Legal Planet

DECEMBER 16, 2021

Energy law used to be an obscure niche subject. It was devoted to subjects like oil and gas leases, the proper inflation adjustments in utility rates, and depreciation schedules for power plant. Energy law is a hot topic. Top law schools are responding by competing for faculty. Only specialists really paid much attention.

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Law Columbia

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

Flickr: Natural Gas Plant. As Senior Fellow Amy Turner documented last year , a number of local governments around the country have moved to prohibit natural gas hookups in buildings. These prohibitions are part of cities’ broader effort to participate in the transition away from fossil fuels.

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Legal Planet

JUNE 16, 2022

According to the Energy Information Agency , South Korea’s power sector is heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Two thirds of generation capacity is based on fossil fuels, split evenly between coal and natural gas, with 17% nuclear, and 14% hydro and other renewables. 50% coal, 26% gas, and 25% nuclear.

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PA Environment Daily

OCTOBER 17, 2023

On October 17, the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held an informational briefing on Project Canary , a company that measures, analyzes and reports on methane emissions from natural gas production and distribution infrastructure.

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Natural Gas Regulations Fossil Fuels Technology 125

Law Columbia

JULY 7, 2021

The decision essentially – and subject to possible appeals – answered in the negative the question of whether Berkeley’s first-in-the-nation prohibition on natural gas hookups to newly-constructed buildings (often termed a “natural gas ban”; herein referred to as the “Berkeley Ordinance”) was preempted by the U.S.

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Legal Planet

MARCH 31, 2022

It turns out that most of them are 50-60% reliant on fossil fuels, with a lot of the remainder coming from nuclear and hydro. However, there are important differences in the mix of gas and coal in generation, which matters a lot since coal-fired generators emit much more carbon per kilowatt. Fossil Fuel Use.

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PA Environment Daily

JULY 10, 2023

The third annual Penn State Solar Law Symposium will be held virtually on August 23, from noon to 4:30 p.m., for attorneys and energy professionals.

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Law Natural Gas Renewable Energy Electricity 105

PA Environment Daily

OCTOBER 18, 2023

The Safety Division investigation continues to explore the circumstances surrounding this incident, compliance with state and federal pipeline safety regulations, as well as compliance with Pennsylvania’s “One Call Law,” which is intended to help prevent damage to underground utility lines. Click Here for the complete announcement.

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Legal Planet

JANUARY 4, 2023

This means that, with few exceptions, new buildings will need to exclusively use electric appliances, and will not be allowed to contain any fossil-fuel infrastructure, like natural-gas lines. All-electric as the new normal. Just as important is the process that led to the new-buildings ordinance.

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PA Environment Daily

AUGUST 14, 2024

On August 14, CNX Resources issued a press release announcing the preliminary results of air emissions monitoring at 14 sites it said "indicate that CNX natural gas development poses no public health risk." Eleven of the sites were monitored for as little as just four weeks up to 24 weeks or less.

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Natural Gas Air Pollution Fossil Fuels Regulations 135

Law Columbia

DECEMBER 2, 2022

Exxon , the cities and towns allege that the fossil fuel companies were liable because they knowingly produced and marketed products that have caused climate change harms, while concealing and misrepresenting the associated dangers. have filed more than twenty cases seeking damages from fossil fuel companies for climate harms.

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PA Environment Daily

NOVEMBER 22, 2022

“Extending a permit that judges just found to be illegal is a slap in the face to residents of Clinton County and to the rule of law,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council, on behalf of all three environmental groups filing this appeal. Renewable energy is cleaner, cheaper, and more abundant.”

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Natural Gas Fossil Fuels Air Pollution Renewable Energy 105

PA Environment Daily

DECEMBER 12, 2022

On December 12, the Ohio River Valley Institute released a new report showing an energy decarbonizing strategy based on zero emissions resources, energy efficiency and increased electrification is 13 percent less costly than a strategy based on hydrogen/natural gas and carbon capture in 10-county Southwest Pennsylvania area.

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Natural Gas Fossil Fuels Clean Energy Electricity 52

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 11, 2022

The November 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or BIL, includes an $8 billion “regional clean hydrogen hubs” program that charges the Department of Energy (DOE) with the development of at least four hydrogen hubs to advance the nation’s clean hydrogen sector.

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PA Environment Daily

OCTOBER 15, 2023

One of the most significant changes is "enhance resource accreditation" that would more accurately assess the reliability value of natural gas-fired power plants which accounted for 70% of the power plant outages in PJM during Winter Storm Elliot.

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Natural Gas Electricity Nuclear Power Fossil Fuels 78

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 16, 2022

According to the forecast, while economy-wide CO 2 emissions decrease from 2022 to 2037 due primarily to the growth in renewable energy replacing retiring coal plants, emissions do increase after 2037 from increased usage of natural gas. EIA is projecting that natural gas prices will remain low.

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Natural Gas Renewable Energy Climate Change Electricity 290

Law and Environment

AUGUST 11, 2022

5060 ), titled An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind, into law on Thursday August 11, 2022. The law keeps the required procurement total at 5.6 Reduction of Fossil Fuels. Governor Baker signed the climate bill ( H.5060 The act combines and modifies provisions from the House’s proposed offshore wind bill (H.4524)

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Legal Planet

APRIL 21, 2023

City of Berkeley , addressing whether the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) invalidates a Berkeley municipal ordinance specifying when natural-gas infrastructure can be extended into new buildings. Unfortunately, the panel did not provide that clarity. But see below for an interesting caveat here.)

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Natural Gas Fossil Fuels Regulations Government 130

Law Columbia

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) preempts a local ordinance in Berkeley, California that prohibits most natural gas hook-ups to newly-constructed buildings. . The California Restaurant Association, an industry group, challenged Berkeley’s ordinance, arguing that it was preempted by both state and federal law.

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Natural Gas Government Climate Change Air Pollution 56

Energy & the Law

MAY 17, 2023

This was the City of Baltimore case but it is expected to affect all climate litigation in which the plaintiffs assert only state law claims. Climate Change Litigation sponsored by Columbia Law School and Arnold and Porter. It’s probably pre-empted by federal law anyway.

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Fossil Fuels Climate Change Natural Gas Government 130

Law Columbia

OCTOBER 24, 2024

Background For more than a century, American fossil fuel companies have extended their operations offshore to exploit the vast oil and gas reserves that lie under the seafloor. The post Enforcing Legacy Environmental Liabilities for Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure first appeared on Climate Law Blog.

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Law and Environment

DECEMBER 5, 2022

The report seeks to establish a framework for a long-term reduction in emissions from heating fuels, to align with the Commonwealth’s emissions reduction target of net zero by 2050 and the 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap. Governor-elect Healey has her work cut out for her!

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Fossil Fuels Clean Energy Electricity Natural Gas 130

PA Environment Daily

OCTOBER 19, 2023

Stronger State Laws Needed In response to a question from the media, Gov. Shapiro said this on the need for stronger state environmental laws-- “I'd like to see our state laws be much stronger when it comes to being able to tackle pollution and contamination left behind by greedy executives.

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Law Natural Gas Fossil Fuels Natural Resources 84

Law Columbia

APRIL 18, 2023

The court overturned a District Court ruling to invalidate a Berkeley, California, prohibition on natural gas infrastructure in newly-constructed buildings. Berkeley’s so-called “natural gas ban” was the first local ordinance in the country to effectively require all-electric construction of new buildings.

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Conservation Natural Gas Fossil Fuels Government 117

Legal Planet

AUGUST 9, 2021

Unfortunately, federal courts ruled that the existing law doesn’t apply when state utility commissions simply sit on the applications without acting rather than rejecting them outright. There’s a similar provision governing natural gas pipelines. That made the existing statute a dead letter. Download as PDF.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Just how bad is fossil “natural” gas? And, as it turns out, the infrastructure used to produce, store, distribute, transmit, and burn gas leaks like a sieve , making gas as bad as coal for the climate. Its primary component is methane. EN: US infrastructure planning has a long history of discrimination.

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Clean Energy Nitrogen Oxides Fossil Fuels Electricity 359

Legal Planet

JANUARY 26, 2023

LA City Council recently approved LADWP’s request for $800 million in funding to save the Scattergood natural gas plant from decommissioning by retrofitting the plant to combust a blend of natural gas and hydrogen. For comparison, the combustion of natural gas produces about 0.42

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Carbon Dioxide Fossil Fuels Natural Gas Technology 130

PA Environment Daily

OCTOBER 13, 2022

On October 13, local, regional, and state environmental groups submitted 28 pages of comments to the Department of Environmental Protection urging the agency to deny Erosion and Sedimentation and Water Encroachment permits through Exceptional Value and High Quality watersheds for the Transco Regional Energy Access Natural Gas Pipeline.

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Natural Gas Conservation Fossil Fuels Air Pollution 52

Legal Planet

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

This post was originally published on the Law and Political Economy blog as part of a symposium on inflation. In the early days of the current price shocks, fossil fuel boosters blamed clean energy and climate policy. Photo credit: Matthew Smith, Flickr. The Capacity Story. In the U.S.,

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Natural Gas Electricity Fossil Fuels Clean Energy 130

Environmental Progress

JANUARY 20, 2022

Notably, in the same proposal, the Commission has also included screening criteria for gaseous fossil fuels. The Regulation sets a time limit on the inclusion of nuclear energy but not on fossil fuels and grants the Commission special powers to rule on nuclear taxonomy compliance.

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Fossil Fuels Regulations Waste Technology 52

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 20, 2022

These higher costs are being driven by a major overreliance on natural gas, which has sharply spiked in price and is currently the dominant fuel source in the US for both home heating and electricity generation. Likewise, pipeline giant Williams Companies now refers to its gas projects as “clean energy” projects.

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PA Environment Daily

DECEMBER 10, 2021

The number of power plants switching from coal to natural gas is increasing, and sulfur dioxide emissions in Pennsylvania and across the United States are decreasing dramatically,” said Xianzeng Niu , assistant research professor in Penn State’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI). percent.

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Natural Gas Technology Technology Clean Air Act 52

PA Environment Daily

AUGUST 18, 2021

On August 17, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a hearing on the “environmental and economic benefits of pipelines” which failed to even acknowledge the over $55 million in penalties imposed by DEP and the Public Utility Commission for the failure of natural gas and hazardous liquids pipelines over the last five years.

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Enviromental Defense

MARCH 30, 2023

This bill, if left unamended by the Senate, would weaken the carbon price by expanding the definition of eligible farming machinery and extending the exemption from carbon pricing for qualifying farming fuel to include marketable natural gas and propane.

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Law Fossil Fuels Carbon Emissions Natural Gas 52

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 13, 2024

On March 7, the Independent Fiscal Office issued its latest Pennsylvania Electricity update that reports the electricity grid is dependent on one fuel for 59% of the state’s electricity generation-- natural gas-- followed by nuclear power-- 31.9%, coal-- 5.4% In 2010, the mix was 48% coal, 34% nuclear, 15% gas and 2% renewables.

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Electricity Natural Gas Renewable Energy Nuclear Power 99

PA Environment Daily

SEPTEMBER 6, 2024

Many of the notices offer the opportunity for public comments. -- The Public Utility Commission published notice in the September 7 PA Bulletin inviting comments on the proposed replacement of plastic pipe by natural gas distribution utilities. Land Recycling/Brownfield Cleanups -- National Fuel Gas Distribution Corp.

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Natural Gas 2028 Electricity Fossil Fuels 112

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 3, 2023

It is overwhelmingly produced by a process known as steam methane reforming (SMR), which is heavily carbon-polluting, and the resulting hydrogen is primarily consumed as a feedstock for industrial purposes, such as oil refining and fertilizer production, not as a way to displace fossil fuels. And this isn’t just hypothetical.

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