DWT's Climate Change Practice
The effort to control greenhouse gas emissions as a means of addressing climate change could become one of the most significant regulatory developments of the 21st century. The regulation of greenhouse gases (GHG) is likely to be pervasive, producing profound effects throughout the U.S. economy in many fields including energy production and consumption, manufacturing, transportation and construction.
In the wake of the U.S. decision to not join the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, there is no federal system to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. However, countries across the globe―as well as individual states, regions and cities―are in the process of adopting or implementing a wide range of systems to limit these emissions. Most observers believe that establishment of a climate change regulatory regime at our federal level is nearly inevitable by 2010, in light of the regulatory systems that have been established at other levels of government and the growing public concern about climate change.
The prospect of climate change regulation creates a series of risks and opportunities for U.S. companies. It will produce tremendous growth in investment in low-emission technologies and processes. On the other hand, operating costs are likely to increase in certain energy-intensive sectors of the economy. There is also the significant challenge of devising a method for allocating the costs of regulation among different sectors of the economy and regions of the country.
In response to these emerging issues, our firm has formed a climate change practice group to advise and assist companies on business, transactional, regulatory and policy matters related to climate change.
Examples of our climate change work:
- Advising utilities on the potential impact of future federal greenhouse gas regulation on their electric generation assets, with recommendations regarding mitigation of the risks
- Advising an independent power producer on market structure issues related to California’s adoption of greenhouse gas regulations
- Representing the entity responsible for acquiring carbon offsets with funds from developers of fossil fuel-fired facilities under Oregon’s energy facility siting law
- Representing an independent power producer in the California Public Utility Commission proceeding establishing a greenhouse gas emission performance standard for long-term power procurement by California utilities
- Advising a state governmental agency on the impact of GHG legislation on its contracting for power supply
- Advising an international corporation regarding the development of GHG reduction offsets in China through utilization of the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol
Our firm also has an extensive transactional and regulatory practice in the renewable energy field, which is relevant to policies such as renewable portfolio standards that have been adopted by some states―in part as a means of reducing future greenhouse gas emissions.
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