Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Energy
-
September 23, 2024
Chamber Says X Ruling Boosts Bid To Nix Calif. Climate Laws
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the state of California have filed competing briefs on how a recent Ninth Circuit decision blocking parts of a social media law applies to the state's corporate climate disclosure rules, with the Chamber arguing the ruling reinforces how the latter violate the First Amendment.
-
September 23, 2024
High Court Enviro Shadow Docket Could Diminish DC Circ.
The U.S. Supreme Court's "shadow docket" is full of pleas from environmental rule opponents who want the justices to overturn D.C. Circuit rulings that allowed the regulations to go into effect, and recent history shows the challengers have some chance for success — but experts say the high court's willingness to step in at this stage risks diminishing lower courts' voices.
-
September 23, 2024
Feds, SunZia Urge 9th Circ. To Toss Power Line Challenge
The federal government and SunZia Transmission LLC have asked the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court decision tossing a suit by a coalition of tribes and conservation groups challenging the government's decision to let the company route a 520-mile power line through cultural and historical sites.
-
September 23, 2024
EPA Admits Mistakes In Approving New Chevron Chemicals
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday told the D.C. Circuit that it overestimated the risk of allowing Chevron Corp. to create new fuel chemicals derived from plastic waste, asking the appeals court to remand the order authorizing the new substances back to federal regulators.
-
September 23, 2024
Texas Fighting ESA Listing For Tiny Lizard In Permian Basin
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking a judge to overturn a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule that listed the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species, calling it a "backdoor attempt" to undermine energy development in the Permian Basin.
-
September 23, 2024
Battery Exec Can't Avoid Depo In $2B Plant Fight
Battery manufacturer Gotion cannot block the deposition of its U.S. President Li Chen in a legal fight over the future of a proposed gigafactory in a Michigan town, a federal magistrate judge ruled Monday.
-
September 23, 2024
Ex-Holtec CIO Says She's Owed More Than $500K Bonus
The former chief investment officer for Holtec International is alleging in New Jersey federal court that she was demoted then fired earlier this year after expressing her concern over the company's bonus structure and its failure to pay her bonuses on time in violation of the state's wage payment law.
-
September 23, 2024
Calif. Sues Exxon For Plastic Pollution And Recycling Deception
California's attorney general and a coalition of conservation groups hit Exxon Mobil Corp. with a pair of lawsuits on Monday claiming the petrochemical giant has inundated the state with harmful plastic waste while misleading people about recycling's ability to ever make a dent in the problem.
-
September 23, 2024
NY Extends Industrial Property Tax Break Application Deadline
New York state extended by four years to 2029 the deadline to apply for property tax abatements for eligible industrial and commercial buildings in New York City as part of a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
-
September 23, 2024
Natural Gas Co. Must Pay $6.8M To Ex-Trader In Bonus Fight
A Colorado state judge has entered a $6.8 million judgment against a natural gas marketing company for its failure to pay an ex-trading director a bonus on lucrative trades he made during a 2021 winter storm, a sum that includes more than $2.5 million in penalties for the company's intentional violation of a state wage law.
-
September 23, 2024
La. Wants EPA Civil Rights Regs Vacated After Court Win
Louisiana is asking a federal judge to revisit an order and amend it to completely vacate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency civil rights regulations, after the judge granted the Pelican State's motion for a permanent injunction within its borders.
-
September 23, 2024
Conn. Reaches $5M Deal To Resolve Vision Solar Case
Connecticut is asking a judge to sign off on a judgment that would impose a $5 million civil penalty against Vision Solar LLC to resolve the state's unfair trade practices complaint against the bankrupt company.
-
September 20, 2024
EPA Defends Methane Rule At Supreme Court
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and green group allies on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject states' and fossil fuel industry players' effort to block the implementation of a rule strengthening methane emissions control requirements for oil and gas infrastructure.
-
September 20, 2024
EV Battery Co. Hit With $207M Default Loss For Lack Of Attys
Shareholders of electrical vehicle battery maker Romeo Power Inc. have secured a $206.8 million default win against the company after it failed to retain new counsel in a proposed class action alleging it concealed its acute shortage of high-quality battery cells before going public via a merger with a blank check company.
-
September 20, 2024
Law Professors Say Boulder Climate Suit Clearly Preempted
Two law professors and a conservative legal nonprofit have urged Colorado justices to toss a city's climate tort lawsuit, arguing that the claims are clearly preempted by the Clean Air Act and that the city should not be allowed to make climate change policy decisions for the rest of the country.
-
September 20, 2024
Utilities Group Wants In On 4th Circ. FERC Grid Policy Fight
A coalition of municipal utilities and electricity cooperatives that rely on transmission facilities they don't own to deliver power urged the Fourth Circuit to let it intervene in an appeal challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent overhaul of its regional transmission policy.
-
September 20, 2024
NY Utilities Tell DC Circ. More Risk Should Equal More Return
A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday weighed the differences between risks and costs in a dispute between a group of New York utilities and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over rates the power companies can charge after making infrastructure upgrades.
-
September 20, 2024
5th Circ. Says Tribunal Properly Slashed $10.6M Gas Award
A lower court improperly vacated an arbitral tribunal's decision slashing some $4 million from a $10.6 million award issued to a Colorado-based exploration company following a dispute over a Cameroonian natural gas project, the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday in a published opinion.
-
September 20, 2024
FERC Opens Enbridge Rate Probe Amid Overcharging Fears
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has opened a rate probe into a gas pipeline co-owned by Enbridge Inc. and DT Midstream, saying the pipeline may be overcharging its customers.
-
September 20, 2024
IPO Trio Looks To Raise $536M Combined As Autumn Begins
Three companies spanning the energy, healthcare and life sciences industries are preparing initial public offerings that could raise $536 million combined in the coming week, guided by six law firms, signaling an upturn in IPOs as autumn begins.
-
September 20, 2024
US Chamber Warns Del. Justices On TC Energy Case Fallout
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned Delaware's Supreme Court Friday of "detrimental and expensive consequences" from an unprecedented, $199 million damages ruling against TransCanada Corp. last year for aiding seller fiduciary breaches in its $13 billion acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Corp.
-
September 20, 2024
House Passes GOP Push To Nix EPA Auto Emissions Regs
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed a resolution that would block implementation of the Biden administration's tighter greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and light trucks, though the legislation is likely dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
-
September 20, 2024
Insurers Say Ky. House Damage Wasn't From Mine Collapse
Insurers told a Kentucky federal court to toss a couple's case seeking compensation for damage to their home because of coal mine subsidence, arguing the damage wasn't caused by a collapsing void underground.
-
September 20, 2024
CFTC Issues Final Guidance On Carbon Credit Markets
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday put forth guidelines it says will help foster transparency and deter manipulation in the emerging market for voluntary carbon credits by, among other things, encouraging derivatives exchanges to assess the environmental benefits associated with the credits.
-
September 20, 2024
Mexico Will Challenge $37M Deepsea Mining Award
Mexico will look to annul the $37 million arbitral award issued to a U.S. deep ocean exploration company after its project to develop one of the world's largest seabed phosphate deposits was mothballed, saying the tribunal improperly overlooked its evidence citing environmental concerns.
Expert Analysis
-
What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking
With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.
-
IP Considerations For Companies In Carbon Capture Sector
As companies collaborate to commercialize carbon capture technologies amid massive government investment under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a coherent intellectual property strategy is more important than ever, including proactively addressing and resolving questions about ownership of the technology, say Ashley Kennedy and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.
-
5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow
The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.
-
What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule
A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.
-
8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.
-
Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
-
A Recipe For Growth Equity Investing In A Slow M&A Market
Carl Marcellino at Ropes & Gray discusses the factors bolstering appetite for growth equity fundraising in a depressed M&A market, and walks through the deal terms and other ingredients that set growth equity transactions apart from bread-and-butter venture capital investing.
-
Opinion
SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule
Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.
-
What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron
With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.
-
Opinion
SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
-
How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
-
Recent Wave Of SEC No-Action Denials May Be Slowing
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in March granted no-action relief to Verizon and others on the grounds that a director resignation bylaw proposal would mean violating Delaware law, bucking recent SEC hesitation toward such relief and showing that articulating a basis in state law is a viable path to exclude a proposal, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
-
Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert
As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
-
In Energy Disputes, Good Arbitration Clauses Are Key
Recent trends have spawned many complex energy disputes that cross jurisdictional boundaries — but arbitration offers an optimal forum for resolving such matters, especially when arbitration provisions in contracts are tailored for the energy sector, say Scott Marrs at Akerman and Andrew Barton at the American Arbitration Association and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution.
-
10b-5 Litigation Questions Follow Justices' Macquarie Ruling
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Macquarie v. Moab that pure omissions are not actionable under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b–5(b), creating a slightly higher bar for plaintiffs and setting the stage for further litigation over several issues, say Steve Quinlivan and Sean Colligan at Stinson.