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Do Climate Change Cases Belong in Federal Court? The Biden Administration Weighs In.

Legal Planet

They then argue that the federal common law of nuisance no longer exists because carbon emissions are governed by the Clean Air Act. This is really a rock/paper/scissors argument: paper (federal common law) covers rock (state law), and scissors (Clean Air Act) cuts paper (federal common law).

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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

Multiple lines of analysis make clear that regardless of how cheap wind and solar power get, without directly addressing pollution from coal and gas plants, the country’s clean energy transition will not happen fast enough. Section 111 of the Clean Air Act constrains how EPA sets standards—but gives states wide latitude in implementation.

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U.S. Climate Law: A Broad & Rapidly Growing Field

Legal Planet

Social Cost of Carbon D. EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA) A. Standards for carbon and methane emissions from new sources Permitting requirements for carbon emissions from new stationary sources of major sources of existing pollutants.

Law 209
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EPA’s Best Option: Co-Firing

Legal Planet

What can EPA do to cut carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants after yesterday’s decision in West Virginia v. This leaves EPA with a powerful regulatory tool: a requirement that generators add natural gas or other lower-carbon fuels to their power mix. That’s about 450 million tons of carbon per year.

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What’s Up With the Supreme Court?

Law and Environment

Of course, the EEI did so to ensure that the Clean Air Act continues to act as a shield against private tort actions over carbon emissions, but still. After all, no less a group of environmental radicals than the Edison Electric Institute has filed a brief in support of EPA’s authority to regulate GHGs.

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The Profound Climate Implications of Supreme Court’s West Virginia v. EPA Decision

Union of Concerned Scientists

That’s because the case, which was about the nature and scope of EPA authority in regulating carbon emissions from existing power plants, turned on a rule that does not exist. EPA did not revoke EPA’s underlying authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

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Environmentalism and the Supreme Court

Legal Planet

The case involved the lynchpin of the Clean Air Act, EPA’s power to set national air quality standards. The Court then held that greenhouse gases are covered by the Clean Air Act as a type of air pollutant. This gave EPA the power to impose limits on carbon emissions by vehicles and industry.