New Washington State Carbon Emissions Rules Bring Complexity, Opportunity
1/30/2009

Stoel Rives of counsel Graham Noyes discussed in the Puget Sound Business Journal the significance of new Washington state greenhouse regulations slated to go into effect in 2009. The regulations include energy credits as part of a proposed cap and trade program intended to cut back the state's greenhouse gas emission to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Noyes said Washington businesses could have a built in advantage in this new regulatory regime, because the state has been a leader in alternative energy and green building. "If you look at Washington's energy portfolio, the state has a much higher proportion of renewable energy than the national average. In the next 10 years alternative energy in all its forms will be one of the fastest growing sectors in the national and international economy."

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"Environmental law firms in Washington state warm to climate change rules" was published by the Puget Sound Business Journal, January 30, 2009.