Climate Change and Clean Technology Blog : Climate Change Lawyer & Attorney : Sheppard Mullin Law Firm : Clean Technology, Greenhouse Gas

By Olivier Theard

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) recently released its Updated Economic Analysis of California's Climate Change Scoping Plan. The detailed report examines the economic impact to California of implementing the strategies set forth in the Climate Change Scoping Plan (released in December 2008). The Scoping Plan sets forth California's blueprint for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, as mandated by California's landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32). The Scoping Plan identified several strategies for reducing emissions, including promoting energy efficiency in virtually all economic sectors, cap and trade of emissions, and transportation-related measures aimed at reducing emissions from vehicles (including development of low-carbon fuels and land use development strategies). The Economic Analysis was designed to measure the effect on California's economy from implementing the Scoping Plan.
 

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By Kyndra Joy Casper

In September of 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA") revealed a new proposal to regulate greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions from power plants, factories and refineries, which are considered large GHG emitters. In a response to questions from Senate Democrats, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson issued a letter on February 22, standing by the agency's plans to develop the first-time Clean Air Act ("CAA") regulations for GHGs and attacking pending efforts in Congress to overturn the EPA's finding that GHGs endanger public health and welfare. 
 

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By Olivier Theard

Introduction

On February 17, 2010, the EPA issued a final rule under the Clean Air Act intended to reduce emissions of toxic pollutants from existing diesel powered stationary reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE), also known as compression ignition (CI) engines. The new rules are important because they will affect operations at many facilities throughout the country that need to generate electricity for certain applications. RICE engines are typically used in industrial facilities such as power plants, chemical and manufacturing plants to generate electricity for compressors and pumps. The engines can also serve in emergency situations to produce electricity to pump water for flood and fire control. In general, the rules will require installation of pollution control equipment, performance of emissions tests and the burning of ultra-low sulfur fuel. A link to a fact sheet concerning this rule is attached here. This article, in combination with the EPA fact sheet, summarizes the key aspects of the rule.
 

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By James Rusk

Connecticut v. American Electric Power Company Inc., ____F.3d ____, No. 05-5104 (2nd Cir. 2009)

States and private plaintiffs may sue utility operators under the federal common law of nuisance to abate carbon dioxide ("CO₂") emissions that contribute to global warming, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held this month. Although the 139-page opinion appears to open a new front in the fight over climate change, its full import is uncertain. The court held only that plaintiffs had standing, that they had stated public nuisance claims under the federal common law and that those claims were justiceable. It did not reach the merits of plaintiffs' claims, and it expressly noted that those common law claims could yet be displaced by federal legislative or rulemaking action. With that in mind, the case could prove more significant as an additional impetus for national greenhouse gas regulation than as a tool for judicial control of emissions.
 

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