On December 20, 2016, in a Presidential Memorandum to the Secretary of the Interior, President Obama withdrew certain areas off the Atlantic Coast on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from mineral and oil and gas leasing:  Consistent with principles of responsible public stewardship entrusted to this office, with due consideration of the critical importance of canyons along the edge of the Atlantic continental shelf for marine mammals, deep water corals, […]

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Two climate change bills were passed by the California legislature recently: SB 32 and AB 197. Senate Bill 32 would require California to cut greenhouse gas levels to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, extending the state’s authority to enact climate policies beyond the 2020 reduction to 1990 levels. Assembly Bill 197 would support those goals by giving legislators more power over the Air Resources Board. AB 197 is […]

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On September 27, 2006, California enacted the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), which aimed to reduce California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. AB 32 delegates to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) the responsibility to adopt regulations to achieve the statewide GHG emissions limit. AB 32 authorized ARB to include the use of a “market-based compliance mechanism” to reduce GHG emissions. In January 2013, ARB […]

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The Obama Administration is making findings that greenhouse gas (GHG) from aircraft endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations within the meaning of section 231(a) of the Clean Air Act. The  findings specifically refer to six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. These gases were previously defined as air pollution in the 2009 Endangerment Finding under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act. If […]

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