LexisNexis Environmental Law & Climate Change: Environmental Law & Climate Change

Green Partnership Blooms Between Leading Private Equity Firm and Environmental Defense Fund

LexisNexis Environmental Law Center Staff — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:09:14 GMT

A “Green Portfolio” partnership between the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Kohl Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR) was announced on May 1st that will measure and improve the environmental performance of companies within KKR’s U.S. portfolio. EDF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting environmental rights that works to identify environment

Climate Change Threat Extends To Sports, Suds

Gregg Lawson — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:25:58 GMT

Joe (and Jane) Sixpacks of the world beware: Climate change may be hazardous to your hunting, your fishing and your beer drinking.

The news this week was full of predictions of widespread flooding, droughts, malaria outbreaks and malnutrition related to global warming, dire scenarios the average citizen might have trouble imagining. But two reports surfaced to strike fear in the hearts of sporting folk.

Representatives of nine major hunting and fishing organization

To Counter Climate Change, UN Report Says Asia Must Reverse Deforestation

Morgan Wade — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:21:36 GMT

A new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), entitled “Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2008,” details many issues affecting the economic status of that region. One of the points that stands out is the effect of deforestation on the global climate. Deforestation, which occurs when trees are removed,

EPA Wants To Take Its Time On Greenhouse Gas Action

Gregg Lawson — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:11:26 GMT

Don’t expect action from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the Bush administration on greenhouse gas emissions before this president’s term is up.

The Los Angeles Times reports today that EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson told Congress yesterday that he wants a long public comment period about potential risks before responding to a U.S. Supreme Court order.

As reported in Mealey’s Litigation Report: Pollution Liability, the high court last

Corporate Investors Are Demanding Information on Companies' Carbon Footprints

Morgan Wade — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:19:04 GMT

On Thursday, February 21, National Public Radio's Morning Edition ran a story tracing the growing trend of corporate and governmental investors to look more closely at the "carbon risk" of potential investments [available at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19226037]. The carbon risk factor is the liability a company faces if caps or penalties are imposed on

Are You Buried In An Information Avalanche?

LexisNexis Environmental Law Center Staff — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:05:56 GMT

Although the foundation of today’s Internet was built as a government project more than 40 years ago, relatively few people were using it at the beginning of the 1990s. Then Vice President Al Gore spoke glowingly of the promise of the “information superhighway,” which would improve the conduct of science and scholarship, provide an engine for economic growth, and most importantly, give people access to mountains of

People: Throw Off Your Shackles and Blog!

David P. Rossmiller — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:26:55 GMT

As someone who has built a successful law blog and who has been blogging daily for more than two years, I’ve been asked to write a series of posts talking about how to blog, what to do and what not to do. “How to” blog is always a tricky, touchy subject, one that sounds dangerously close to impinging on the thing that is most beloved among bloggers, their autonomy and sense of freedom. The internet is the new Final F

Green Building Finance and Investment Forum

Mark J Bennett — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:59:53 GMT

The Green Building Finance and Investment Forum held on February 20-22 in San Francisco reinforced market trends which I have recently seen accelerating relative to the institutionalization of green building requirements. This was emphasized by several major entities represented at the program including the State of California, AIG, JP Morgan Chase and RREEF, among other such institutions, which indicated that not incorporating sustainability requirements

Are Biofuels the Problem or the Cure?

Morgan Wade — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:17:33 GMT

Two reports in the journal Science find biofuels cause more greenhouse gas emissions than traditional fuels when the effect of land changes are considered, as reported Friday, February 8, 2008, in the New York Times. No one expected biofuels to be a panacea that would ease all fear of global warming, but could they actually make it worse?

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/), a link between changes in the temperature of the surface of the sea and increases in hurricane activity in the North Atlantic has been quantified for the first time.

The release cites research by scientists at University College London (UCL) that shows that a 0.5 degree Celsius increase in sea surface temperature can be as

EPA Calculator Puts Greenhouse Gas Savings in Everyday Terms

LexisNexis Environmental Law Center Staff — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:49:55 GMT

On February 7, 2008, EPA announced the launch of a new Greenhouse Gas Calculator that can estimate greenhouse gas emission reductions. The calculator converts greenhouse gas-related savings estimates, typically presented in "million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents," into familiar terms such as the greenhouse gas emissions that would result from, among other activities, driving a particular number of cars for a year, using a particular amount of gasoline or barrels of

Louisiana Judge Reluctantly Dismisses U.S. Army Corps From Katrina Suit

Gina Cappello — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:43:59 GMT

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr., for the Eastern District of Louisiana, dismissed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from a class action lawsuit alleging that the Corps' negligent design, construction, maintenance and operation of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) contributed to levee breaches and subsequent flooding during Hurricane Katrina (In Re: Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation, No. 05-4182, E.D. La.).

In his 48-page orde

When It's Too Good to Be True: "Top Blogger" Warns Legislators of Unexpected Consequences

Tom Hagy — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:42:09 GMT

The EPA and the Energy Information Administration published analyses of Senators Specter (R-PA) and Bingaman's (D-NM) proposed Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007, saying any impact on economic growth and prices would be modest.

But, according to attorney and blogger Shari Shapiro, "What the bill and the analysis by the EPA and EIA fail to take into consideration is that the reliance of the Low Carbon Economy Act on carbon recapture and nuclear power has the potential

EPA Awards Grants for Research on Nanotechnology Environmental Impacts

LexisNexis Environmental Law Center Staff — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:30:33 GMT

Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter; a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick.

On January 28, 2008, EPA issued a press release announcing the award of 21 grants totaling $7.34 million to universities to investigate potential adverse health and environmental effects of manufactured nanomaterials. As stated in th

Climate Change Litigation Chart

Michael B Gerrard — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 19:33:16 GMT

We have created a chart that displays all the climate change litigation that has been brought in the U.S. courts, plus some of the administrative cases. The chart is organized by type of case. It contains hot links to most of the decisions and, where decisions have not been rendered, to certain pleadings. To access the chart, go to the lower right of the Environmental Law & Climate Change Center page, under "Other Links," and click on "Climate Change Litigation Chart." We

Landmark Decision: 9th Cir. Requires Assessment of Climate Change Impacts Under NEPA

LexisNexis Environmental Law Center Staff — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:40:51 GMT

SUMMARY COURTESY OF MARTEN LAW GROUP: In a landmark decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that federal agencies must assess the climate change impacts in environmental documents prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The issue arose in the Court’s review of new fuel economy standards for light trucks and SUVs issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In its decision in KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. — There is an apparent conflict over whether the states can impose automobile tailpipe emission standards different from the federal government but the conflict is more over the theory of litigation than the substance of states rights.

Federal court decisions out of California and Vermo

U.S. Senate Hearing Gives Skeptics Chance To Pile Scorn On Warming

Bill G Lowe — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:26:04 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The governors of Maryland and Virginia testified Sept. 25 before a U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee meeting that higher ocean temperatures and rising water levels in Chesapeake Bay call for a federal response, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun.