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D.C. Firms Warming Up to Climate Law

Posted on: Monday, 3 December 2007, 12:00 CST

Global warming is becoming good for the business of Washington's law firms.

This week, one firm announced that it has formed a "global climate change practice" to represent organizations affected by the government's effort to stop warming of the planet.

"From the legislative process to administrative regulations to business transaction, we will help clients manage risks and seize opportunities around climate change," said Ken Mehlman, a partner in the firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld.

The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded this year that greenhouse gas emissions could raise world temperatures to levels that threaten catastrophic environmental damage.

The response in the United States and elsewhere is leading to tougher environmental regulations and liabilities for businesses.

Insurance companies, for example, have raised Gulf Coast property insurance rates in the past two years, using the reasoning that higher temperatures make hurricanes more severe and claims against insurers more costly.

Sheila Hollis, a delegate to the American Bar Association's environment, energy and natural resources section, said law firms can focus better on clients affected by global warming if they have climate change practices.

"Pulling out global climate change as a separate subject is something that enhances the practice," Miss Hollis said. "Power plants, transportation, aviation, all of them have a component tied to global climate change."

Last month, the state of Washington's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council refused to allow a consortium of utilities to open a coal-fired power plant. The council said the Energy Northwest consortium first must implement a "greenhouse gas reduction program."

Automakers and dealers are awaiting a decision by a California court on their challenge to a state law that sets emissions standards for new cars.

The state standards are stricter than under federal law and would be difficult for automakers to meet. Their lawsuit says the federal Clean Air Act and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act pre-empt any state regulations.

A federal court in San Francisco last month overturned automobile fuel economy standards from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The court said the agency failed to properly measure costs and benefits for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions when it set environmental standards. The lawsuit was filed by the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity.

Congress is closing in on new emissions standards that could mean drastic changes for automakers. On June 22, the Senate approved an increase in fuel efficiency for new vehicles of at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The House is considering similar legislation. "It's not whether there will be regulation; it's when and what it will look like," said Tom Richichi, partner in the climate change practice of Washington law firm Beveridge & Diamond.

Courts are taking a larger role in global warming since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled April 2 that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as pollutants, he said.

The lawsuit was filed by twelve 12 states and several cities that accused the EPA of being lax in protecting the environment from global warming.

The Supreme Court said the EPA abused its discretion under the Clean Air Act by failing to stop emissions of greenhouse gases. In addition, California last year passed a law that requires environmental regulators to reduce the state's global warming emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. It would be done through a cap on industry emissions.

"California has always been sort of a bellwether with what's happening in environmental issues," Mr. Richichi said. "All these things coming together have created sort of a critical mass."

Source: By Tom Ramstack, The Washington Times

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