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Victor Flatt

Coleman P. Burke Chair in Environmental Law and the Associate Director of the Burke Center for Environmental Law

Victor Flatt | June 24, 2009

Handing Primary Control of Offsets to USDA: What this Might Mean

Last night, House Energy and Commerce Chair Henry Waxman announced that he had agreed with Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson that the USDA could have jurisdiction over agricultural offsets in the massive American Clean Energy and Security Act, which the House may vote on this Friday. In agreeing to what had been one of the […]

Victor Flatt | June 23, 2009

The Roberts Court Gets Reckless with Administrative Law in Coeur Alaska: Problems Now, Problems Later

Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled in Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council that the United States EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers could interpret the Clean Water Act to exempt water pollution sources from pollution control requirements if the pollution was accompanied by fill material. This legal feat was accomplished because the […]

Victor Flatt | May 19, 2009

On Offsets, New Waxman-Markey Bill is a Mixed Bag

On Friday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released its anticipated Beta version of its comprehensive GHG and energy bill. Among other goals, the new discussion draft attempts to address concerns from moderate and conservative Democrats concerning the proposed cap and trade system and how it would work. The most notable change involves the free […]

Victor Flatt | April 27, 2009

Proposed Amendments to Waxman-Markey Could Diminish Integrity of Offset Provisions

Two weeks ago, Representatives Waxman and Markey put forth a 648-page legislative draft for dealing with climate change. That draft had proposals for the use of offsets, some good and some not so good (see my earlier post). Moderate and conservative Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee have now put forward suggested changes (as […]

Victor Flatt | April 2, 2009

Waxman-Markey: Carbon Offsets

On Tuesday, March 31, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) released a “discussion draft” of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 – a climate change bill that will serve as the starting point for long-delayed congressional action on the world’s most pressing environmental program. […]