On March 13, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would move forward with reconsideration of the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding (Endangerment Finding) as directed in President Trump’s Executive Order...more
On March 14, 2025, President Trump signed legislation disapproving the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation implementing the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The Joint...more
The Biden administration's rule requiring the payment of a fee for methane emissions has effectively been rescinded, although, for now at least, the statutory provision imposing the fee remains in effect along with other...more
Senate Bill 726 has been introduced into the 83rd Oregon Legislative Assembly which would address municipal solid waste landfills. The Bill would require the owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill to...more
The Biden administration introduced wide-ranging environmental regulations with profound and far-reaching effects on the environment and the economy. In its first two weeks, the Trump administration has signaled an attempt...more
On January 15, 2025, Department of Energy (DOE) released updated versions of the 45VH2-GREET lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions model and accompanying instructional manual. The updates are crucial to the Inflation...more
The Trump administration is expected to take quick and decisive action to weaken the IRA once he takes office. Trump’s vow to end delays in federal drilling permits and leases for oil and gas production could benefit...more
Coming up on a month since the presidential election, some things are starting to become clearer, though many questions remain. We will release a Viewpoints article in the next week that will be a more in-depth assessment of...more
World leaders, scientists, government decision-makers, private sector actors, climate actionists and other stakeholders have convened at 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on...more
California officials have been working on a plan to preserve the state’s leading edge environmental and climate policies, in the event that former President Donald J. Trump returns to the White House and follows through on...more
Good morning! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings...more
On July 9, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) declined to stay a new Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) rule that seeks to limit methane emissions in the oil...more
The Biden-Harris Administration recently issued a suite of new rules aimed at addressing water and air quality, reducing methane emissions, protecting environmental justice communities, and accelerating the nation’s...more
Recently, there’s been much discussion about the potential benefits that artificial intelligence can bring to climate change regulation. For example, advanced technology, such as satellite data, is being used to identify...more
This week, we discuss a downward revision to electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc.’s governance grade and the equally controversial topic of diverging ESG ratings methodologies. Investigative findings published in May this...more
Good afternoon! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past two weeks and forthcoming climate-related events and...more
On March 4, 2024, MethaneSat, a satellite developed by a subsidiary of the Environmental Defense Fund that will locate and quantify methane emissions from oil and gas operations, was launched into orbit. According to the...more
A stream of judicial decisions in the pipeline will have important implications for the energy industry. The three cases discussed below are among those that energy litigators and industry professionals are watching in 2024....more
Good afternoon! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings...more
Here are curated AG and federal regulatory news stories highlighting key areas in which state and federal regulators’ decisions are having an impact across the US: •Wisconsin Shows Timeshare Exit Company the Exit - ...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final methane rule limits methane emissions from the oil and gas sector and may be the latest battleground over whether the agency is exceeding its authority to regulate...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has proposed regulations for calculating methane emissions fees required beginning this year under the Inflation Reduction Act ("IRA"). Section 136 of the Clean Air Act (added...more
PM NAAQS: Already behind schedule is perhaps the mostly widely impactful rule change EPA has proposed in many years: a lowering of the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). EPA has...more