Green Building Law Update

Environmental Law and Sustainability for Business

Archives: Environmental

Wind Rights are now Blowin’ In The Wind

The first time any Texas court has held under Texas law that wind rights are severable from the land. … Continue Reading

The Power of Methane: Why Tackling Emissions Is Key to Curbing Climate Change

By Stuart Kaplow on July 9, 2023 Posted in Climate Change, Environmental, ESG, GHG

One pound of methane traps 25 times more heat in the atmosphere than a pound of carbon dioxide… Continue Reading

The Positive Side of Green Hushing: Averting Backlash and Enhancing Corporate Sustainability

By Stuart Kaplow on June 25, 2023 Posted in Environmental, ESG, greenwashing

Companies seeking to avert backlash through green hushing can ultimately contribute broadly to corporate sustainability if not repairing the planet.… Continue Reading

Courts Asked to Compel Government Action on Climate Change

By Stuart Kaplow on June 18, 2023 Posted in Climate Change, Environmental, Legal, State

The judicial branch will supplant the executive and legislative branches, in driving greenhouse gas and the larger global warming policy… Continue Reading

The Evolution of Environmental Offsets: From Indulgences to Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions

By Stuart Kaplow on June 11, 2023 Posted in Environmental, ESG, GHG, greenhouse gas

Environmental offsets have come a long way since the issuance of indulgences by the medieval church. … Continue Reading

Commercial PACE: Filing the Financing Gap for GHG Reductions in Commercial Building

By Stuart Kaplow on May 20, 2023 Posted in Environmental, ESG, GHG, Green Building

PACE is a game changing solution that empowers commercial building owners to invest in sustainability… Continue Reading

More Than 1,000 Shipments of Solar Panels Seized at the Border

By Stuart Kaplow on April 30, 2023 Posted in Environmental, ESG, Federal, Solar Panel, Uncategorized

Businesses Creating a Slave Free World… Continue Reading

Court Saves Gas Stoves from the Government

By Stuart Kaplow on April 23, 2023 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Environmental, ESG, GHG

This is a significant setback for state and local governments across the country seeking to ban natural gas, directly, indirectly, or otherwise.… Continue Reading

Executional Greenwashing is a Thing

By Stuart Kaplow on April 2, 2023 Posted in Environmental, ESG, Green Washing, greenwashing

Executional greenwashing is a neologism characterizing the way in which a business promotes or executes an environmental initiative, rather than the actual environmental impact of the initiative.… Continue Reading

Maryland is Leading the Transition to All Electric Buildings

By Stuart Kaplow on March 26, 2023 Posted in Climate Change, Energy, Environmental, ESG, greenhouse gas

There is a move toward all electric buildings as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. The state of Maryland is leading the way in this movement, including several local jurisdictions adopting all electric building code laws. All electric building codes require that new construction and major renovations be powered by … Continue Reading

Endangered Northern Long Eared Bat is a Victim of Biodiversity Degradation

By Stuart Kaplow on March 19, 2023 Posted in Environmental, ESG, Federal, Sustainability

Biodiversity degradation is an existential crisis playing out right now in front of our eyes.… Continue Reading

The Environmental Catastrophe that is PFAS will see Movement in 2023

By Stuart Kaplow on March 12, 2023 Posted in Environmental, ESG

In 2023 we will see important steps toward addressing the challenges posed by PFAS contamination.… Continue Reading

Biden Veto of Repudiation of ESG Worker Savings Rule a Positive for ESG

By Stuart Kaplow on March 5, 2023 Posted in Climate Change, Environmental, ESG, Federal

Congress voted to approve H.J. Res. 30 seeking to nullify the Department of Labor “ESG Rule” concerning fiduciary duties with respect to employee benefit plans.… Continue Reading

We Need to do Better to Reduce Food Waste

By Stuart Kaplow on February 26, 2023 Posted in Environmental, ESG, greenhouse gas

Upscale compost has become a status symbol with small coffee size bags selling for as much as $25 a bag… Continue Reading

Non Profits can Receive a Direct Payment for 30% of Their Solar Energy System Costs

By Stuart Kaplow on February 19, 2023 Posted in Energy, Environmental, ESG, Federal, Solar Panel

Non profits can now receive a direct payment from the Federal government for 30% of their total solar energy system installation costs… Continue Reading

Questions from our webinar “Does Your Lease Address New GHG Laws?”

By Stuart Kaplow on January 29, 2023 Posted in Climate Change, Environmental, GHG, greenhouse gas

Your lease must be amended to to take into account GHG emissions… Continue Reading

Does Your Lease Need Greenhouse Gas Provisions?

By Stuart Kaplow on January 22, 2023 Posted in Environmental, ESG, GHG, Green Building, greenhouse gas

The aim of this post, about how to repair the planet through leasing, is to set the stage for new ideas… Continue Reading

First State to Authorize Use of the 2021 IgCC

By Stuart Kaplow on January 8, 2023 Posted in Environmental, GHG, IgCC, Uncategorized

Maryland is on the cusp of being the first state in the country to authorize use of the new 2021 edition of the International Green Construction Code … Continue Reading

Reducing GHG Aiming for Net Zero will be the Environmental Issue of 2023

By Stuart Kaplow on January 1, 2023 Posted in Environmental, GHG, greenhouse gas

Decarbonizing of the economy to repair the planet and make your share of the trillions along the way… Continue Reading

EPA (Finally) Finalizes Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Rule

By Stuart Kaplow on December 19, 2022 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Environmental

On December 15, 2022, EPA took final action to amend the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule to reference ASTM International’s E1527-21 “Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process” and allow for its use to satisfy the requirements for conducting all appropriate inquiries under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, … Continue Reading

FTC Seeks Public Input on Update to Green Guides for Environmental Claims

By Stuart Kaplow on December 18, 2022 Posted in Environmental, Federal, greenwashing

The Federal Trade Commission announced last Wednesday that it is seeking public comment on updates and changes to the Green Guides for the Use of Environmental Claims. In an era when charges of greenwashing and green hushing are proliferating across social media while at the same time governments are mandating ESG including environmental disclosures by businesses, … Continue Reading

Green Hushing versus Confidentiality

By Stuart Kaplow on November 13, 2022 Posted in Environmental, ESG, greenwashing

There is a new answer to the philosophical question, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear, does it make a sound?” The answer has depended upon your definition of sound. If you define sound as our perceptions of vibrations that travel through air (vibrations from a falling tree), … Continue Reading

Net Zero Risks as a Source of Opportunity

By Stuart Kaplow on October 23, 2022 Posted in Energy, Environmental, ESG

Calculating net zero is ill defined, unregulated and complex. Businesses making a net zero pledge like, “we will be net zero by 2030” risk a charge that they are greenwashing and misleading consumers. It is one thing when government leaders make an ESG claim: In 2009 the King of Bhutan proclaimed his Himalayan country was … Continue Reading