The D.C. Circuit, 2-1, denied electric utility companies' challenge to FERC's order granting a solar company's application for certification of its solar array and battery storage facility in Montana as a qualifying facility under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA). The companies arg...
A district court granted summary judgment for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in a challenge to its long-term contracts with local power companies. Conservation groups argued that the 20-year contracts, which contained automatic renewal provisions and flexibility provisions allowing the compani...
In 2015, the United Nations Member States, including the United States, unanimously approved 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. In a forthcoming book, leading legal scholars examine each of the SDGs and recommend a suite of government, private-sector, and civil society actions to help the United States achieve these goals. This Article is adapted from Chapter 7 of that book, Governing for Sustainability (John C. Dernbach & Scott E. Schang eds., ELI Press, forthcoming 2023).
Many chemicals and hazardous substances are kept in places that can withstand ordinary rain, but not severe storms or floods. If these events occur and the chemicals are released, people and the environment may be endangered. This Article discusses the hazards posed to chemical and waste disposal facilities by extreme weather events that would be worsened as a result of climate change, and how U.S. laws do (or do not) deal with these hazards; and considers how the law would need to change to cope with what would happen to these facilities in a potentially 4°C world.
It is beyond reasonable dispute that climate change is already taking a toll on nations around the world. In supranational legal and economic discussions, it is also well known that many nations that already suffer great injury from rising temperatures are typically not the ones who caused the problem. The culprits, historically, are developed nations.
Young people are leading the fight against climate change in the United States and around the world. Thirty-two percent of Gen Zers—more than any other generation—have taken concrete actions to address climate change in the last year. Local governments and officials can work with young leaders in their communities to advance climate action by providing resources and enacting change through ordinances, policies, programs, and infrastructure development.
The Fifth Circuit ordered FERC to provide a meaningful explanation for the length of time it takes for final action in Federal Power Act §206 complaint proceedings, in a lawsuit concerning complaints that have gone four to six years without resolution. The Louisiana Public Service Commission petiti...
A district court granted a company's motion to preliminarily enjoin a Louisiana parish from enforcing a 12-month moratorium on activities related to well drilling on parish land. The company moved for an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the moratorium insofar as it banned seismic surveys, Class...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a Native American tribe's motion to remand to state court, and the dismissal of, its challenge to the city of Seattle's operation of a dam on the Skagit River. The tribe initially sued Seattle in state court, alleging that operation of the dam ...
The D.C. Circuit vacated a license issued by FERC for operation of a hydroelectric dam on the Susquehanna River in Maryland. The state of Maryland issued a CWA §401(a)(1) certification to the dam's operator in 2018 with conditions. The operator challenged the certification, and the parties reached ...