission and storage segment—were… Keep reading →
