In the News

New York state is home to a nation-leading climate change law. But it is also home to long-standing legal frameworks that enable — and in some cases, encourage — the consumption of fossil fuels. Leaving these legacy frameworks in place could undermine New York's ability to implement its new climate law, and accomplish a safe and just managed transition away from fossil fuels. Other states should take note.

The field for EPA administrator was opened to a half-dozen new contenders, including former EPA officials Michael Regan of North Carolina and Heather McTeer Toney of Mississippi and clean-air legal expert Richard Revesz.

In a December 14 amicus brief submitted in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit case, State of California, et al., v Andrew Wheeler, IPI says EPA’s failure to account for the “environmental cost” of foregone emissions reductions for methane and volatile organic compounds results in a deeply flawed cost-benefit analysis supporting its September 14 rule.

In a move that could blaze a trail to meaningful climate action nationwide, New York’s Public Service Commission, which is responsible for regulating that state’s utilities, is calling on them to disclose the financial risks they face due to climate change. Requiring utilities to develop and present this information would be a potent way to push a critically important sector of the economy to reveal and respond to the consequences of climate change — and to save consumers money along the way.

In the past week, transition team leaders asked for a list of additional candidates for Environmental Protection Agency administrator—potentially one of Mr. Biden’s most important and contentious nominations. The list includes Richard Revesz, a law professor at New York University.

Policy analysts are urging President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration to use existing authority to expand the nation's electric grid and to consider boosting the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A study out of Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy and New York University's Institute for Policy Integrity focused on the need for more long-distance transmission capacity to ship carbon-free solar and wind power across the country.

At EPA, new names have been circulating in the last week. Michael Regan, the head of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, and Richard Revesz, a professor and former dean at New York University School of Law, are reportedly under consideration to lead the agency.

Transition advisers have decided to widen the pool of potential picks, according to people familiar with the matter. Contenders for the EPA post include North Carolina regulator Michael Regan, New York University’s Richard Revesz and National Wildlife Federation president Collin O’Mara.

Recent events have set off a new scramble to find a new candidate to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Possibilities now include Richard L. Revesz, a law professor and former dean of the New York University School of Law; Michael S. Regan, who currently serves as head of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality; and Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles. One member of the Biden transition staff said that a final E.P.A. choice might not come until after Christmas.

EPA last week pushed out a major rule on environmental analysis in the twilight of President Trump's term, a move that could bolster legal challenges to climate rules ushered in by the incoming Biden administration. "It seems like it's designed to set up legal challenges to EPA rules, filed by industry, that argue if one looks only to the targeted benefits ... that the statutory provision at issue contemplates, the rule is not justified," said Jack Lienke, regulatory policy director at New York University's Institute for Policy Integrity. Biden may want to get this "potential land mine" out of the way before finalizing lengthier rulemaking on emissions, said Lienke.