Circle of Blue

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

In the Nile River basin last week, a political power shift in Sudan could turn up the heat on a long-simmering dispute over a major dam in the region. The proposed amendment is a brief but powerful statement of principle, according to John Dernbach, a law professor at Widener University Commonwealth Law School.

2021 278

2021 Electricity Environmental Protection Politics 278

Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 16, 2024

I work in the electric utility sector, specifically on the grid issues that shape our energy supply choices. I heard some early warnings of data center growth running into grid limits first from tech companies and then from electric utility planners. This growth is a jolt to the usually slow-moving electricity sector.

Electricity 249

Electricity Clean Energy Nuclear Power Renewable Energy 249

Legal Planet

DECEMBER 12, 2022

The LA Times’ inestimable Sammy Roth reports on the attempt of California’s investor-owned utilities to end “net metering,” whereby utilities must pay customers with rooftop solar for their excess electricity. And we will need lower-income communities to use electricity to get them into EVs. I don’t know what the PUC will do.

Electricity 246

Electricity Politics Law Climate Change 246

Legal Planet

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Fifteen percent of electricity is renewable. Renewables are a third of electricity consumption. Climate law makes emission targets legally binding 2019. Climate law makes emission targets legally binding 2019. Renewables are 42% of electricity. German parliament adopts a law to end coal use by 2038 at the latest.

Nuclear Power 203

Nuclear Power Renewable Energy Carbon Emissions 2030 203

Circle of Blue

JULY 14, 2022

With less water in reservoirs, generators crank out fewer megawatt-hours, raising the cost of electricity and increasing the risk of summer blackouts. This year, Glen Canyon Dam is operating at just 60 percent of its maximum electrical generating capacity due to the drying of Lake Powell. 4) Drought Is Political.

Atmosphere 352

Atmosphere Regulations Politics Electricity 352

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 16, 2022

They just released their 2022 “Annual Energy Outlook” (AEO), which is a big deal: it tells us where electricity is headed over the next 30 years. Here are five key takeaways from this year’s AEO, focused primarily on the electricity sector: 1. This year’s projections are a bit grim. Carbon emissions remain high.

Natural Gas 290

Natural Gas Renewable Energy Climate Change Electricity 290

Legal Planet

JUNE 20, 2022

For example, equity weighting would increase the social cost of carbon but would also raise questions about regulations that raise the price of electricity, an important expense for poor people. Second, there are political and legal problems with equity weighting. with conventional cost-benefit analysis, which is based on that goal.

Regulations 246

Regulations Politics Conservation Law 246

Law and Environment

JUNE 16, 2021

The post TCI Update: Final Model Rule Addresses EJ, but Political Will May Be Lacking first appeared on Law and the Environment. TCI will be an effective regional structure for making those investments, and it makes sense for New York to act in concert with other states in the region.

Politics 130

Politics Carbon Emissions Clean Energy Greenhouse 130

Legal Planet

APRIL 29, 2024

The Department of Energy estimates the cost of an electric vehicle lithium-ion battery pack declined 89% between 2008 and 2022. Different batteries may be ideal in settings where charging speed is not a factor, such as utility-scale electricity storage. Prices for battery storage have declined even more sharply.

Fossil Fuels 279

Fossil Fuels 2008 2010 Clean Energy 279

Legal Planet

JULY 11, 2022

EPA lacked expertise on running the electricity system. A: The Court doesn’t address this question directly, but the major questions doctrine doesn’t seem to be a rule of constitutional law. . Q: When does an issue have “major political significance”? . A: “Political significance” seems to have a narrow meaning. .

Politics 264

Politics Regulations Law Climate Change 264

Union of Concerned Scientists

JULY 3, 2022

The petitioners who brought this case include state-level political officials and coal companies who are single-mindedly determined to block climate action and perpetuate fossil fuel dependence to serve their narrow political or business interests.

Climate Change 272

Climate Change Fossil Fuels Carbon Emissions Nitrogen Oxides 272

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

Whether you call it updating, modernizing, or reforming, changes to the water rights system have long been considered a political third rail —the electric kind you don’t touch. The bill would give the State Water Resources Control Board (the Water Board) the authority to verify pre-1914 appropriative and riparian water rights.

2027 328

2027 Climate Change Law 2017 328

Legal Planet

MAY 9, 2022

Emissions trading systems are often launched with relatively lenient design features, typically justified as giving the system a chance to “learn-by-doing” and to gain political buy-in for approval of a program. – Continual reform to improve ambition, integrity, and buy-in. Most ETS have fallen on the prices-too-low side.

Government 241

Government Politics Climate Change Paris Agreement 241

Legal Planet

SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

The sale of new electric trucks, buses, and vans in California doubled in 2023 from 2022 , and one of every six medium and heavy-duty vehicles sold in the state today produces zero pollution. Manufacturers are stepping up to meet fleet operators’ growing interest in highly efficient electric technologies.

Clean Air Act 338

Clean Air Act Electricity Clean Energy 2023 338

Legal Planet

MAY 23, 2022

Climate change wasn’t a central issue in the campaign, but resistance to climate action no longer provided a political advantage. It promises AU$20 billion to upgrade the grid, lower taxes on electric vehicles, AU$3 billion to cut emissions from heavy industry, building of 85 solar farms and 400 utility-scale storage facilities. (In

Carbon Emissions 246

Carbon Emissions Climate Change Fossil Fuels Politics 246

Circle of Blue

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Weeks before the November 8 election, national political debate centers on control of Congress. Wilce is the treasurer of Arizona Water Defenders, the political action committee that brought the question to the ballot. While state-level decisions this year are about money, local initiatives focus on law and policy.

Regulations 264

Regulations 2022 Politics Electricity 264

Legal Planet

MAY 9, 2022

Texas and a number of other states have passed laws banning what they call “boycotts of fossil fuel companies.” Besides being fundamentally misguided and difficult to implement, these blacklist laws are incompetently drafted and quite likely unconstitutional. Is this as opposed to a political purpose on the part of the managers?

Fossil Fuels 246

Fossil Fuels Law Carbon Emissions Politics 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 4, 2023

At the highest level, the contiguous United States is composed of three electrical grids: the Western Interconnection, the Eastern Interconnection, and the Texas Interconnection. Interconnections and regional entities (Source: North American Electric Reliability Corporation). Transmission planning could be vastly more efficient.

Clean Energy 292

Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Electricity 2018 292

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign into law tomorrow. Senate Bill (SB) 271 requires utilities to achieve, at a minimum, renewable energy-generated electricity sales of 50 percent in 2030 and 60 percent in 2035. An equitable clean energy transition is not just about the technologies used to generate electricity.

Clean Energy 254

Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy Nuclear Power 254

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

Like many other public-serving institutions throughout society, electricity and gas utilities are facing calls to be more equitable in their operations, planning, and treatment of customers. That law created the state’s Community Air Protection Program focused on reducing exposure in communities most impacted by air pollution.

Electricity 290

Electricity Fossil Fuels Air Pollution Renewable Energy 290

Circle of Blue

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

“There were families who did not know about it, because they were living without electricity, so they didn’t hear the story,” Smith recalls. And political power with it. Just lack of political capital. It was our way of confronting those laws and those systems. Children who could not bathe.”.

2014 359

2014 2022 Climate Change Politics 359

Circle of Blue

AUGUST 10, 2021

They’re in that dangerous, dangerous place because of colonial politics, but of course they’ve developed relationships with that land, and practiced their culture there,” Palmer said. Still, these are the country’s poorest areas, ones that have only recently enjoyed the arrival of electricity. The name embraces St.

Rainforest 328

Rainforest Deforestation Politics Climate Change 328

Legal Planet

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

This post was originally published on the Law and Political Economy blog as part of a symposium on inflation. To understand the scale and scope of these price increases, in other words, we also need to look at the rules that have been adopted to govern the specific ways of price making in natural gas and electricity markets.

Natural Gas 130

Natural Gas Electricity Fossil Fuels Clean Energy 130

Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

It is rare that a law professor gets to say with some justification, “I told you so.” Or, more precisely, Mark Wu and I predicted the current conflict pitting the United States against the rest of the world in our 2015 Northwestern Law Review piece, “ Next Generation Trade and Environment Conflicts.”

Renewable Energy 130

Renewable Energy Electricity 2015 Law 130

Legal Planet

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

Now that the bills have passed, they move to Governor Newsom’s desk, and he has about a month to sign or veto them—or take no action, in which case they’d become law. California has the opportunity to uphold its reputation as a global leader on climate by making SB 253 and SB 261 law—let’s hope it does. What’s next? But he should.

2026 208

2026 Law Cooling 2030 208

Legal Planet

JULY 18, 2023

Just last week, Governor Newsom signed an amended version of this package into law, with the CEQA bills passing through largely untouched. As such, cases subject to 270-day judicial streamlining are often not resolved within the allotted time period, even though all CEQA cases already receive calendar preference under existing law.

Law 246

Law 2013 Renewable Energy Clean Energy 246

Law Columbia

MARCH 6, 2025

The Court further ruled that the State is obliged to adopt climate change measures arising from international law and generally accepted scientific standards. The Court interpreted the Paris Agreement as imposing an obligation to implement mitigation measures to achieve the NDCs.

Paris Agreement 59

Paris Agreement 2030 Greenhouse Climate Change 59

Circle of Blue

DECEMBER 13, 2022

The same month Chinese authorities closed Toyota and Foxconn factories in Sichuan province, a leading manufacturing center, after a record-breaking heat wave curtailed hydropower output and strained the electric grid. Legal scholars called the targeting of essential infrastructure a violation of international law. Keith Schneider.

2022 299

2022 Climate Change Government Law 299

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 3, 2025

formal notice ) March 4-- Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance, Black Appalachian Coalition, PennFuture, Partners Webinar -- Why Is My Electricity Bill So High? Contact: Geoff Bristow, gbristow@pa.gov or (717) 783-8411. And Going Higher? 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. March 6-- In-Person.

Natural Gas 71

Natural Gas Nuclear Power Natural Resources Carbon Emissions 71

Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

J)–while providing 65% support for a state tax on high incomes to fund electric vehicle investments (Prop. Local leaders should first conduct a funding analysis focused on the revenue sources available to them under state and local law and current revenue streams, especially those with the capacity for expansion.

Government 130

Government Politics Carbon Emissions Electricity 130

Legal Planet

OCTOBER 26, 2021

C temperature target, and one that more than 130 countries have adopted, albeit mostly as squishy political declarations, not yet legally binding or implemented. Fossil enterprises and political leaders in major fossil producers ranged from politely dismissive to openly contemptuous.

Fossil Fuels 162

Fossil Fuels Politics Technology Technology 162

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

Outdated zoning laws often block the development of dense, mixed-use neighborhoods that make walkable, transit-friendly communities possible. Modernizing these laws is essential to building cities that work for people and the planet. However, achieving these changes requires more than good intentions—it demands zoning reform.

Climate Change 214

Climate Change Technology Technology Waste 214

Law Columbia

AUGUST 9, 2022

On June 30, 2022, the State of California joined the State of New York in adopting legislation that allows state authorities to bypass local laws in permitting large-scale renewable energy projects. Law § 94-c(2)(h). Credit: New York Office of Renewable Energy Siting. b)(1) (emphasis added); and. emphasis added).

Law 59

Law Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Electricity 59

Law Columbia

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

A new Sabin Center report, Cities Climate Law: A Legal Framework for Local Action in the U.S. , by Amy Turner and Michael Burger, offers a comprehensive guide for local law- and policy-makers in developing climate programs that consider and comport with federal and state law.

Law 64

Law Greenhouse Air Pollution Waste 64

PA Environment Daily

AUGUST 19, 2024

.” - - Article I, Section 27 Pennsylvania Constitution [It’s Not A Suggestion] Senate Fall Voting Schedule -- September 16, 17, 18, 30 -- October 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 21, 22, 23 -- November 13, 14 -- Committee Schedule House Fall Voting Schedule -- September 23, 24, 25, 30 -- October 1, 2, 21, 22, 23 -- November 12, 13 -- Committee Schedule TODAY’s Calendar (..)

Natural Gas 109

Natural Gas Natural Resources Climate Change Politics 109

Law Columbia

JUNE 1, 2022

Civil law cases. In both cases, the so-called greening of human rights is observed, where the citizens attempt to incorporate the interests to not have their health damaged by GHG emissions into personal rights that are commonly used as a legal basis for an injunction in civil law cases. In September 2017, in Sendai Citizens v.

Paris Agreement 143

Paris Agreement Climate Change 2018 Fossil Fuels 143

Legal Planet

JUNE 8, 2023

This target has been incorporated into the National Climate Agreement, a binding law that ensures political commitment to implementation. For instance, Kevadia in India has become the country’s first electric vehicle city, with a restricted area where only electric vehicles are allowed.

Nitrogen Oxides 130

Nitrogen Oxides Paris Agreement Electricity Ocean 130