Category: Climate Change

In one of its last official acts before starting its summer recess earlier this month, the California legislature passed a bill putting Prop 4 on the November ballot, which would allow the state to borrow $10 billion plus interest toward addressing climate change. Before it gained the moniker “Prop 4,” the bond measure was initially called SB 867 – The Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024.

Passed on July 3 by both the California Senate and Assemblymembers, …

On May 28, multiple federal agencies in conjunction with the White House published a Joint Policy Statement that laid out the principles for the further development of future, high-integrity voluntary carbon-credit markets.

The 12-page Joint Statement of Policy and New Principles for Responsible Participation in Voluntary Carbon Markets was co-signed by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Agricultural Secretary Thomas Vilsack, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy John Podesta, National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard, and National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi.

The Joint Statement …

Last month, our readers will recall that we reported on some pushback raised regarding the new climate disclosure rules promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requiring publicly traded registrants to provide certain climate-related information in future registration documents and annual reports (the “Final Rules”).

As SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in a press release announcing the new disclosure rules, the Final Rules were meant to “reflect the Commission’s efforts to respond to investors’ demand for more consistent, comparable, and reliable information …

The Supreme Court of New Zealand recently removed some significant roadblocks to bringing private law claims against major corporate greenhouse (GHG) emitters with a decision made in the case of Smith v. Fonterra.

The decision marks what is seen as one of the first occasions where a court in common law recognized the possibility that private lawsuits can be used to challenge the greenhouse emissions of a privately held company.

In its unanimous decision, the New Zealand court overturned a lower court’s earlier decision …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week approved the implementation of standardized climate disclosure rules (posted here) for publicly traded companies and in public offerings. No longer can companies simply post potential risks on their websites or through emails; rather, they must now include them in official SEC filings such as annual reports and registration statements.

The overarching goal is intended to enhance transparency concerning how companies address environmental and climate threats. The SEC’s decision was also the result of investors’ demand for …

In June 2020, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued ExxonMobil, three Koch entities, and the American Petroleum Institute — (energy companies and affiliates that produce or sell fossil fuels around the world and an industry association) — on behalf of the State of Minnesota, alleging that the defendants knowingly engaged in a “decades-long campaign of deception about the fossil fuel industry’s actual contributions to, and true costs of, climate change.”  The lawsuit includes claims for fraud, failure to warn, and multiple separate violations of state …