Climate Change

Your Climate Change Lawyers. We’ll help you find your path.

 

Crafting Smart Solutions

 

Climate change creates significant compliance challenges and vast business opportunities. Sutherland has the experience and ingenuity to solve complex legal issues associated with climate change in ways that also optimize business potential. Our cross-disciplinary team is poised to help you find the right path for your business.

 

Sutherland understands the industries most affected by local, state, federal, and international climate change policies. We advise all aspects of business affected by climate change, including greenhouse gas emitters, real estate and construction firms, project developers, financial services providers and funds, natural resource companies, timberland owners and managers, green technology companies, and other entities that trade emissions allowances and offset credits.

 

Our clients include entities having mandatory compliance obligations and those that can benefit from an array of incentives that encourage voluntary emissions reductions, research and development for green technology, new energy infrastructure projects, and climate change capital projects.

 

Attorneys in our corporate, energy and environmental, financial services, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, timber and forest products, and tax practice groups work together to meet your specific climate change needs. We have advised clients on climate change matters including:  

  • Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) project development and other offset projects
  • LEED building certification
  • Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreements (ERPA) and other trading agreements
  • Early reduction actions
  • Mandatory and voluntary allowances and carbon credits, including Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) and EU ETS allowances
  • Carbon footprints
  • Carbon risk assessments and public disclosure
  • Corporate climate change and sustainability policies and strategies

Climate Change Experience

 

Our diverse climate change experience includes: 

  • Advised developers on biomass, energy and wind production CDM projects, including obtaining approvals, monitoring/reviewing expert and verifier reports and impact assessments, the pre-construction sale of CERs, and drafting/negotiating applicable agreements.
  • Prepared design-and-build contract documents for a government facility using LEED standards.
  • Structured transactions to secure income and excise tax credits for biomass, wind, solar, municipal solid waste, hydropower, refined coal, biofuels and other renewable and alternative energy projects.
  • Advised on federal and state transaction taxes, and customs duties and registrations applicable to importing, producing, transporting and selling biofuels and mixtures.
  • Worked with state and local officials on the review and approval of offshore energy facilities, including application of U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) rules and regulations for alternative energy development.
  • Represented a consortium on regulatory and permitting matters related to constructing a high-voltage transmission line for wind power generators in competitive renewable energy zones (CREZ).
  • Represented clients on the development of renewable facilities including wind, solar, and biofuel facilities, and interconnection and transmission queuing.
  • Negotiated power purchase, off-take and related scheduling services agreements for wind, biomass and renewable energy projects.
  • Advised clients on securing and trading renewable energy credits and emissions allowances, including RGGI allowances. 

Sutherland has the experience and ingenuity to solve complex legal issues associated with climate change. By staying abreast of the rapidly changing climate change landscape, we are poised to provide clients with timely and creative legal solutions that meet their business needs. The following information highlights some of our areas of focus:

 

Corporate  

  • Corporate formation and restructuring
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Corporate governance 

Energy and Renewables  

  • Pre-development discussions
  • Tax credits and incentives
  • Transmission, interconnection and metering
  • Power purchase agreements
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Business planning
  • Environmental regulation 

Financial Services  

  • Company compliance policies
  • Carbon reporting and disclosure requirements
  • Corporate risk assessment and management
  • Insurance coverage and litigation 

Government Relations  

  • Analysis of legislative and regulatory actions
  • Advocacy and legislative strategies
  • GHG and climate policy monitoring 

Intellectual Property  

  • Patent prosecution and licensing
  • IP for clean technologies (e.g., carbon capture and sequestration)
  • Copyright
  • Enforcement 

Litigation  

  • Environmental claims, including those under the Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and NEPA
  • Private actions
  • Enforcement 

Real Estate and Construction  

  • Tax incentives and grants
  • Project finance and low-interest loans
  • LEED Green Building Rating System and other green certifications
  • Land use
  • Carbon offsets
  • Surplus green energy sales and net metering

Tax

  • Renewable and alternative energy tax credits and other governmental incentives
  • Transaction structures that minimize taxation
  • Taxation of emissions trading allowances
  • IRS audits and tax litigation
  • Legislation and new laws that affect tax incentives, customs duties and preference programs 

Timber  

  • Biomass utilization and sales
  • Carbon sequestration and trading
  • Conservation easements
  • Financing
  • Forest management
  • Land use and real estate
  • Offset project evaluation and certification
  • Wetlands mitigation banks
  • Wind power projects

 

© 2012 Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP