LPDD October Newsletter

New LPDD Model Laws

This month, the LPDD team was proud to publish a new Model Executive Order, applicable at either the state or local level, creating a Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) energy purchasing policy for government agencies. This Model Executive Order identifies overarching environmental goals and some of the benefits that would result from (i) agencies purchasing a minimum amount of CCS energy for use in buildings, subject to availability, and (ii) raising the minimum total amount of clean electricity to be purchased by the government by 2050, including plants that are or can be equipped with CCS. These two objectives will encourage “fuel switching” in government buildings – transitioning from fossil fuels to clean electric energy – as well as the use of CCS energy. The model Executive Order then sets forth the specific goals and targets that agencies should meet with respect to the two objectives, though each state government and municipality may set different standards to fit its particular needs, goals, and political circumstances.

This model was drafted by a team of attorneys from Goodwin Procter LLP, led by Florence Lau, and including Chi Pan, Tingyao Pan, Gabriel Lee, Longfei Fang, and overseen by Robert Fitzgerald.  Peer review was provided by Esmeralda Colombo, LL.M, Ph.D, and Michael Craig, Ph.D.  Critical commentary was incorporated from the LPDD's Climate Justice Advisory Committee.

New External Resources

modelclimatelaws.org is being continually updated with new, external legal resources. Below is a selection of recently added resources, particularly from a group of new laws passed in California.

• California's Offshore Wind Procurement Bill: AB 1373, passed in September, will allow the California Public Utilities Commission to authorize the California Department of Water Resources, which operates dams and aqueducts across the state, to sign contracts committing to purchase gigawatts’ worth of generation from yet-to-be-built offshore wind farms. By purchasing power from early-stage projects that might be too big or too risky for other potential buyers, the state can encourage the development of free-floating turbines, which are difficult to build and necessary in California's deep coastal waters.
• Rocky Mountain Institute's Decarbonizing Industry Resource Tool: RMI's recently launched tool aims to help project developers, industrial companies, and investors discover the state and federal financial incentives that may be applicable to their heavy industry and transport projects. The first iteration of this tool captures federal incentives and California state-wide incentives, and focuses on the cement, steel, aluminum, trucking, shipping, aviation, hydrogen, chemicals, and battery (for industrial uses) sectors.
• Pathway Highlights: Highway Transmission Corridors and Renewable Siting: With the unanimous passage of SB 49 in September, California brings fresh attention to the efforts of states that have leveraged Department of Transportation authority over rights-of-way to site solar and transmission, bypassing certain hurdles in siting and permitting. California's legislation directs the Department of Transportation to “evaluate the suitability” of the land it owns alongside highway roadways, exits and interchanges for developing renewable energy, energy storage, and electrical transmission and distribution facilities. Other states have moved forward in this regard at small scales. Following Oregon's early support of two major solar highway projects, Massachusetts' DOT has developed a Highway Renewable Energy Program, which has sited 8 projects totaling 4.3 MW. Wisconsin had previously legislatively established highway and railway corridors as the second priority corridors (after existing transmission corridors) for new transmission development, allowing 26 highway-adjacent projects to pass quickly through the siting process. While states must coordinate their use of federal interstate rights of way with the Federal Highway Administration, that agency has already instructed states to put that land to use for “clean energy and connectivity” projects including high-voltage transmission, broadband internet, EV charging, and solar and wind power.
• Novel Offshore Wind Memorandum of Cooperation: In October, the state agencies responsible for energy policy in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut signed a novel agreement to coordinate on offshore wind projects. The “Offshore Wind Multi-State Memorandum of Understanding” calls for the states to jointly consider bids from offshore wind developers. Under the agreement, the three states could collectively issue a solicitation for as much as 6,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity.
• California's Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act: In September, California approved the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which will require companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue to disclose their carbon emissions, including emissions from their supply chains. In July, our own Prof. Michael Gerrard wrote that the then-pending legislation would "mesh with corporate climate disclosure regulations elsewhere, particularly in Europe, and would therefore represent a significant step toward assuring the accuracy, trustworthiness, and transparency of corporate climate performance reporting."
• California Electric School Bus Mandate: In September, California passed a law requiring that 100% of all newly purchased or contracted school buses be zero-emission vehicles, where feasible, by 2035. The law also solves a common hurdle in the financing of these buses by school districts, allowing lease, rental, and rent-to-own agreements to extend to terms between 15 and 20 years, which provides a more reasonable term for these expensive assets than the 5 to 10 year restrictions that had been in place (and which remain a model in much of the country).
• California Law Expediting Environmental Review of Transmission:  In September, California passed a law making transmission projects eligible for status as "environmental leadership development projects," which would require state agencies to resolve environmental review of a project, to the extent feasible, within 270 days.

In the News

Sometimes, we come across news stories that highlight the value of the resources we already promote at modelclimatelaws.org. Here are a few from the last month:

• Bill Gates made waves when he told a New York Times reporter, "I don't plant trees," setting off a debate on the value of large, monocultural tree planting projects to drive carbon uptake. Whatever side of that issue one falls on, smart management of existing forests remains an unambiguous climate win. Our model state forests trust law empowers a state's department of natural resources to improve the ability of forests and other natural ecosystems to mitigate pollution and greenhouse gases.
• ACEEE writes that the Biden Administration can drive GHG reductions in the rental housing market depending on its choices in implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act. States have other, costless levers they can pull to address emissions in the rental sector, for example, by adopting model green leases legislation.
• The LA Times covers a race among real estate developers to catch up to unexpected demand for EV charging at stores, offices, and apartment buildings. Our model local law on EV charging in public accommodations can complement these private sector efforts by ensuring a sufficient portion of public spaces are equipped for EV charging.

Get Involved!

Not sure how to support our work? Check out our Get Involved page to see the many avenues by which lawyers can join us, and get in contact!

This update highlights and summarizes recent additions to the Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization (LPDD) website, which houses actual and model laws addressing the causes of climate change in the United States.

The Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization Model Law Project (LPDD-MLP) is a pro bono effort to draft model laws for use by legislators at the federal, state and local levels to support their efforts to achieve deep reductions in fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. The project is based on recommendations from the groundbreaking book Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States (Michael Gerrard and John C. Dernbach, eds., 2019). The work is supported by Columbia University's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Widener University Commonwealth Law School’s Environmental Law and Sustainability Center. Dozens of law firms and individual lawyers are contributing to this pro-bono effort as drafters, peer reviewers or in reaching out to policymakers.

Our website, modelclimatelaws.org, contains over 75 model laws that are a starting place for discussion and collaboration among elected officials, non-profit groups, and the private sector for enabling the U.S. to address climate change by reducing U.S. GHG emissions to zero by 2050 or earlier. The site includes several Top 10 lists for some of the key categories, like electric vehicles, PUC’s, buildings and other topics as a short-hand introduction. In addition, the site references hundreds of other actions that states and other governmental bodies have taken to move towards decarbonization more rapidly. By providing policymakers the tools to achieve deep decarbonization, the Project will help achieve a restructuring of the energy economy, thus alleviating the worst effects of climate change, which are disproportionately suffered by marginalized communities, while providing such positive benefits as economic security, social equity, and environmental justice (EJ).

Please contact us to talk about getting involved in drafting and peer reviewing legislation, to provide suggestions and feedback on the drafts and to talk about how we can help you support your climate change efforts.