Known dangers of climate change include a dramatic worldwide reduction in clean drinkable water, rising sea levels, wide-scale habitat destruction, species extinction, drought, and world-wide famine.
While these changes may be some years in the future, aggressive measures are needed now to address the rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere before it is too late.
The body of law that falls into the category of “climate change” is rapidly developing as new approaches to the climate change problem are developed at both state and federal levels.
In the near future, climate change law is likely to include emission cap-and-trade systems for large-scale polluters and a variety of legal, tax, and financial incentives for the development of
renewable energy generation facilities and energy efficiency projects.
Lawyers at the Law Offices of Stephan C. Volker believe that climate change is the most critical environmental challenge of today. We raise and address climate change issues in every appropriate case, always searching for new and creative methods of curbing greenhouse gases through the current regulatory system. In addition, we participate in regulatory proceedings, helping to shape the future of climate change law as state and federal
agencies create legal mechanisms to address the climate crisis. In 2007, we participated as amicus curiae in the landmark case of Massachusetts v. EPA (549 U.S. 497 (2007)) wherein the U.S. Supreme Court determined that carbon dioxide can be considered a pollutant and therefore may be regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act.
For more information on climate change, please visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s climate change website here, or visit the California Environmental Protection Agency’s website, here.