April 8, 2024
by Jack Hatzimemos
Air
Regulations
State and Local
After years of years of roadblocks and anticipation, New York City is scheduled to introduce its controversial Congestion Pricing toll in June. The congestion toll, which will charge drivers of standard vehicles $15 to enter parts of lower Manhattan, aims to reduce traffic build up and air pollution in the city. However, the toll has been met with tremendous scrutiny, particularly on the true environmental impact of the project.
March 21, 2024
by Damon Hays
Agriculture
Climate change
Natural Resources
Regulations
Renewable Energy
Sustainability
The current impasse over the nation's premier agriculture legislation is one that reflects the competing interests of modern food production practices and climate change mitigation efforts.
March 21, 2024
by Stefan Koester
Energy
Regulations
Renewable Energy
Sustainability
IRS comment period for the 45V clean hydrogen tax credit guidance closed on February 26, 2024. This credit provides a tiered production tax credit for clean hydrogen depending on its emissions intensity. The draft guidance relies on three pillars to ensure emissions integrity – additionality, temporal and geographic matching. Judging by some comment responses, controversial reactions to each of these pillars were significant, with many commenters suggesting that the courts will have the final say on how these tax credits will be finalized. Will all this uncertainty derail the clean hydrogen economy?
February 27, 2024
by Nathan Tatum
Energy
Regulations
State and Local
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held its February open meeting on Feb. 15, 2024, addressing a number of items including cold weather reliability standards, hydropower permitting, and natural gas exports.
February 23, 2024
by Diego Huerta
Air
Climate change
Fossil Fuels
Regulations
State and Local
Massachusetts v. EPA is seen as an unalloyed victory for the climate movement, but over 15 years after the case was handed down, legal knock-on effects from the decision have come back to bite.
February 23, 2024
by Paige Kendrick
Air
Climate change
Fossil Fuels
Regulations
In the hope to leave Zombie Engines in the past, the EPA recently promulgated a new final rule on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles. In this GELR blog post, Paige Kendrick analyzes the recent changes regarding federal preemption of non-new locomotives and locomotive engines as well as steps being taken by California to reduce locomotive emissions.
February 8, 2024
by Nicholas Alois
Climate change
Regulations
State and Local
Last summer, Ludlow, Vermont, experienced devasting flooding after several inches of rain fell in the area in one day. In this article, Nicholas Alois discusses the flood’s impact on the community, the long rebuild process, and recommended flood prevention and mitigation efforts moving forward.
February 7, 2024
by Andrew Lloyd Bellah
Climate change
Regulations
Proposed changes to regulations affecting banks in the United States could potentially jeopardize wind, solar and other renewable energy projects that have relied on tax-equity financing to get off the ground, drawing criticism to regulators charged with the long-term stability of the financial system. The proposed rules, which require banks to hold greater reserves against direct investments in clean energy projects, play into a broader debate over whether a transition to sustainable energy and mitigating the existential risk of climate change fall within the purview of the Fed and other financial regulators.
January 5, 2024
by Eli Merkadeau
Climate change
Regulations
State and Local
Against the backdrop of a Supreme Court highly skeptical of agency action, the meat industry has seen legislation from both states seeking environmental improvements and states looking to support their meat producers. Given the Court’s willingness to defer to impactful state legislation, states may be allowed to duke it out and try to exert control over the production of meat and meat alternatives on a national level.
December 4, 2023
by Bill Shultz
Regulations
State and Local
Water
Concentrated animal feeding operations are explicitly named as a point source under the Clean Water Act, but the EPA has been woefully ineffective at monitoring and regulating manure discharges, leaving water and human health at risk.
