Recent Projects

In February, a coalition of public-interest organizations filed a petition for rulemaking requesting that the Montana Public Service Commission consider climate change in its regulation of electric and gas utilities. The Petition for Rulemaking calls on the Commission to consider the impacts of climate change in its proceedings using the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest estimates of the social cost of greenhouse gases. In support of the petition, we submitted comments offering a few helpful insights.

In December 2023, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority released the Draft Climate Act Disadvantaged Communities Investment and Benefits Reporting Guidance for public comment. The draft guidance proposed a methodology to be used by New York State agencies, authorities, and entities to account for and report the benefits of their clean energy and energy efficiency spending accrued in disadvantaged communities and across the state overall. This information will then be used to calculate the State’s compliance with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act’s requirement that a minimum of 35 percent, with a goal of 40 percent, of the benefits of clean energy and energy efficiency spending accrue to disadvantaged communities. In comments, we gave suggestions on how to improve the guidance.

In February, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a rule that would regulate overdraft lending by very large financial institutions. Overdraft fees amount to billions of dollars a year, and those costs are disproportionately borne by low-income households. The Proposed Rule would narrow regulatory exemptions that previously enabled banks extending overdraft credit to avoid complying with the regulatory requirements otherwise imposed on credit products. The Proposed Rule reflects a well-reasoned approach to correct market failures in the overdraft credit market, mitigating harms to consumers. We submitted comments suggesting how CFPB should improve its analysis. 

In January 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a regulation under the Clean Water Act that would impose new effluent limitations guidelines and standards for the meat and poultry products point source category. As EPA documents, the proposed standards would help improve health and water quality near these slaughterhouse facilities. It would also carry benefits stemming from better-protected habitats for a variety of wild animals. In our comment letter, we explain that, while the Proposed Rule and its accompanying regulatory impact analysis reasonably explain many of these benefits, EPA should take further steps to ensure the complete presentation of regulatory benefits and costs, along with their distribution, and to present its decisionmaking factors transparently.

In January, the White House announced a pause on LNG export approvals for the Department of Energy to update its underlying analyses for authorizations, which underpin its public interest determinations. In particular, the announcement notes that DOE’s economic and environmental analyses are outdated and calls for them to be updated. This letter offers recommendations for updating DOE’s analyses.