We look forward to Earth Day 2025 today, the Corporate Environmental Lawyer is once again kicking off its weekly series of blogs which focus on this year’s Earth Day theme — “Our Power, Our Planet”. This year marks the 55th anniversary of Earth Day and this year’s theme is oriented around the concept that the energy sources we need to continue to thrive as a planet through renewable solar, wind and other technologies are well within our reach.
According to newly released data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, solar and wind accounted for over 98% of new electricity generation capacity added to the United States in January. Solar now accounts for approximately 10% of the total installed utility-scale generation capacity, while wind accounts for about 11% of this capacity. Accounting for hydropower, biomass, and geothermal, renewables now account for almost one-third of the United States’ total generational capacity. Notwithstanding this upward trajectory, renewable energy sources continue to face headwinds in both the United States and abroad.
Over the next week, lawyers from Jenner & Block will be authoring articles that focus on the intersection of energy rules, regulations and policies and the impacts of these policies on renewable energy and associated industries. On Tuesday, we will discuss recent Executive Orders and the potential impacts of these orders on renewable energy projects. On Wednesday, we plan to publish two blogs—one of these will provide an update on the current legal landscape surrounding plastic products and pollution and the second will discuss AI and its environmental impacts, along with its potential usefulness in conservation and decarbonization. On Thursday, we again plan to publish two blogs with the first focusing on the future of wind power in the United States and the second focusing on geothermal and hydropower. Finally, we close things out with a discussion of the Clean Water Act’s regulation of waters of the United States again focusing on the implications of this definition in connection with renewable energy projects.
We hope that you will find these articles both informative and thought provoking as we celebrate Earth Day 2025.
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