A group of 29 environmental organizations submitted a plan, entitled “Transition to Green,” to Barack Obama’s transition team in late November. The 391-page report highlights current environmental issues and recommends critical actions that will protect the environment while creating jobs and stimulating the economy.

Yesterday, Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) announced that he will take over as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment in the 111th Congress. Markey, who currently heads the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, will switch seats with Rep.

The Southwest Power Pool Inc. (“SPP”) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. (“ERCOT”) have each filed reports with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (“PUCT”) detailing the estimated costs and production cost savings of transferring Entergy Texas Inc. (“Entergy TX”) into each reliability region.

Only 13 days after EPA issued interpretive guidance stating carbon dioxide (CO2) is not currently a regulated pollutant, and on the same day that the guidance was published in the federal register, environmental groups asked EPA to change its mind. As reported previously, the EPA guidance was released in response to the In re: Deseret decision by the Environmental Appeals Board (“EAB”), which held that EPA had not previously determined whether air permits issued under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (“NSR”) program must contain conditions limiting CO2 emissions.

On December 23, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals finally answered the request for reconsideration of its decision to vacate the Clean Air Interstate Rule known as “CAIR.” As reported previously, CAIR is a cap-and-trade program designed by EPA to ensure that the emissions from power plants in one state do not interfere with efforts to attain the national air quality standards in another state. In the Court’s July decision, it found “more than several fatal flaws in the rule” and vacated it in its entirety, rendering the rule of no force or effect. In December, however, the Court reversed its decision to vacate the rule in order to “temporarily preserve the environmental values covered by CAIR” until EPA has time to revise the program.