Alys Campaigne’s Post

Today: state legislators are joining Governors and clean energy advocates in calling on the grid operator PJM Interconnection to create a plan for building more of the long-distance electric #transmission lines we need to keep the backbone of our power grid reliable and better meet our energy needs along the East Coast. ⚡️ Four governors call on PJM to meet FERC's new transmission rules: https://lnkd.in/ei2fmZTp ⚡️ 28 organizations including Advanced Energy United call on PJM to meet FERC's new transmission rules: https://lnkd.in/eet7zU3D

The U.S. Supreme Court is facing a wave of emergency appeals this year, many on the so-called "shadow docket" where critical decisions are made without full briefings or arguments. When Congress passes poorly written legislation the inevitable consequence is to clog up the nations’ courts. If we want to see real, lasting action on climate change, we can’t rely on the courts to fix legislative mistakes. At Bipartisan Climate Fund, we’re supporting members of Congress who work to get it right the first time, focusing on smart, bipartisan legislation that leaves far less room for misinterpretation. https://lnkd.in/eXZSTtP8?

From the BC Environmental Assessment Ofice: Tomorrow (Thursday Oct. 10) is the last day for public comment on whether the proposed Kobes gas plant northwest of Fort St. John should require an environmental assessment: https://ow.ly/fiL150THMQ0

I can't think of a business that operates in a vacuum, particularly those with environmental or climate impacts. In those worlds, we operate in two regulatory worlds: the compliance and voluntary side. So things a company does because it has to and things it does because it wants to and believe it should do. In the compliance world, the "government" of some kind sets out laws that it expects people to play by. Those laws are then enforced by regulatory agencies of one form or another in accordance with rules. In translating the laws into rules there is a process that is subject to court oversight. Big news in that world is the U.S. Supreme Court's adjustment to that interaction. My Dentons colleagues Clinton Vince, Linda Willard, Sam Olens and Simon Steel in this panel are focussed on: Supreme Court Overturns Chevron Doctrine: Implications for Energy and Climate Policy and Beyond. This significant discussion will have an impact in many other jurisdictions around the world.

New Summer 2024 publication on a Supreme Court property rights decision that complicates land use planning and new climate adaptation infrastructure financing.   The American Bar Association published a timely article on a recent U.S. Supreme Court property rights decision that threatens local capacity to manage growth and adapt to extreme weather impacts. The article details how the Court again deviated from past precedent to advance its heightened interest in landowner rights at the expense of state/local infrastructure funding decisions. Smith, A., The  Supreme Court increases its involvement in local land use: the continuing Sheetz saga, Natural Resources & Environment Journal, vol 39, no 1 (Summer 2024). This publication is now in print for  environmental attorneys associated with the American Bar Association. Because the article is important for other professionals involved with climate adaption and land use management, the article will be digitally available shortly to Climate Policy Impacts subscribers on Substack.

This Dentons webinar from our global compliance and investigations group on SCOTUS overturning Chevron will be of interest well beyond the US border, given its relevance to common lawyers, or should that be Common Lawyers (given that I’m both)?

This is expected. Republicans are poised to pave the way to expand fossil fuel development, roll back Biden-era environmental regulations and curtail President Joe Biden’s signature climate law after securing unified control of Congress and the White House. The strange thing is that almost the entire United States faced drought conditions during the last week of October. Only Alaska and Kentucky did not have at least moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a record in the monitor’s history. Dry conditions over the past few months led New York City to urge residents to start conserving “every drop possible. Last month was the driest October since record keeping began in 1869, according to the city, which issued a drought watch for the 9.8 million people who rely on the city’s water supply. A watch encourages voluntary water conservation and ensures city agencies are ready with water conservation plans. The last time a watch was issued was in 2001. Maybe an oil cocktail spiced with some gas would solve the water shortage for people in US? Or is it simply a God’s punishment? https://lnkd.in/eYb_ugGR

Take Action Now: https://lnkd.in/gR4Ydey7 [Take Action] Save Our Public Lands and Waters: Say No to the Energy Permitting Reform Act. This bill threatens our environment, public health, and climate. If adopted, it would weaken critical environmental protections, open up vast areas of public lands and offshore waters to more oil and gas drilling, and fast-track permits without sufficient review. Please tell your senator to vote NO on this harmful bill that prioritizes fossil fuel and mining interests over community safety, and diminishes the ability of impacted communities to challenge harmful projects!

Here are the CPRG implementation grants. There are a lot of interesting programs being funded across the country in here. Sad to see Indiana did not get one. But, that doesn't mean the state won't see benefits from this program (much climate planning is ongoing, and that planning will support securing other grant funding): https://lnkd.in/gb4gU9u3

Recently, a judge for a District Court in Montana held that youth ranging from two to eighteen years old had a "fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, which includes climate as part of the environmental life-support system." To read more about the case and the issue of constitutional rights to a healthy environment, visit our blog to read "A (Limited) Win for the Environment and Those of Us Living in It" by Abigail Frische: https://lnkd.in/g9EysRt5.