The renewable energy industry got a nice holiday present this year. On December 17, 2010, President Obama signed into law H.R. 4853, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the "Tax Relief Act"). Included among the panoply of tax cuts is a tax grant extension cheered by the renewable energy industry. Section 707 of the Tax Relief Act extends by one year the deadline for commencing construction of specified energy property, such as solar facilities, to be eligible to receive a grant of 30% of the cost of the property from the U.S. Treasury under Se...

It doesn't take much insight to conclude that today's granting by the Supreme Court of the petition for certiorari in Connecticut v. American Electric Power could be the start of a whole new era in climate change liability lawsuits. If the Supreme Court comes down on the side of the plaintiff States, it may become open season on utilities, coal and petrochemical companies, automobile manufacturers, and anyone else a litigation-minded plaintiff wishes to mulct in damages for carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. Potential defendants need to take steps now to identify their insurance cove...

Another year done, another time to look back and to look forward. In the climate change space, the increasing tempo of regulation was halted, but that does not mean that there were not significant events. We catalog a few with accompanying predictions of the future:Without a doubt the big legal action this year will be the United States Supreme Court's decision in Connecticut v. American Electric Power, where States and public interest organizations seek to vindicate their ability to sue on a "carbon dioxide as public nuisance" theory. One should expect the Ninth Circuit to hold off an any dec...