CleanLaw

Director of our Electricity Law Initiative Ari Peskoe spoke with Staff Attorney Hannah Oakes about electric transmission regulation and how it has disincentivized regional transmission build out. They discuss Ari’s work in recent FERC transmission proceedings, and how Congress, states, and utilities can help catalyze transmission development to enable the clean energy transition. Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Hannah-and-Ari-transcript.pdf Links they discuss include: The Electricity Law Initiative’s Comment on FERC’s proposed rule on long-term regional transmission planning responds to FERC’s proposal to reinstate rights of first refusal and discusses the benefits of retaining competitive transmission development. Comment is here https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Harvard-ELI-RM21-17-NOPR-Comment.pdf FERC rule is here https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filedownload?fileid=2fae9f65-2968-cdf2-94ba-804ef7300000 ELI's comments on FERC oversight of transmission rates proposes new oversight mechanisms, including an independent transmission monitor, designed to protect consumers from inefficient transmission investments. Link is here https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AD22-8-AriPeskoe-PreTechConStatement.pdf At around 30 minutes, Ari mistakenly says that Congress’ 2021 infrastructure law provides $5 billion for resilience and reliability investments. The law actually provides more than $10 billion for such investments.

Hannah Perls speaks with Professor Rebecca Bratspies at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and founding Director of the Center for Urban Environmental Reform, which works with community groups seeking to obtain full and meaningful participation in environmental decision-making. They discuss recent environmental justice legislation (EJ) in New York, and what these legislative wins mean for environmental regulation and overburdened communities in the state. Prof. Bratspies also speaks about the Center’s EJ comic book series and her work with Renewable Rikers, a campaign to transform the Rikers Island correctional facility into a renewable energy center. Center for Urban Reform and EJ comics are here https://www.law.cuny.edu/cuer/ Renewable Rikers is here https://www.renewablerikers.org/ Here is a transcript of this episode https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Hannah-and-R-Bratspies-transcript.pdf

Lowry Yankwich, a recent graduate of HLS, speaks with Roger Martella, GE's Chief Sustainability Officer. They discuss GE’s recent sustainability commitments and how the company is tackling its operational and downstream emissions across the aviation, public health, and power sectors. A note for our listeners – this episode was recorded before Congress passed of the Inflation Reduction Act. For a transcript of this episode click here https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CleanLaw-71-Roger-Martella-and-Lowry-Yankwich.pdf CleanLaw Production Team: Robin Just, Andy Dolph, Sara Levy, and Hannah Perls

Harvard Law Professor and EELP’s Founding Director Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, speaks with Greg Dotson, an associate professor at the University of Oregon School of Law and recent Democratic chief counsel to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Jody and Greg discuss the climate and clean energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act and the potential implications for clean energy development and addressing climate change. Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jody-and-Greg-Dotson-IRA_.pdf CleanLaw Production Team: Robin Just, Andy Dolph, Sara Levy, and Hannah Perls

EELP’s Founding Director Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, speaks with Jay Duffy, an attorney at Clean Air Task Force, and Kevin Poloncarz, a partner at the law firm Covington and Burling, about what the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA means for their clients and the potential implications for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector. For a transcript of this episode see here: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Jody-Jay-Kevin-WV-v-EPA-part-2_.pdf CleanLaw Production Team: Robin Just, Andy Dolph, and Sara Levy

Professor Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, Professor Richard Lazarus, and EELP Executive Director Carrie Jenks discuss the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA. They break down the majority decision, concurrence, and dissent, and discuss how the major questions doctrine could affect EPA regulations addressing greenhouse gases and other key regulatory priorities for the Biden administration. Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Jody-Richard-Carrie-WV-v-EPA-part-1_.pdf CleanLaw Production Team: Robin Just, Andy Dolph, and Sara Levy

Professors Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, and Professor Richard Lazarus discuss the Supreme Court case West Virginia v. EPA. The Court's decision in this case will address the scope of EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, potentially impacting future EPA rules. Transctipt: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Jody-and-Richard-WV-v-EPA-transcript_.pdf CleanLaw Production Team: Robin Just, Andy Dolph, and Sara Levy

EELP Legal Fellow Hannah Perls speaks with Joel Scata, a Water and Climate Attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where he works on clean water and climate change adaptation policy solutions. They discuss the ins and outs of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which, for the past fifty years, has helped define floodplain development by issuing federally-backed flood insurance policies to property owners and renters, and setting baseline building, land use and floodplain management criteria. However, many argue the program has failed, accumulating billions of dollars in debt and subsidizing risky development. In this episode, Joel and Hannah review the program’s history, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) latest reforms including Risk Rating 2.0, and what challenges remain if the NFIP is to help communities adapt to a climate changed world. Click here for a transcript of this episode https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Hannah-and-Joel-Scata-transcript.pdf For more information on this discussion you can see (links below) NRDC’s Climate Adaptation page, NRDC's & ASFPM's Petition for FEMA to update its NFIP Rules (Jan. 8, 2021), and NRDC’s Comments responding to FEMA’s Request for Information on the NFIP (Jan. 27, 2022). https://www.nrdc.org/issues/climate-adaptation https://www.nrdc.org/resources/nrdc-asfpm-petition https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/comments-nfip-floodplain-mgmt-standards-20220127.pdf To learn more about FEMA’s authority to integrate equity considerations into its programs, see EELP’s Report on Equitable Disaster Relief. https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/2021/10/equitable-disaster-relief/ CleanLaw Production Team: Robin Just, Andy Dolph, and Sara Levy

Our founding director Jody Freeman, who is also an independent director of ConocoPhillips, speaks with Chet France, who served as a senior executive at EPA and led the development of vehicle pollution standards at the agency, including overseeing, during the Obama administration, the first national greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks. They talk about the development of the clean car rules, the stalled progress under the Trump administration, and the Biden administration's renewal and strengthening of the original standards. With President Biden’s ambitious goals for electric vehicles, the major auto companies’ pledges to produce an all-electric fleet, Congress’s funding of charging infrastructure, and the new EPA standards, Jody and Chet discuss how we are at a potentially transformational moment in the history of the Clean Air Act, the auto industry, and climate change. Transcript: https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Jody-and-Chet-Transcript_.pdf CleanLaw Production Team: Robin Just, Andy Dolph, and Sara Levy

Lowry Yankwich, a recent graduate of Harvard Law, speaks with Doug Christel, policy analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. They discuss the approval of the South Fork Wind Project, which is only the second commercial-scale offshore wind project to be approved in federal waters. The project is small but has garnered outsized attention particularly due to its potential impacts on Cox Ledge, an important fish habitat area. The two discuss possible impacts on fisheries from the South Fork project specifically, and wind development generally, and explore ways in which developers and government agencies are attempting to address and mitigate concerns raised by fishers. They put the South Fork project into perspective and show how it represents a significant milestone in the story of offshore wind development in the U.S. Note: at 34 minutes Doug questions his recollection of the micro-siting diameter for turbines, whether it's 500 feet or meters. He later confirmed it's 500 feet. You can read more about the legal implications of this topic here https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/the-implications-of-boem-decision-on-the-south-fork-wind-farm/ A transcript of this episode is available here https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Doug-and-Lowry-transcript.pdf