Articles

04.23.12

Private Funding of Energy Efficiency Retrofits

Although government, environmentalists and fiscal hawks rarely agree on environmental issues, a new public-private partnership to finance U.S. energy efficiency retrofits (the “Retrofit Program”) is attracting broad public support. The Retrofit Program is being funded by a private ...


04.23.12

The NAD Sets Precedent for Others in Media, Marketing

In the midst of the current debate regarding behavioral advertising and the industry's strong desire for a self-regulatory approach, it is useful to look at the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus as a model for successful self-regulation.


04.23.12

The Struggle to Preserve Coal: Clean Coal, the EPA's Final Rules Related to Carbon Capture and ...

March 7, 2011—In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama stressed the importance of clean energy, and noted that, “[s]ome folks want wind and solar. Others want nuclear, clean coal and natural gas. To meet this goal, we will need them all . . . .” The term ...


04.23.12

What Is Really Causing Renewable Project Failures in California?

It is clear that the development of renewable and clean energy projects in California and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has been successful, but has also been impeded by a variety of causes. With the required percentage of renewable resources being increased to 33% in the future, a ...


04.23.12

A Tale of 2 Meats

In two different cases companies have been accused of making false statements about their meat products.A class action was filed in a Florida federal court against Kraft Foods Inc. and Hormel Foods Corp., in which the plaintiffs allege that the fat-free-percentage claims on deli meat products are ...


04.23.12

Milestones Mark ARRA, HITECH First Quarter

The first quarter of 2011 brought a couple of notable milestones in the federal government's implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- the arrival of a new national coordinator for health IT and an invitation to the public to help define the country's health IT ...


04.23.12

Let's Not Spoil Green Chemistry with Too Much of a Good Thing

Over the past few years a significant movement has been under way to institute green chemistry laws that would fundamentally change how chemicals are regulated and how the products that contain them are ultimately formulated. With its touted benefits, including safer products, the reduction of ...


04.23.12

Murphy's Law and Renewable Energy Projects: If It Can Go Wrong, It Probably Will

This spring California officially increased its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) mandate from 20 percent to 33 percent by 2020. This new goal places California among the most aggressive of the 36 states that have established some kind of renewable energy mandate. Renewable project developers ...


04.23.12

Incentive-Based Compensation: FDIC Proposal Will Lock Up Payouts

With considerable fanfare, the FDIC passed and then quickly announced its proposed rules implementing Section 936 of the Dodd-Frank legislation – even before the other regulatory agencies could put their own imprimatur on the jointly developed proposal.The proposal takes some interesting ...


04.23.12

AB 32's Carbon Market Rounding Into Shape

Seems like only yesterday that those following AB 32 were anticipating the release of the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB’s) initial view of the AB 32 Cap and Trade program. That initial version, known as the Preliminary Draft Regulation (PDR), was made public in the fall of ...