Environmental Law

In The News (October 15)

By Dennis Pfaff and Kevin Livingston, Editors

• Further evidence, as if any is needed, that the issues surrounding renewable energy -- particularly how to get it from one place to another -- are complicated comes from a new environmental impact statement in California that gives low marks to plans for a 150-mile transmission line linking a San Diego utility with wind, solar and geothermal projects; the Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital takes a look at the document, which gives a higher ranking to the construction of new gas-fired plants. The California Public Utilities Commission has posted the report (including an executive summary) online, and issued a statement about it. And San Diego Gas and Electric has a Web site devoted to the project, called Sunrise Powerlink.
• The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission talks about transmission issues, saying there's "no reason we cannot explore more than one approach" to creating a more robust grid, from a FERC statement.
• Legal memos from Bush administration officials say that the Endangered Species Act cannot be used to protect animals and their habitats from climate change by regulating specific sources of greenhouse gas emissions, reports McClatchy Newspapers.
• Clusters of states on around the country are setting up marketplaces for electric utilities and other companies to buy and sell credits to emit carbon dioxide and other gases responsible for global warming -- and they could be blueprints for a national effort, says the Chicago Tribune. Climate Law Update reported on this subject a while ago, as well.
• Arizona State University, Arizona Public Service and an international solar company are merging their resources to create a new solar-testing joint venture in Arizona that is expected to attract businesses and researchers from around the world, according to the East Valley Tribune. 
• Industrial carbon emissions will fall faster in Europe as result of a coming recession, lowering prices for permits, a development that could boost politicians and environmental groups urging industry not to back down in the fight against climate change, Reuters reports.
• And, in another look at the intersection between the economy and climate change, delegates at a London conference hear that carbon offsetting is unlikely to be an early casualty of the financial crisis, from, again, Reuters.
• A new research center is launching 12 solar projects totaling more than $1.1 million; the center concentrates on "solar photoconversion," or ways to directly convert the sun's energy to electricity and fuels, from an announcement by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
• It might seem arcane, but scientists say they have resolved a puzzling apparent discrepancy involving predicted and observed tropical temperatures as a result of greenhouse gas emissions, reports Terra Daily.
• There's a bit of a tempest brewing over a television network's balking at airing an ad from Al Gore's climate protection group which takes aim at big oil companies; the Christian Science Monitor's Bright Green Blog takes a look at the controversy.  
• That big economic stabilization bill that Congress recently approved -- and which extended renewable energy tax credits -- also contained incentives for the construction of energy efficient new homes, commercial buildings, and residential solar systems, according to this helpful reminder from Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, and Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine.

Full post as published by Climate Law Update on October 15, 2008 (boomark / email).