Advanced Coal & Fossil Fuels Practice
VNF Policy Updates
Weekly Climate Change Policy Update - December 22, 2008
Andrea Hudson Campbell, Megan Ceronsky, Kyle Danish, Shelley Fidler, Kevin GallagherDecember 22, 2008
A common thread among President-elect Obama’s recent cabinet appointments – from Labor to NOAA to the Science Advisor – is a concern for and deep expertise in climate change and clean energy . . . The outgoing EPA Administrator sent a letter to the agency’s regional offices allowing them to issue permits for coal-fired power plants without CO2 emission limits. Expect the decision to be revisited by the Obama Administration . . . The RGGI held its second allowance auction. Notably, a report issued this week concludes that the system already is “long”; emissions are below the cap.
Weekly Climate Change Policy Update - December 15, 2008
Kyle Danish, Shelley Fidler, Andrea Campbell, Kevin Gallagher, Megan CeronskyDecember 15, 2008
President-elect Obama named his green team this week, choosing experienced, tough-minded regulators and a Nobel-prize winning physicist instead of political heavyweights. As expected, the COP-14 in Poznan ended without meaningful agreement, although several countries - Australia and Mexico included - announced significant reduction commitments. The California Air Resources Board formally adopted the CARB Scoping Plan for implementation of AB 32, setting the stage for a statewide cap-and-trade program. Statements in Congress made clear that a Democratic majority does not mean Democratic unanimity on the timing and ambition of cap-and-trade legislation.
Weekly Climate Change Policy Update - December 9, 2008
Kyle Danish, Shelley Fidler, Andrea Campbell, Kevin GallagherDecember 9, 2008
Poznan: positioning or posing? At the Fourteenth Conference of Parties (COP-14) in Poznan, Poland, Brazil agrees to adopt an ambitious target for reducing deforestation, and legislators from “advanced developing countries” - Brazil, India, China, South Africa, and Mexico - suggest that they might be willing to accept targets based on emissions intensity. Will Poznan see progress on reforms to the Clean Development Mechanism? When will the new Chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Rep. Henry Waxman, make a statement about his plans for energy and climate change legislation?
Weekly Climate Change Policy Update - November 24, 2008
Kyle Danish, Shelley Fidler, Andrea Campbell, Kevin GallagherNovember 24, 2008
Last week, the legislative environment continued to develop, as President-elect Obama made a forceful statement of commitment to cap-and-trade legislation despite a difficult economy; Senate EPW Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said that she would work to achieve the President-elect’s goals for reductions, and would come forward with a “streamlined” program; Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) announced that he and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) would begin work on a new Lieberman-McCain bill; and a decisive majority of voting Democratic caucus members handed the gavel of the House Energy & Commerce Committee to Henry Waxman (D-CA).
Weekly Climate Change Policy Update - November 17, 2008
Kyle Danish, Shelley Fidler, Andrea Campbell, Kevin GallagherNovember 17, 2008
EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board decided this week that EPA could not issue a permit to a coal-fired power plant without considering whether to impose a “Best Available Control Technology” CO2 limit, a decision that could bring permitting of new fossil-fired power plants to a halt until the agency or the Congress establishes new GHG policies. Senator Jeff Bingaman, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, expressed skepticism about the use of offsets in cap-and-trade legislation. Robert Sussman, co-chairman of the Obama transition for EPA, published a paper arguing that the Dingell-Boucher bill “should not be the starting point for legislative action in the Congress...”