Energy Sector Law and Policy
This tab includes laws and policies for avoiding or reducing climate change impacts in the energy sector, including best practices and legal and policy analysis.
Resources are automatically presented by rating, but can be sorted by date or title. Apply additional filters to narrow the list by resource type, impact, jurisdictional focus, state, or region.
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May 4, 2023
Washington House Bill 1176, passed May 4, 2023, creates the Washington Climate Corps Network. In recognizing that climate change presents adaptation and resilience difficulties to Washington, HB 1176 looks to mobilize young adults and “create a clean energy economy. ” The Washington Climate Corps Network will emphasize “equity-centered, climate-related service programs. ” There is an additional emphasis on recruiting volunteers from “overburdened and underserved communities” to serve as volunteers.
Related Organizations: Serve Washington
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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September 23, 2021
On September 23, 2021, California signed a $15-billion climate-investment package that includes 24 bills dedicated to tackling the climate crisis and protecting frontline communities in California. The bills address clean energy, wildfires, droughts, community climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, extreme heat, and sea-level rise, among other topics. As Governor Gavin Newsom explained, the bills aim to address “the climate crisis head-on while protecting the hardest-hit communities” in California.
Related Organizations: State of California
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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June 26, 2021
On April 23, 2021, the Oregon legislature passed a comprehensive wildfire planning and mitigation bill. The bill involves multiple state agencies and calls for a wide range of action to address wildfire in the state, including planning for wildfire, land use and development methods for mitigating wildfire, health programs, and landscape resiliency programs.
Related Organizations: State of Oregon
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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April 10, 2021
On April 10, 2021, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo signed the Rhode Island 2021 Act on Climate into law, amending the Resilient Rhode Island Act of 2014 by making mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets more enforceable, adding a goal of net-zero by 2050, and requiring actions to promote equity and environmental justice. The new law requires the state Climate Council — established by the 2014 bill — to develop and periodically update a plan to reach these goals. New language also requires the state Council’s plan to include an equitable transition, and address environmental injustices.
Related Organizations: State of Rhode Island
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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June 2012
Retrofit Chicago: Retrofit Chicago is a cross-sector effort led by the Mayor’s Office to drive energy efficiency in municipal, commercial, and residential buildings across the city, which works to save money, reduce carbon emissions, and create jobs. The Residential Partnership unites non-profit groups and utility companies to better connect residents to energy retrofit contractors, free energy upgrades, and equipment rebates. Other customer benefits include free energy assessments with free energy-saving products and installation; rebates for energy-efficient appliances and other products; financing tools such as income qualifying grants for bungalow & vintage homeowners; energy savers loans; and on-bill financing and connection to qualified contractors.
Related Organizations: City of Chicago, Illinois
Resource Category: Monitoring and Reporting
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December 23, 2020
In December 2020, the Mayor of Honolulu signed Ordinance 20-47 (Ordinance), which formally codifies the responsibilities of the previously-established City of Honolulu Office of Resilience (Resilience Office), which include coordinating a coastal and water program, a climate resilience and equity program, and a food sustainability program. The Ordinance is meant to address climate change concerns by building on previous ordinances, and implements a ‘one water’ policy for the city.
Related Organizations: City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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December 2020
The Wisconsin Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change, established in 2019, included a broad array of stakeholders and conferred with people from across the state to identify, examine, and include strategies to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience to climate change impacts. The task force issued its report in December 2020, which identifies 55 strategies across 9 sectors: Climate justice and equity; Energy; Transportation; Agriculture; Resilient Systems; Clean economy; Education; Food systems; and Forestry.
Related Organizations: Wisconsin Governor's Task Force on Climate Change
Resource Category: Planning
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September 2020
In September 2020, the Connecticut legislature passed the Microgrid and Resilience Grant and Loan Pilot Program (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-243y). The act expands the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s authority to fund resilience projects, in addition to microgrids. The act supports the creation of climate change resilience projects in Connecticut.
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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September 2020
FEMA’s Guides to Expanding Mitigation are part of a series designed to highlight how emerging partnerships connecting communities to public and private actors in key sectors can support more effective hazard mitigation projects and planning. The guides cover a range of sectors and topics, including equity, transportation, electric power, municipal financing, public health, agriculture, and arts and culture. This project supports FEMA’s goal of building a culture of preparedness as part of the agency’s strategic plan.
Related Organizations: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Resource Category: Planning
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September 2020
Developed by the Center for American Progress, the report Building a Just Climate Future for North Carolina (report) provides state leadership in North Carolina with strategies to address the pressing public health and safety threats that stem from climate change. The authors recommend six actions for policymakers to take that -- alongside actions laid out in the state’s executive order (EO) 80 and EO 143, the state’s Clean Energy Plan, and Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan -- they argue will help the state address climate change while advancing conomic, racial, and environmental justice.
Related Organizations: Center for American Progress
Authors or Affiliated Users: Cathleen Kelly, Rita Cliffton
Resource Category: Solutions
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