The extent to which corporations should incorporate sustainability objectives into their operational decisionmaking is highly contested, as is the relationship between societal impact and economic value. At the same time, issuers are incorporating sustainability considerations into their business operations in response both to investor demands and to the claim that sustainable business practices lead to improved economic performance.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is a little-known and too-often ignored federal authority with the power to block or rapidly accelerate the transition to a clean energy future, and is thus indispensable to addressing climate change. Institute for Policy Integrity scholars Bethany A. Davis Noll and Burcin Unel are to be applauded for bringing into focus a regulatory space that is essential to efforts to decarbonize the power sector.
Electricity generation in the United States is one of the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions, which cause severe climate change-related harms. Despite the severity of those harms, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale electricity markets, has avoided addressing the issue. FERC has historically shied away from environmental considerations in ratemaking.
This article highlights the results of the Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review (ELPAR) article selection process and reports on the environmental legal scholarship for the 2018-2019 academic year, including the number of environmental law articles published in general law reviews versus environmental law journals, and the topics covered in the articles.
A district court denied the U.S. government summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning California's cap-and-trade agreement with Quebec. The government argued the agreement was conflict preempted by the foreign affairs doctrine because it created an obstacle to the effectuation of the Global Climate P...
The Third Circuit reinstated a lawsuit concerning noxious odors emanating from a landfill in Pennsylvania. A proposed class of residents living within a 2.5-mile radius of the landfill brought public and private nuisance claims, arguing the odors and other air contaminants interfered with the use an...
The D.C. Circuit denied petitions to review FERC's order prohibiting states from barring electric storage resources (ESRs) on their distribution and retail systems from participating in federal markets. Utility groups argued that FERC exceeded its jurisdiction under the Federal Power Act by barring ...
A district court granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment in a lawsuit seeking FOIA disclosure of records concerning Yellowstone National Park's policy on the size of its bison population. A nonprofit group argued that the National Park Service (NPS) unlawfully withheld ...
A district court granted EPA's cross-motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning the Agency's issuance of a temporary policy that scaled back enforcement efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Environmental justice, public health, and public interest groups petitioned EPA to issue an emergenc...
This Article argues that growing private efforts to address climate change collectively take on the attributes and functions of a governance system that could be vital to societal decarbonization. Instead of evaluating specific initiatives or actions of particular businesses, it explores the entire field of private climate action and offers new ways of thinking about the path ahead.