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Recentering Environmental Law: A Thought Experiment

Legal Planet

First of all, we would have had a very different understanding of the air pollution problem. We thought that the key to reducing air pollution was to require better pollution control devices. Instead, we would have understood that the root problem was the burning of fossil fuels in the first place.

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EPA’s Power Plant Carbon Rules Are Critical—and Complex. Here’s What to Know, and What to Watch.

Union of Concerned Scientists

Through the Clean Air Act , and as affirmed—and reaffirmed—through multiple legal sagas, EPA is statutorily obligated to address carbon pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. Indeed, EPA still retains the ability to set strong standards that curtail carbon pollution at the scale, speed, and rigor required.

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Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Holds that Regional Climate Program Rule is an Illegal Tax

MGKF Law

The holding halts former Governor Tom Wolf’s efforts to make Pennsylvania the first major fossil-fuel producing state to implement a price on carbon emissions. Read More » Tags: Air , Climate Change , Commonwealth Court , Pennsylvania , Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection , Taxes

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Emerging Local Legal Pathways for Building Electrification: Air Pollution and Land Use Regulation in New York City & Brookline, Massachusetts

Law Columbia

This week’s advancements offer two new models for local governments looking to require or promote building electrification: air pollution and land use regulation. Under WA-26, buildings built with fossil fuels will receive special permits that expire in 2030, while buildings built without them (i.e.,

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Clean Air Council Celebrates Joseph Minott's 40 Year Commitment To Leading The Council, And To The Environment

PA Environment Daily

He has spent his career championing environmental issues like clean air and water, advocating for a transition away from fossil fuels, and promoting clean energy solutions such as energy efficiency, wind, solar and geothermal. Being an environmental activist in a fossil fuel state is not for the faint of heart.

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Catch 22 at the Supreme Court

Legal Planet

CT , the Supreme Court said this: We hold that the Clean Air Act and the EPA actions it authorizes displace any federal common law right to seek abatement of carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel fired power plants. at 528–529. 7411(b)(1)(B); see also §7411(a)(2). Milo Minderbinder would be very pleased. Download as PDF.

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2021-2022 California Environmental Legislation: What’s Been Enacted?

Legal Planet

The Governor approved a notable slate of climate legislation with a package that includes more stringent greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets and measures designed to reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. In signing these bills, the Governor touted the state as the most aggressive actor on climate in the nation. Clean Energy.

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