On June 17, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published its proposed “Set 2” rule under the Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) program (the “Set 2 Rule”). The Set 2 Rule proposes renewable volume obligations...more
6/19/2025
/ Agribusiness ,
Biofuel ,
Charging Stations ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Renewable Energy ,
Renewable Fuel Standard ,
Secretary of Agriculture ,
Trump Administration
This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took the penultimate step to granting Texas the authority to directly issue Class VI permits under the Safe Drinking Water Act’s Underground Injection Control (UIC)...more
6/16/2025
/ Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Government Agencies ,
Oil & Gas ,
Permits ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
Texas
We have seen, a mere few months into President Trump’s second term, a remarkably transformational set of priorities across the federal government, which have had dramatic impacts on the private sector generally and public...more
6/10/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
Greenwashing ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
International Trade ,
Investors ,
Judicial Authority ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Tortious Interference ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
On May 1, 2025, the federal government brought separate suits against both New York and Vermont alleging that these state’s “climate Superfund” statutes are unconstitutional on multiple grounds. In two nearly identical...more
On April 11, 2025, the Marine Environment Protection Committee (“MEPC”) of the International Maritime Organization (“IMO”) announced the approval of a long-awaited framework to reduce greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions from the...more
On April 8, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach” (the “Executive Order”), which directs the United States Attorney General to identify and halt the...more
In a move that perhaps comes as no surprise, on March 27, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “the Commission”) issued Press Release 2025-58 announcing it had voted to end its defense of its climate-related...more
A series of recent actions undertaken by President Biden, near the end of his term, and President Trump, in the early days of his presidency, have called into question a key issue under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act...more
3/27/2025
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of the Interior ,
Energy Policy ,
Executive Orders ,
Offshore Drilling ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
The past few years have seen concerted efforts — both domestically and globally — advancing the reporting and disclosure of various climate- and sustainability-related metrics by businesses and investors. One of the most...more
3/25/2025
/ Compliance ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability
If past is prologue, while the second Trump administration is expected to take a number of actions that could lead to increased volatility with respect to renewable identification number (“RIN”) prices just as the first did,...more
On December 26, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Climate Change Superfund Act (“CCSA” or the “Act”) into law. The law requires certain fossil fuel producers and refiners with sufficient connections to New York...more
Despite the Biden administration’s public support for carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”), we saw neither faster CCS permit approvals from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) nor a significant push towards...more
In early March 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) finalized its climate-related disclosures rule (The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors) (the “Final Rule”)....more
On February 3, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a partial motion to dismiss filed by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”), dismissing the claims that SB 253 (the Climate...more
On December 26, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Climate Change Superfund Act (“CCSA” or the “Act”) into law. The law requires certain fossil fuel producers and refiners with sufficient connections to New York...more
1/20/2025
/ Carbon Emissions ,
CERCLA ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
New York ,
Oil & Gas ,
State Legislatures ,
Superfund
With Trump’s impending inauguration, significant shifts in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies domestically are expected, as is the overall cultural and corporate mood for ESG. Companies can anticipate a...more
1/16/2025
/ California ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
State Attorneys General ,
Sustainability
The first half of 2024 was eventful in the world of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”). Although ESG continued to lose the market tailwinds that have pushed it forward in recent years, regulatory pressures both...more
10/18/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Greenwashing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proxy Season ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Sustainability
On August 14, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) released a redacted copy of its opinion in Sinclair Wyoming Refining Co. LLC v. EPA, in which the D.C. Circuit...more
In a potentially significant development that may impact the economics of aviation, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) is proposing a policy, as we previewed in January 2024, to update the state’s Low Carbon Fuel...more
In a significant legal maneuver with potentially far-reaching implications, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an amended complaint on June 10, 2024, to California’s high-profile lawsuit targeting five of the world’s...more
After much anticipation, on March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) released its Final Rule—The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors—mandating...more
3/29/2024
/ Business Development Companies ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Issuers ,
Form S-8 ,
MD&A Statements ,
PSLRA ,
Regulation S-K ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
Following a nearly two-year wait, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) released its Final Rule—The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors—on March 6, 2024. The...more
3/18/2024
/ Administrative Stay ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
While 2022 showed that the sustainable debt market is not impervious to overall economic slow-down (particularly in the capital markets), 2023 demonstrated its resiliency, even in a high-interest rate market. Notwithstanding...more
3/15/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Debt Financing ,
Documentation ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Green Bonds ,
Green Finance ,
Green Loans ,
Interest Rates ,
Renewable Energy ,
Sustainability
Following a nearly two-year wait, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) released its Final Rule—The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors—on March 6, 2024. The...more
3/8/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulation S-K ,
Regulation S-X ,
Renewable Energy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
On December 28, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) granted Louisiana primary enforcement authority (“primacy”) under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act’s (“SDWA”) Underground Injection Control (“UIC”)...more