|
This webpage covers news from July and August 2009. For developments from May and June, please contact Isa Lang at ilang@chapman.edu.
JUDICIARY
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Follows a "Somewhat Liberal Line" in Allowing Conservation Organization to Intervene in US Forest Service Approval of Methane Gas Venting from Coal Mine (July 24, 2009) Only addressing the intervention issue, the Court allowed Wildearth Gardens to challenge the US Forest Service approval and remanded the case to the District Court. Wildearth Gardens v. United States Forest Service, No. 09-1089, 2009 WL 2195790 (10th Cir. 2009) New York State Court Allows "Green" Project in Syracuse to Go Forward (July 17, 2009) The Onondaga County court enjoined defendant Citigroup from reneging on a construction loan to plaintiff Destiny USA for a state-of-the-art "green" technology construction project that will use alternative energy sources and attract visitors and create jobs in a severely depressed area. Destiny USA Holdings v. Citigroup Global Markets Realty Corp., 2009 NY Slip Op 51550U, 2009 N.Y. MIsc. LEXIS 1908 (2009) Wisconsin Court of Appeals Allows Farmers to Build Additional Wind Turbines Despite Restrictive County Ordinance (July 15, 2009) Concluding that the state legislature's intent in the statutes is to favor alternative energy systems, the court waived a county moratorium on wind turbines, stating it would decide future cases on a case-by-case basis. Ecker Brothers v. Calumet County, Appeal No. 2007AP2109, 2009 Wisc. App. LEXIS 503 (2009) Georgia Court of Appeals Rules on Coal-Fired Electric Power Plant Preconstruction Permit (July 7, 2009) Pointing out the carbon dioxide emissions were not included in the Georgia Air Quality Act regulations, the court reversed a Superior Court decision invalidating the permit on the issue of CO2 emissions. However, the court found that the Administrative Law Judge applied an incorrect standard of review to the evidence presented and remanded the case on this ground. Longleaf Energy Associates v. Friends of the Chattahoochee, Inc., 2009 WL 1929192 (2009) EXECUTIVE BRANCHFERC Issues Smart Grid Policy Statement (July 2009) Facing the challenges of cybersecurity, diverse electric generation, renewable resources, and greater loads on the power supply, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's new Policy Statement attempts to develop key standards in these challenging areas and addresses the pressing issue of a fair and effective rate policy for all power suppliers. Smart Grid Policy: Final Rule, 74 FR 37098 (July 27, 2009)
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Hawaii Legislature Passes Unique "Starlight Reserve" Law In recognition of the Declaration of Defense of the Night Sky and Right to Starlight, the legislature passed an act defining starlight reserve and creating an action plan to maintain starlight reserves throughout the islands. Hawaii Legislature Passes Renewable Energy Resources Act This act would free Hawaii from its dependence on petroleum (it is the most dependent state in the country)and establish a 70% clean energy economy for Hawaii "within a generation." Louisiana Legislature Creates Climate Change Policy Commission Mentioning Louisiana's vulnerability to the projected sea level rises resulting from climate change, the Legislature created a Commission composed of representatives from the Legislature, from the state's executive agencies, and from Louisiana State University to review climate change studies and evaluate policies. BOOKSGlobal Climate Change and Natural Resources: Summaries of the 2008-2009 Scientific Literature, edited by J. Emil Morhardt. Roberts Environmental Press, 2009 (Available at amazon.com, $24.95 p'back.) This collection of articles on global warming and climate change, summarized by the editor, is appropriate for the scientific layperson and is a good way for lawyers to keep up with advances in scientific knowledge about climate change. Water and the West: The Colorado River Compact and the Politics of Water in the American West, 2nd Ed. by Norris Hundley, Jr. University of California Press, 2009. (ON ORDER for the Law Library.) In this book, the author updates his study on Western water issues as the fight goes on. SSRN ABSTRACTSTimothy Duane and Joanna D. Malaczynski, Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Vehicle Miles Traveled: Integrating the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) with the California Global Warming Solutions Act, (Posted July 2009) Click here for link Kevin L. Doran and Elias Leake Quinn, Climate Change Risk Disclosure: A Sector by Sector Analysis of Sec 10-K Filings from 1995-2008, (Posted July 2009) Click here for link Elizabeth Burleson, Climate Change Consensus: Emerging International Law (Posted July 2009) Accepted Paper Series at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1426665 LEGAL ARTICLES AND SYMPOSIAJohn Holland, The United States and Its Climate Change Policy: Advocating an Alignment of National Interest and Ethical Obligations, 23 Notre Dame Journal of Ethics and Public Policy 623 (2009) David Weisbach and Cass R. Sunstein, Climate Change and Discounting the Future: A Guide for the Perplexed, 27 Yale Law & Policy Review 433 (2009) Symposium: The Reality of Carbon Taxes in the 21st Century, 10 Vermont Journal of Environmental Law 1 (2008) Articles assessing the future of carbon taxes in the United States and Europe portray a grim outlook. Click here for link |