On June 4, 2020, the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General (AGO) filed a petition with the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) requesting that the DPU open an investigation “to assess the future of local gas...more
Today, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a new Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR) to review the Commission's climate credit programs established for utility customers. The OIR requests comment on a...more
On September 4, 2018, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued an opinion in New England Power Generators Association v. Department of Environmental Protection (Case number SJC-12477; --- N.E.3d ---, 2018 WL...more
On February 7, the Baker-Polito Administration announced that Massachusetts has installed more than 2,000 megawatts (MW) of solar electricity through 78,646 projects across the state. The achievement represents the...more
On December 16, 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (“MassDEP”) released draft rules that would impose new greenhouse gas (“GHG”) requirements on the electric energy sector, gas distribution...more
As I have previously noted, I sympathize with the difficulties faced by MassDEP in trying to implement the SJC decision in Kain. However, that does not mean that MassDEP can simply take the easy way out. After rereading...more
When the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Kain that § 3(d) of the Global Warming Solutions act requires MassDEP to promulgate emission limits for multiple source categories, requiring declining annual emissions enforceable in...more
Off to Court We Go: Petitioners Challenge EPA’s Small MS4 General Permit for Massachusetts - The storm of debate and criticism over the terms and conditions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) General...more
Last Friday, Governor Baker issued Executive Order 569, “Establishing an Integrated Climate Change Strategy for the Commonwealth.” EO 569 will advance climate policy in Massachusetts in a number of important ways. It also...more
California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law last week two controversial anti-climate change bills that will tighten greenhouse gas (GHG) limits by 40% and increase legislative supervision of the California Air Resources...more
Many states have enacted their own laws to regulate greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emission reductions. Although the specific requirements of each state law differ, many of the laws incentivize the use of renewable energy and...more
More greenhouse gas regulation is on the horizon as a result of the Massachusetts’ top court’s decision in Kain v. MassDEP. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered the Massachusetts Department of Environmental...more
On May 17, 2016, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, in Isabel Kain & Others v. Department of Environmental Protection, held that the various existing greenhouse gas rules and initiatives promulgated by the...more
In April of 2015, we reported on an interesting Massachusetts Superior Court decision, Kain v. MassDEP, upholding the actions to date of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (“MassDEP”) under the Global...more
The goal of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California by 2020 to the emission levels of 1990. At the time of enactment California was the second largest greenhouse...more
Two out of three ain’t bad. Climate change policy advocates may find themselves quoting Meat Loaf with the enactment of Senate Bill (SB) 350, which California’s Legislature passed last month and which Governor Jerry...more
Governor Baker recently submitted Senate Bill No. 1965 to the Legislature. It calls for utilities to solicit long-term purchases of renewable energy. We are talking about as much as 1/3 of Massachusetts’ annual electricity...more
The Baker Administration announced on July 9 that it filed a bill for sourcing long-term hydroelectric power in the Commonwealth. Hydroelectric power currently provides a small portion of electricity consumed in...more
Unsatisfied with the pace of the administration’s implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act, the Conservation Law Foundation sued the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, seeking a court order...more
Nearly five years after issuing its initial draft, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) continues to revise its draft guidance on conducting greenhouse gas (GHG) impact analyses under the National...more
On April 29, 2015, California’s Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order to set a new interim target for reducing the state’s emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. In March 2015,...more
Just how much discretion will the courts give to the MassDEP to interpret legislative intent when it implements legislative directives such as a requirement to develop rules under the Global Warming Solutions Act? The...more
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) scored another victory in its ongoing effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the state to 1990 levels under the mandate of AB 32 (the “Global Warming Solutions Act of...more
On December 20, 2012, the California Public Utilities Commission ("CPUC") issued a decision directing the allocation of revenues generated by the investor-owned utilities' auctioning of greenhouse gas ("GHG") allowances...more