IN RECENT YEARS, HOW HAS THE LAW CHANGED
IN YOUR PRACTICE AREA? AS TOLD TO ADRIENNE SCHOFHAUSER
In environmental law, the
most recent developments
are in climate change, and
the new federal, state and
international laws to address
that threat.
Climate change is the first pollution
event of its kind with such widespread
ramifications—with mounting evidence
pointing to increasingly unstable weather,
rising sea levels and changes in shorelines,
and an adverse effect on agriculture and
wildlife. In addition to environmental
protection, these changes require the
reallocation of costs and losses. In an
average year, for example, about 90
percent of insured catastrophic losses
worldwide are related to weather.
The most interesting area to practice is
where the law attempts to address an old
problem in a new way. California is leading
efforts with its new Global Warming
Solutions Act that requires the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent
by 2020. That’s the equivalent of taking
28 million cars off of the road. By 2020,
33 percent of all energy has to be from a
renewable source: solar, wind. California
has also just issued new regulations to
create the first statewide cap-and-trade
program for major sources of greenhouse
gases, taking a major step toward putting
a price on carbon. We also expect litigation
in these areas.
PETER HSIAO / MORRISON FOERSTER,
ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION, LOS ANGELES
HAVE AN IDEA FOR AN
EDITORIAL FEATURE?
Email it to Erik Lundegaard at
erik.lundegaard@thomsonreuters.com
