WEBVTT - Future of Environmental Legislation in Limbo (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>We're talking about the biggest legal developments of One of

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<v Speaker 1>Justice Scalia's final official acts before he died was to

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<v Speaker 1>cast what would prove to be an important environmental law vote.

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<v Speaker 1>He joined a five justice majority to put on hold

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<v Speaker 1>President Obama's Clean Power Plan, which would curb emissions from

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<v Speaker 1>power plants. That order, it turns out, may have marked

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<v Speaker 1>the plans final day. The Clean Power Plan is just

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<v Speaker 1>one of the many Obama environmental initiatives now in jeopardy

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<v Speaker 1>with the election of Donald Trump. With me to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about the year in environmental law is Charles Warren, who

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<v Speaker 1>chairs the environmental practice at Cramer Levin in New York. Chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>thanks for joining us. Is the Clean Power Plan now

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<v Speaker 1>dead with Donald Trump's election? Not necessarily, because you know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's before the Court of Appeals for the District of

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<v Speaker 1>Columbia Circuit and if they upholded, which they could do,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, before the inauguration, Uh, then it would be

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<v Speaker 1>up to the new administration to try and change it.

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<v Speaker 1>And to change they have to go through a whole

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<v Speaker 1>regulation process. And it's not that easy to change regulations

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<v Speaker 1>because they have to come up with a basis for

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<v Speaker 1>making a change. And if they and go through the

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<v Speaker 1>whole process, get comments, and then they're subject to the lawsuits.

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<v Speaker 1>And it showed during the Bush years when they tried

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<v Speaker 1>to make some changes, they were often styme eaten by

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<v Speaker 1>the courts. In the end, whether or not it it

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<v Speaker 1>is uh still alive. Um has it accomplished some of

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<v Speaker 1>its goals just by by the specter of it being

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<v Speaker 1>out there and and you have power company has gone

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<v Speaker 1>ahead and made the sorts of changes that the president

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<v Speaker 1>was hoping for. Yes, I think that's a good point.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it has accomplished a lot of what it

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<v Speaker 1>was trying to do because power companies are now starting

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<v Speaker 1>to make those kinds of changes or have put them

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<v Speaker 1>initiated them. Um, these things take a while, but a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of the companies saw the handwriting on the wall,

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<v Speaker 1>and they even started before the Clean Power Plan was

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<v Speaker 1>put into effect to try to move away from coal

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<v Speaker 1>and go to natural gas. I think when you see

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<v Speaker 1>utilities like a E P, which is the biggest user

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<v Speaker 1>of coal how or was the biggest user of coal

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<v Speaker 1>of all utilities, start to convert plants to natural gas,

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<v Speaker 1>you know that there's a wholesale movement away from coal.

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<v Speaker 1>Regardless of what happens to this regulation. In the end,

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<v Speaker 1>there are a lot of other Obama environmental initiatives out there,

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<v Speaker 1>some of them in the courts. Which of those d

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<v Speaker 1>c as being in the greatest danger at this point? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>besides the Clean Power Plan, I mean, I think there

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<v Speaker 1>are other there. There are some things like even though

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<v Speaker 1>it's our Kane, what the Obama administration has been trying

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<v Speaker 1>to do about under the Clean Water Act defining waters

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<v Speaker 1>in the United States, which is something that's been a

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<v Speaker 1>very controversial thing, and it's how broad the reach of

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<v Speaker 1>the government is in terms of regulating wet lands. And

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<v Speaker 1>I think that that's something that could change under the

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<v Speaker 1>Trump administration. It's has been a very controversial regulation. I

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<v Speaker 1>think that's something could change. There's some other regulations, air

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<v Speaker 1>regulations that are out there also. I mean, you have

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<v Speaker 1>you have the mercury rule. Is that is that the

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<v Speaker 1>mercury rule, And I mean that's already you know, that's

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<v Speaker 1>one thing that's UH. I think also going a long

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<v Speaker 1>way to having utilities change their UH practices already, but

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<v Speaker 1>that's something that they could try to change. Also. I

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<v Speaker 1>see that I see that as another thing that might

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<v Speaker 1>be UH there And and then, you know, I think

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<v Speaker 1>just in general, I think there'll be a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>reduction of the funding for the Environmental Protection Agency e

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<v Speaker 1>p A and to try and sort of stop them

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<v Speaker 1>from doing enforcement and writing new regulations and those kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of things. So I think that's where you'll see a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of effort devoted by the new administration and the

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<v Speaker 1>new administrator, Scott Pruitt, who was pretty hostile to e

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<v Speaker 1>p A. Chuck, we only have about thirty seconds left,

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<v Speaker 1>but I did want to ask you about the Paris

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<v Speaker 1>Climate Accord. Where do things stand on that, what's happened

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<v Speaker 1>over the past twelve months. Yeah, I think the Paris

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<v Speaker 1>Climate Agreement is, you know, really a landmark agreement. They

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<v Speaker 1>had a d signatories around the world and so far

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<v Speaker 1>it's been ratified by a hundred and twenty parties, and

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's a signature accomplishment. Uh. And while while

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<v Speaker 1>they are still goals in essence and countries have to

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<v Speaker 1>follow through on them, and I think again that's something

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<v Speaker 1>that you may see a slackening in this administration in

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<v Speaker 1>following through on the US commitments. But I think the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that you have so many countries around the world

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<v Speaker 1>that are committed to do it and major players around

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<v Speaker 1>the world. I think it's going to still have momentum. Chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>We're gonna have to leave it there. Thank you so much,

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<v Speaker 1>Chuck Warmer Warren of of Cramer Levin. Coming up, we

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<v Speaker 1>talk election law. This is Bloomberg