Global Climate Law Blog

Recent Posts from Global Climate Law Blog

• Environmental advocates challenge permit for Centralia coal plant

  On November 2, EarthJustice filed a petition asking the EPA to block the renewal of an air pollution permit for TransAlta Corporation’s coal-burning power plant in Centralia, Washington. The Southwest Clean Air Agency (“SWCAA”) had…

• SEC's Division of Corporate Finance revises guidelines for shareholder proposals covering climate risks

  On October 27, 2009, the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance revised its guidelines regarding the grounds on which a public company can exclude from its proxy materials shareholder proposals relating to environmental, financial or health…

• EPA rejects permit for BP Whiting refinery

  On October 16, responding to a petition filed by environmental groups, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson objected to the operating permit issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) for BP…

• US Chamber of Commerce, National Automobile Dealers Association Seek Review of EPA Decision Allowing States to Regulate Emissions

  The US Chamber of Commerce and National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) have filed a petition seeking review of the EPA’s decision to allow states to regulate automobile emissions. In a Nonbinding Statement of Issues filed…

• Fifth Circuit reverses Comer, joins Second Circuit in approving tort-based climate litigation

  In a long-awaited appellate decision in Comer v Murphy Oil, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Friday found that tort-based global warming litigation against insurance, oil, coal and chemical companies…

• Kivalina global warming litigation dismissed on political question grounds

  In a carefully watched case in the Northern District of California, Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong has issued a ruling dismissing the Kivalina climate change lawsuit on grounds that: (1) it raises a non-justiciable political question,…

• New York Green Building Construction Act shifts responsibility for setting green building standards

  New York Governor David Paterson recently signed into legislation the State Green Building Construction Act. The Act amends previous green building legislation by affording the Office of General Services (“OGS”) the responsibility of promulgating rules…

• Public Citizen lawsuit seeks to require Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to regulate greenhouse gases

  On Tuesday, the environmental group Public Citizen filed a lawsuit against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) seeking to require it to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The lawsuit is believed to…

• Petition asks EPA to regulate GHG emissions from "factory farms" under Clean Air Act

  The Humane Society and a coalition of other environmental groups have filed a petition with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that seeks to classify factory farms as a source of greenhouse gases and regulate them…

• US State Department sued over permit approval for "Alberta Clipper" tar sands oil pipeline

  Four environmental and Native American advocacy groups have filed suit challenging the US State Department’s August approval of Enbridge Energy’s plans to build the Alberta Clipper tar sands pipeline. The pipeline would pump 450,000 barrels…