Climate Change
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California Issues First-of-its-kind Willful Heat Standard Violation
On December 12, 2024, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) announced a first-of-its-kind citation for a willful violation of California’s Heat Illness Prevention regulations. Per the Agency’s press release, the citation carries with it a $276,425 penalty for deliberately and knowingly failing to follow heat protection requirements. Cal/OSHA’s findings include a failure… Continue reading
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Biden Administration Seeks Public Comment on Expanding Environmental Justice Initiatives to Ocean-Related Activities
On June 8, 2023, the Council on Environmental Quality, on behalf of the Ocean Policy Committee (OPC), published a Federal Register request for information seeking public input on the development of a new “Ocean Justice Strategy.” The OPC is a Congressionally mandated interagency body tasked with coordinating ocean science, technology and management policy across Federal… Continue reading
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Inflation Reduction Act: Is the U.S. Finally Poised to Tackle Climate Change?
By Allison A. Torrence In a compromise move many months in the making, on August 7, 2022, the Senate passed a spending bill dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which contains provisions aimed at lowering drug prices and health care premiums, reducing inflation, and most notably for our readers, investing approximately $369 billion in… Continue reading
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West Virginia v. EPA: The Major Questions Doctrine Arrives to Rein in Administrative Powers
On the final day of its 2022 term, the Supreme Court issued its highly-anticipated opinion in the case of West Virginia v. EPA, 579 U.S. __ (2022), addressing EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases (“GHGs”) under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”), but having much broader implications for the authority of all administrative agencies, signaling a… Continue reading
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An Uncertain Future: Legal Challenges and the Forthcoming Climate Refugee Crisis
However, while the war in Ukraine is one of the latest events causing a surge of refugees, those fleeing Russian aggression are by no means alone. As of the most recent data from the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (“UNHCR”), which counts until mid-2021, there were 20,835,367 people qualified as refugees under the UNHCR’s… Continue reading
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SEC’s Upcoming Proposed Rule for Climate Disclosures: Will It Be as “Decision-Useful” as the Ingredients Label for “Fat-Free Milk”?
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is meeting this Monday, March 21, to determine whether to propose amendments to existing law to “enhance and standardize registrants’ climate-related disclosures.” Continue reading
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Supreme Court Procedural Clarity Provides Win for Industry in Climate Case
On May 17, 2021, the United States Supreme Court ruled 7-1 that the Fourth Circuit should have considered all of the fossil fuel companies’ grounds for removal to federal court in the BP PLC, et al. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore case. Continue reading