A coalition of 60 investors, led by the AFSCME Employees Pension Plan and Walden Asset Management, recently announced that they have submitted shareholder proposals seeking additional disclosures regarding political spending and lobbying activities. This announcement reflects a continuing desire among these groups to obtain additional disclosures from public companies regarding lobbying and political spending, and
February 2014
Third Circuit Upholds FERC Order Approving PJM Tariff Targeting State Generation Capacity Subsidies
In the latest salvo in an ongoing controversy over state efforts to subsidize local generation capacity development, the Third Circuit in New Jersey Board of Public Utilities v. FERC upheld a final FERC order approving a PJM Interconnection tariff governing its wholesale capacity market. The court denied appeals by the New Jersey and Maryland utility…
Conflicting Signals on Finalizing the Proposed Treasury Regulations for 501(c)(4)s
Earlier today, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, in his first appearance before the House Appropriations subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Oversight, stated that final regulations governing political activity by 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations are unlikely to be completed before the November elections.
His statement seems to differ from the White House Statement of Administration…
Privacy Issues with Wearable Tech: All Things Considered
Kurt Wimmer, co-chair of Covington’s Global Privacy and Data Security Practice Group, sat down yesterday with NPR’s Robert Siegel to talk about the privacy implications of photography in the age of wearable technology. You can listen to the interview here.
Comparison of Five Data-Breach Bills Currently Pending in the Senate
Data security continues to be a hot issue on Capitol Hill, and just yesterday Attorney General Eric Holder urged Congress to create a “strong, national standard” for quickly reporting data breaches to consumers. Democratic and Republican senators have been busy drafting legislation that would establish national requirements for data security and breach notice. The following…
U.S. Supreme Court Explores the “Glorious Mess” — Can the Clean Air Act Provide a Comprehensive and Orderly Solution to Climate Change?
Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States again delved into the world of climate change and greenhouse gas regulation, hearing oral argument in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA. It is perhaps fitting that the Court’s consideration happened on the very same day that Congressman John Dingell announced that he would be retiring after…
White House Announces Three Workshops to Explore “Big Data”
The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (“OSTP”) is set to co-host a series of at least three public workshops to review “the implications of collecting, analyzing, and using” big data. The series continues the White House’s 2014 focus on privacy and big data, which began on January 17 with President Obama’s discussion…
Army Adds 20 Contractors to its $7 Billion MATOC Program
Earlier today, the U.S. Army’s Energy Initiatives Task Force announced that 20 new contractors have been awarded Multiple Award Task Order Contracts (“MATOCs”) for future renewable energy development projects at Department of Defense (“DoD”) installations. These contract awards by the Army Corps of Engineers are part of the Corps’ $7 billion “Renewable and Alternative Energy…
FCC Establishes Quality Standards for Closed Captioning
The FCC has adopted new rules regarding closed captioning quality for television programming. At its meeting yesterday, the Commission unanimously approved a Report & Order that will establish four “non-quantitative” quality standards for closed captioning, requiring captions to be (1) accurate, (2) synchronous, (3) complete, and (4) properly placed. The Report & Order will also…
Proposed Rules Requiring Carbon Capture at New Coal Power Plants Would Nearly Double Costs
Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) technologies, used for decades in industries that could produce revenue from the use of CO2 to offset the high costs, have more recently come to the forefront of clean energy policy as a way to reduce CO2 emissions from new and existing coal-fired power plants. In 2013, President…