Thank you for joining us at Covington during New York Climate Week. We were delighted to welcome more than 625 attendees to our New York office for 20 events and meetings, convening leaders from government, business, civil society, and the legal and policy communities. The breadth of the week was
Continue Reading New York Climate Week 2026 – Closing ReflectionsOn September 21, 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of seven data center-focused bills into law that introduce new energy and water use reporting requirements, modify environmental review requirements, and direct regulators to address electricity infrastructure, interconnection, and cost allocation for certain data centers. The California legislation comes
Continue Reading California’s New Data Center Package Highlights Growing State Focus on Energy, Water, and Environmental ImpactsOn March 23, 2026, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) held a public, “pre-rulemaking” workshop to introduce regulatory approaches for reporting greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions under the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (“SB 253”). SB 253 requires U.S.-based entities with more than $1 billion in annual revenue doing business in
Continue Reading Key Takeaways from the California Air Resources Board’s Public Workshop on the California Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting ProgramCalifornia regulators tasked with implementing and enforcing the state’s two landmark climate disclosure laws released draft regulatory text on December 9, 2025, providing additional insight on key issues, including initial deadlines for reporting greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and details on how regulators will determine annual fees. The release of the
Continue Reading California Climate Disclosure Laws: CARB Draft Regulations Clarify Fees, Deadlines, and ApplicabilityOn October 20, 2025, a coalition of nineteen leading companies in the energy, finance, and logistics sectors, launched the Carbon Measures Coalition, proposing a significant departure from established carbon accounting frameworks. The Coalition represents a prominent industry-led effort to move away from traditional inventory-based emission calculation methods toward a
Continue Reading Carbon Measures Coalition Signals Growing Momentum for Ledger-Based Carbon AccountingIn late October, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (“GHG Protocol”) proposed updated Scope 2 guidance for companies quantifying and reporting their greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. If finalized as proposed, the guidance would have significant impacts on how companies plan their renewable energy investments and measure progress toward their climate goals. The
Continue Reading The Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Proposed Scope 2 Guidance: Key Changes and Considerations for StakeholdersWhile the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is proposing to amend the federal Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (“GHGRP”) to remove reporting requirements for nearly all sources, it remains important for companies to track developments and manage their compliance obligations with existing and emerging state GHG reporting programs. Several states, such as
Continue Reading State Greenhouse Gas Reporting Programs: New York’s Proposed Mandatory Reporting Program and California’s Existing ProgramOn May 29, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) held a virtual public workshop to discuss forthcoming regulations to implement SB 253 and SB 261, landmark California laws that require many corporate entities to disclose their greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and climate-related financial risk. CARB affirmed the existing statutory deadlines
Continue Reading Key Takeaways From California Air Resources Board’s Public Workshop on Implementing California Climate Disclosure Laws SB 253 and SB 261The exploding demand for energy to power hyperscaler data centers is leading to consideration of co-locating new generation (nuclear or otherwise) and data centers. As we explained in Part 1 of this blog, co-location is attractive to hyperscalers because of its potential to provide those data centers with contractually
Continue Reading Will the Trump Administration Clear a Path through the FERC Regulatory Thicket for the Co-Location of Data Centers with Nuclear Generation? (Part 2 of 2)During his first week in office, President Trump issued Executive Orders on Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence, Declaring a National Energy Emergency, and Unleashing American Energy. On February 14, he issued another Executive Order, Establishing the National Energy Dominance Council. He has also
Continue Reading Will the Trump Administration Clear a Path through the Nuclear Regulatory Thicket for the Co-Location of Data Centers with Nuclear Generation? (Part 1 of 2)