As reported on CNN, the Senate is debating how or whether to legislatively restore the CAIR program that was struck down in Court. EPA still has a week or so to decide whether to appeal, but all bets are that Congress needs to act in order to save the program.
The game of chicken centers around
As reported in various newspapers, several states have moved forward with the next round of climate change litigation. The States have sued U.S. EPA arguing that the Agency illegally refused to regulate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from refineries.
Thelen’s Climate Law Update, had a recent post discussing the lawsuit:
New York, California and 10 other states
As reported in Platts, the Court of Appeals has granted US EPA until September 24th to determine whether to pursue rehearing of the ruling that struck down the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR).
The US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia announced
….it was giving EPA more time to file any
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Yesterday, U.S. EPA announced its proposed non-attainment designations for counties not meeting the new P.M. 2.5 (fine particle) pollution standard. Ohio was second only to California in total counties designated non-attainment with 28 total counties.
A county’s designation as non-attainment makes economic development efforts more difficult and increases competitive pressure on existing businesses. The
Governor Perry of Texas had filed a request to waive 50% of the national volume requirements for the renewable fuel standard (RFS). The Governor’s Waiver Request cited to the following factors to support issuance of a waiver:
The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a timely hearing on the effect of the Court of Appeals decision vacating CAIR. There was testimony from US EPA, State, Utilities and one Environmental Group.
The Senators and all who testified agreed on certain items:
In my last post I discussed corporations that are using a vast array of accounting methods to calculate carbon footprints. An article in the Seattle-Post-Intellegencer discussed variations found in outputs from household on-line carbon footprint calculators.
While US EPA’s forthcoming rule will address measuring emissions of greenhouse gases from large industrial sources, it certainly appears there are
Have you measured your company’s carbon footprint yet? Don’t worry if you haven’t, in the wild west that is climate change sometimes it pays to wait and see how things shake out. For instance, who would have thought just picking an accounting method for measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions would be so complicated.
There is
In a prior post discussing the impact of the Supreme Court’s rulings limiting federal jurisdiction over waterways, I discussed how state’s may feel increasing pressure to fill the gaps in federal authority. A recent article in the Boston Globe on diminished EPA enforcement suggests the states are probably dusting off their legal theories as we speak.
In my prior posts on CAIR, I analyzed the real world impacts of the Court’s decision to vacate the program. In my final post on CAIR, I highlight some of the legal implications from the Court’s decision on business and policy makers. This is not meant to be a legal brief for lawyers, but rather