Climate Change & Sustainability Practice

The attorneys at Downey Brand have vast experience in addressing the entire spectrum of legal issues that arise around climate change and sustainable energy. We work on water and air quality, corporate finance and transactions, litigation, land use, real estate, administrative issues and agriculture. To deal with climate change and sustainability issues, we often need to work on multiple legal problems at the same time.

We routinely work on the following issues:

• Finding capital for renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses.
• Handling climate change business planning and SEC disclosures.
• Obtaining permits and entitlements for renewable energy projects.
• Creating innovative, cost effective and real carbon mitigation strategies and offsets.
• Conducting due diligence evaluations of low carbon and zero carbon facilities to support acquisitions and financing.
• Identifying tax and business opportunities in new energy markets.
• Addressing carbon capture and sequestration.
• Dealing with cap and trade and carbon offsets.
• Complying with California and federal greenhouse gas rules, including AB32.
• Negotiating construction contracts for LEED certified buildings.

We understand the industries and activities that are affected by the still-developing laws and regulations relating to climate change and sustainable energy.

We represent water districts and other state and municipal entities, established private and public companies, investors, lenders, developers, landowners, not-for-profit entities, and emerging companies backed by venture capital or other private equity.

Our clients include:

• Water districts
• Public utilities
• Developers
• Geothermal developers
• Wind farms
• Mining companies
• Farms
• Venture capital investors and companies
• Utility scale solar generators
• Petroleum distributors
  

Issues Leadership

Because sustainable energy issues often affect more than just the companies we represent, but affect our community at large, we get called upon by regional organizations to address the broader implications of the business of climate change/sustainability. Our attorneys are shaping the responses to issues surrounding climate change and sustainability at an international, regional and local level. For example, one of our attorneys was part of the 2009 Denmark international "Copenhagen Accord" talks, and another has been at the center of California's efforts to increase electricity from renewable resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We have been at the forefront of precedent-setting decisions, such as the California Energy Commission's decision on how to address greenhouse gas impacts from gas fired power plants in California. With fossil energy generation companies, we are involved with state commissions, public utilities, and non-governmental organizations on California's Greenhouse Gas Legislation.

Representative Experience

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