Manchin says leadership pledged permitting reform in stopgap funding bill
House democrats call for stricter carbon offset standards
White House nominates environmental experts for key roles
Climate team shake-up
California extends operation of Diablo Canyon
California legislature passes key climate change bills
This article outlines pertinent legal and policy climate change developments in the United States during the past week.(1)
Manchin says leadership pledged permitting reform in stopgap funding bill
On Wednesday, Senator Joe Manchin told reporters that Democratic leadership is committed to including permitting reform in a continuing resolution. When Manchin announced his support for the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, he and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement noting that they would pass a permitting reform deal. While the language has not been released, the deal would "speed up the process for approving energy and infrastructure projects."
House democrats call for stricter carbon offset standards
On 30 August 2022, Representatives Jared Huffman, Raul Grijalva and Kathy Castor drafted a letter calling for the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on the following points:
1. How, if at all, federal efforts to quantify carbon reductions from offsets and/or assess the quality of natural carbon offsets are coordinated;
2. How, if at all, federal agencies coordinate involvement with natural climate offsets and offset markets;
3. What actions, if any, could federal agencies take to help increase transparency in private voluntary carbon offset markets, such as the development of standard metrics for offsets;
4. How federal agencies can assist in preventing fraud and abuse of voluntary nature-based carbon offsets;
5. What actions, if any, federal agencies can take to help ensure equity and equal access to voluntary markets.
The letter states:
Carbon offsets allow entities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by buying credits from projects that reduce or sequester carbon and other pollutants; these projects can encompass a range of initiatives that actively conserve habitats known to store carbon, including forests, grasslands, wetlands, and blue carbon ecosystems.
White House nominates environmental experts for key roles
On 2 September 2022, President Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals:
- Richard Revesz, to lead the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Revesz has served as a member of the Environmental Economics Advisory Committee of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board; and
- Gene Rodrigues, to head the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity. Rodrigues is a "nationally-recognized expert in clean energy policy and programs".(2)
Also on 2 September 2022, the White Office announced that Gina McCarthy, one of President Biden's domestic climate advisers, is stepping down. Ali Zaidi will lead the Climate Policy Office in her place. Additionally, John Podesta will join the White House as a senior adviser for clean energy innovation and implementation. Podesta also "chairs the board of ClimateWorks Foundation and serves on the Board of the Climate Jobs National Resource Center".(3)
California extends operation of Diablo Canyon
On 31 August 2022, the California legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 846, which would keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear powerplant open until 2030. For further details on the environmental impacts of keeping the plant open, see "Climate change policy update: 22 August 2022" and "Climate policy update: last-minute climate bills, Colorado river water shortage, "forever chemicals" and more".
California legislature passes key climate change bills
The California legislature has approved legislation relating to:
- clean energy targets (the California Climate Crisis Act);
- carbon removal projects (SB-905); and
- oil drilling (SB-1137).
However, Assembly Bill 2133 was shot down by the California Assembly. The bill would have made goals for reducing greenhouse gases more ambitious.
For further information on this topic please contact Kenneth Markowitz, Stacey H Mitchell, Dario J Frommer or Christopher A Treanor at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP by telephone (+1 202 887 4000) or email ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]). The Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP website can be accessed at www.akingump.com.
Leila Fleming, public policy specialist, assisted with the preparation of this article.
Endnotes
(1) For further updates, including upcoming congressional hearings, federal agency climate news and events, click here. For the previous week's update, click here.
(2) "Statement by Secretary Granholm on President Biden's Nomination of Gene Rodrigues", press release, 2 September 2022.
(3) "President Biden Announces Senior Clean Energy and Climate Team", press release, 2 September 2022.