Sustainability, energy, and climate change are rapidly developing areas of law. There has been significant activity at the federal and regional levels to design and implement specific legal tools to address climate change and renewable energy concerns. The coming years will see increased attention to a broad range of climate and renewable energy issues at all levels of government. Almost all business sectors and industries will be affected including public entities, non-profit institutions, lenders, developers, investors, and landowners, and companies in the engineering and construction, chemical, industrial and manufacturing, transportation, and waste management industries.

We understand the impacts of these emerging initiatives to the business and regulatory environment and have broad experience in the fields of energy and sustainability. Using our breadth of experience and a multi-disciplinary approach, the lawyers from Rhoades McKee address clients’ needs with regard to:

• Renewable energy project development including structuring of agreements, public and private financing, taxation, permitting, land use, wind farm siting, zoning, and due diligence;
• Trading of carbon credits, offsets, and investments in new carbon markets;
• Compliance driven or voluntary greenhouse gas management issues including emissions regulation and carbon capture and storage;
• Compliance with climate-related disclosure requirements under federal security laws;
• Real estate and construction-related “Green building” and LEED certification issues, including design, leasing, marketing, insurance and risk management;

Most importantly, these emerging laws will create new business opportunities and additional regulatory risks. Our lawyers understand those opportunities and risks and can assist with identifying and analyzing them. As a member of the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum since 2002, Rhoades McKee is committed to working with businesses to develop new opportunities relating to alternate energy sources (solar, wind, biofuel and landfill methane) and sustainability. Carbon cap and trade regulations are expected to create new market opportunities utilizing credits generated through these regulations.

The Rhoades McKee Climate Change, Energy and Sustainability Practice Group offers clients the legal resources they need to meet the challenges of the emerging pervasive climate change and renewable energy regulatory scheme, to develop new business opportunities, and to make their business even more responsive to the changing world we live in.