Climate Change Practice
President Obama and many Members of Congress have joined a number of states in calling for the United States to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid or minimize climate change. The implications of this new reality are still being sorted out. This new direction could translate into dramatic changes in power generation, industries, the ways we move people and goods, and in our communities.
The lawyers at Marten Law Group assist clients in maneuvering through this changing regulatory landscape, drawing on our years of experience with the environmental and land use regimes now being adapted to this new purpose. We help evaluate emerging opportunities and risks, and provide advice on influencing new policies and regulations. We also help clients comply with requirements and programs that already have changed, like incorporating climate impacts into environmental reviews under NEPA and equivalent state laws, and participation in voluntary emission offset markets.
Marten Law Group is closely following regional and national efforts to develop greenhouse gas cap-and-trade programs, as well as the potential “endangerment” finding under the federal Clean Air Act that could result in limits on greenhouse gas emissions without any new legislation. We also are monitoring mandatory emissions reporting requirements at the state and federal level, and federal proposals for utility renewable energy standards, like those in place in many states, and the formulation of emissions offset policies tied to sequestration of carbon in forests, agricultural lands, or deep underground.
We also consider the legal implications of issues that so far have received less attention, such as planning for increased water needs in a drier watershed, the challenges of building new transmission lines to deliver new renewable energy to cities and towns, and revising land use standards to bring about emission reductions.
Experience:
Permitting and licensing electric generation and transmission facilities and industrial plants Monitoring and Analysis of State, Federal, and International Climate Change Policies · Participating in Development of Regulations and Statutes Assessing Environmental Impacts for Project Development Carbon Capture and Sequestration