On September 21st, 2020, the Canadian federal government accepted Ontario’s Emission Performance Standard (EPS) program as an alternative to the federal output-based pricing system (OBPS) that’s been in effect in the province since January 1st, 2019. Both programs are cap and trade-type emission pricing regimes designed to incentivize industrial polluters (e.g., pulp and paper facilities, base metal smelting facilities, etc.) to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Justice Ginsburg’s death has reduced the liberal-leaning (and pro-climate) justices on the nine-member court to a minority of three. If a third Trump nominee is approved by the Senate (and this remains an open question), a conservative majority of six justices will be capable of radically stripping back the administrative state’s regulatory power over matters such as greenhouse gas emissions, health care, and labour law.

As the court wrote in its decision, “[a] government or political party can, in the words of Ontario’s Minister of Energy, “stick it to” another tier of government or political party as a matter of free speech in an election campaign…But a government cannot legislate a requirement that private retailers post a Sticker designed to accomplish that task. The mandatory fuel pump Sticker is an unconstitutional attempt to do just that.”

On July 31st, Ireland’s Supreme Court held that the Irish government’s current climate plan failed to meet the requirements set out in the statutory Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act of 2015. The ruling will require the government to (a) revise its plan to realise greater near-term emission reductions, and (b) better specify how Ireland will achieve the Act’s long-term objective of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

BlackRock’s climate-related actions to date have been tepid, especially considering the firm’s stature.

Due to immense, and growing, political and legal opposition, those seeking to build pipelines are increasingly finding them more trouble than they’re worth.

On June 23, 2020, the US Department of Labor proposed regulations to prohibit private industry pension plans, governed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), from investing in ESG investment vehicles if doing so would prioritize non-financial objectives over purely financial ones (i.e., increasing returns for plan beneficiaries).

On June 30, 2020, British Columbia will become the first province in Canada to allow companies to incorporate as for-profit “benefit companies” with a commitment to conducting business in a responsible, sustainable manner and promoting one or more public benefits.

Will the Supreme Court of Canada uphold the constitutionality of the carbon tax? Or agree with the Alberta Court of Appeal and strike it down?

Today, I am happy to announce the launch of Green Economy Law Professional Corporation.