Alston & Bird LLP

California Legislature Considers Bills Incorporating Green Chemistry Principles
Ward L. Benshoof, Megan K. Hey, Catherine Mitchell Wieman, C. Max Zygmont, October 7, 2008
California's legislature is on the verge of enacting two bills - Assembly Bill 1879 and Senate Bill 509 - that would, for the first time, incorporate principles of Green Chemistry into California's regulatory framework.

Details Emerging on How the Western Climate Initiative Will Make the Canadian and U.S. Economies Carbon-Constrained
Kipp A. Coddington, C. Max Zygmont, October 7, 2008
On September 23rd, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), a consortium of seven western states and four Canadian provinces, released a document detailing the manner in which the economies of those jurisdictions, representing 20 percent of the U.S. economy and 70 percent of the Canadian economy, will...

Eleventh Circuit Eliminates "Heightened" Standard of Review for Benefit Claim Decisions
October 7, 2008
The Eleventh Circuit has held that the "heightened" arbitrary and capricious standard of review previously used by the court in cases where a conflicted plan administrator decided a claim for benefits - and its accompanying burden-shifting analysis - does not survive the Supreme Court's...