Tag Archives: Articles

A New Set of Principles for the Nuclear Power Industry

Written by Gare A. Smith, reposted with kind permission from www.csrandthelaw.com.
Corporate social responsibility and nuclear power? Indeed. In September, the very first code of conduct for the nuclear power plant industry was launched.
The development of the “Principles of Conduct” was facilitated by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Representatives of all of the major exporters of nuclear power plants participated in the drafting process, which was initiated in 2008. I had the honor of being selected by the Carnegie Endowment to help facilitate the negotiations.

Rube Goldberg Had Nothing on EPA: The Agency Releases Its Interim Guidance on Considering Environmental Justice During the Development of an Action

EPA has just released its Interim Guidance on Considering Environmental Justice During the Development of an Action. I can’t say I’m excited. The broad issue is probably too complex for a blog post, but the simple version is as follows:

  1. Congress passes environmental protection laws for EPA to implement.
  2. Those statutes generally provide for EPA to set standards with something like “an adequate margin of safety.”
  3. EPA does its job.…
  4. More

House Energy & Climate Bill: The Renewable Electricity Standard

Congress moved one step closer to adopting a federal renewable electricity standard ("RES") with the narrow passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act by the House.  Twenty-nine states already have adopted some form of renewable energy portfolio standard, but a federal RES is widely thought to be important for creating a national renewable energy and energy efficiency market.  The House RES establishes a national compliance obligation overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) under which large retail electricity suppliers (“Suppliers”) are required to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency.… More