Josh Bledsoe advises clients on complex infrastructure and development projects, particularly those decarbonizing the energy and industrial sectors.

Mr. Bledsoe draws on sophisticated industry knowledge to guide clients on all aspects of energy transition projects, including entitlement, environmental review, and financing. He helps clients navigate projects involving:

  • Carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS)
  • Hydrogen
  • Low-carbon fuels, such as renewable natural gas (RNG), renewable diesel, ethanol, and electricity for mobility
  • Federal laws driving or influencing the energy transition, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act
  • State climate change laws, including California’s catalytic statutes and regulations, such as the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and Cap-and-Trade Programs 

He devises sophisticated strategy for clients to monetize the low-carbon attributes of their products or services under various carbon pricing and regulatory regimes, both in the compliance and voluntary carbon markets.

Mr. Bledsoe also has experience in the permitting and development of projects across various economic sectors. He has obtained federal, state, and local approvals for such projects, crafting innovative solutions to environmental and resource problems. He also represents buyers, sellers, and lenders in matters involving environmental liabilities related to real estate and business transactions, complicated mergers and acquisitions, and access to capital markets.

A recognized leader within and outside the firm, Mr. Bledsoe co-steers Latham’s working groups on CCUS, hydrogen, and low-carbon fuels and serves on the Advisory Council for Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy.

Mr. Bledsoe’s experience includes advising:

  • Ares Management on acquiring Burnham RNG, a wastewater and agricultural waste to renewable natural gas project development company
  • Chevron USA on:
    • Its joint venture with Talos Energy and CarbonVert, to develop the Bayou Bend CCS offshore carbon capture and sequestration hub currently held by Talos and CarbonVert
    • Deploying and ongoing financing of a ground-breaking bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) project designed to produce carbon negative power in Mendota, California
  • A private equity-backed midstream infrastructure company on developing and financing a carbon capture project in Texas that will both geological sequester and utilize carbon dioxide to produce e-fuels
  • Summit Carbon Solutions on a CCS project that will lower the carbon intensity of dozens of ethanol production facilities
  • Divert on developing and financing three separate food waste-to-biogas production facilities in York, Pennsylvania; Longview, Washington; and Turlock, California; which will then be upgraded to RNG for direct injection into utility pipelines
  • Flame Acquisition Corp. on its business combination with Sable Offshore Corp
  • ExxonMobil on its CCS agreement with Linde to transport and permanently store up to 2.2 million metric tons a year of CO₂ from Linde’s US$1.8 billion clean hydrogen plant in Beaumont, Texas
  • A major LNG project on the Gulf Coast on the permitting of a CCS project for offshore carbon dioxide storage
  • Alder Fuels on its joint venture with United and Honeywell to create a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) venture and an associated SAF purchase agreement with United
  • A temp-controlled warehouse in connection with groundbreaking regulation of air emissions associated with warehouse operations
  • Partners Group on acquiring:
    • A controlling stake in Dimension Renewable Energy, a distributed energy platform focusing on community solar and battery storage across the US
    • Resilient Infrastructure Group, a water infrastructure platform, and a renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in Oregon
  • Vault on forming a joint venture with Cardinal Ethanol to design, implement, and operate a carbon capture and sequestration project at Cardinal’s ethanol production facility near Union City, Indiana
  • Newlight Technologies on its negotiation and entry into various arrangements with Long Ridge Energy Terminal to construct and build an AirCarbon facility in Ohio
  • Energy Capital Partners on its investment in Avolta Renewables, a newly formed joint venture by ECP and Avolta, a leading developer of renewable natural gas projects, to pursue renewable fuel projects
  • A large multinational company on the development, permitting, and structuring of a CCS project in California
  • An energy trade association on carbon capture and sequestration policy and strategy
  • Monolith Materials on the monetization of the climate benefits attributable to its production of carbon-free hydrogen and carbon black in Nebraska
  • Newhall Land and Farming Company on the first-ever large “net zero GHG” master-planned community in California, including developing an anaerobic digester to mitigate climate impacts via dairy biogas capture and beneficial use
  • SoCalGas on the Aliso Canyon Storage Facility methane leak and renewable natural gas
  • Occidental Petroleum on a proposed carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project that would utilize CO2 generated by ethanol refineries for enhanced oil recovery to generate 45Q tax credits and LCFS credits
  • A natural gas production company utilizing CCS technology to generate LCFS credits
  • Element Markets in connection with the LCFS, the California Cap-and-Trade Program, and commercial aspects of renewable natural gas
  • An alternative fuels developer in connection with proposed gas-to-liquid production facilities
  • California American Water Company on a desalination and water supply project in Monterey County that would achieve net-zero GHG emissions
  • Poseidon Resources on multiple desalination projects in Southern California’s Monterey County that would achieve net-zero GHG emissions
  • Accordant Energy on a waste-derived, engineered fuel production facility to supply cement production facilities
  • SCS Energy on developing an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) poly-generation facility with CCS, known as the Hydrogen Energy California Project, in Kern County, California
  • Citigroup Global Markets on the US$1 billion bond financing of the 579-megawatt Solar Star 1 and 2 Projects, awarded as Americas Power Deal of the Year for 2013 by Project Finance International
  • A leading international investment bank on the bond financing of the US$2.4 billion, 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm, awarded as North American Solar Deal of the Year for 2012 by Project Finance
  • AES Solar on the project financing of the 200-megawatt Mount Signal Solar Project in Imperial County, California
  • Goldman Sachs on securing a US$1.46 billion US Department of Energy loan guarantee to support the 550-megawatt solar photovoltaic Desert Sunlight Project
  • CPV Sentinel, a joint venture of Competitive Power Ventures and GE Energy, on developing the CPV Sentinel Project, an 850-megawatt, natural gas fired, peaking plant in Riverside County, California
  • Clean Hydrogen Works on developing the Ascension Clean Energy hydrogen-ammonia project in Louisiana
  • Woodside Energy on developing hydrogen production projects in Oklahoma and California
  • Bakken Energy on developing a US$2 billion hydrogen hub in North Dakota
  • A major energy company on restoring 1 million acres of degraded land in the Mississippi Delta
  • A consortium investor in connection with US$1 billion preferred equity financing for Blue Source Sustainable Forests Co. (BSFC) and BSFC’s acquisition of 1.7 million acres of timberland, representing one of the largest private conservation-focused forest investments in US history
  • Inspiration Mobility on its US$200 million capital commitment from ArcLight Capital Partners and subsequent US$215 million capital commitment from Macquarie Asset Management and Ferrovial to create an electric vehicle (EV) platform
  • Numerous hedge funds and private equity funds on trading opportunities in compliance and voluntary carbon markets
  • H2B2 Electrolysis Technologies on its business combination with RMG Acquisition Corporation III
  • Crimson Renewable Energy on selling its used cooking oil collection and aggregation business to Neste, the world's leading producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel

Mr. Bledsoe’s speaking engagements include the following:

Bar Qualification

  • California

Education

  • JD, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, 2004
  • BA, Duke University, 1999
General Recognition Thumbnail
March 26, 2018 Recognition

2018 CLAY Awards: Net Zero Newhall

A Latham environmental team advising the Newhall Ranch community is honored as Attorneys of the Year for innovative work in advancing one of the largest master-planned communities ever proposed in California.