Law Commons^™

Climate Change And The Courts: Balancing Stewardship And Restraint, Susan Glazebrook

Judicature International

No abstract provided.

Decommissioning Liability At The End Of Offshore Oil And Gas: A Review Of International Obligations, National Laws, And Contractual Approaches In Ten Jurisdictions, Martin Lockman, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Esteban F. Fresno Rodríguez, José Luis Gallardo Torres

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Offshore oil and gas infrastructure faces an existential threat: the increasingly pressing need to address the climate emergency. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that GHG emissions from existing and planned fossil fuel infrastructure will push global warming past the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C threshold, and more detailed projections estimate that “nearly 60 per cent of oil and fossil methane gas ... must remain unextracted to keep within a 1.5 °C carbon budget.” The growing urgency of climate action, coupled with the increasing adoption of renewable energy systems and energy-efficient technologies, may strand thousands of offshore oil and gas installations …

Provisions On Liability For Decommissioning Upstream Offshore Oil And Gas Infrastructure In Investor–State Contracts, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Esteban F. Fresno Rodríguez, José Luis Gallardo Torres

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Offshore oil and gas operations are inherently hazardous to the environment, posing environmental risks and impacts throughout all stages of the operations: exploration, development, production, and decommissioning. Offshore decommissioning consists of the process of planning, funding, and implementing measures aimed at safely closing, repurposing, or removing the infrastructure and equipment used in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the marine environment, and at mitigating their impacts. It encompasses a series of activities, including the safe plugging and closure of wells, the removal of equipment and pipelines, the repurposing of platforms, the disposal of non-usable materials and potentially …

Appeal No. 1016: King Oil Company, Inc. V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2022-231 to 2022-236 (Plug Orders)

Appeal No. 1018: King Oil Company, Inc. V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2022-231 to 2022-236 (Plug Orders)

Appeal No. 1017: King Oil Company, Inc. V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2022-231 to 2022-236 (Plug Orders)

Appeal No. 1019: King Oil Company, Inc. V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2022-231 to 2022-236 (Plug Orders)

Appeal No. 1015: King Oil Company, Inc. V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2022-231 to 2022-236 (Plug Orders)

Appeal No. 1020: King Oil Company, Inc. V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2022-231 to 2022-236 (Plug Orders)

Centrality And Compliance: Unitary Vs. Federalist Political Systems In The Implementation Of The Kyoto Protocol In Argentina And Uruguay, Aidan Homan

Baker Scholar Projects

When Uruguay and Argentina first gained their respective independence in the early 1800s, they appeared to be following the same path of development As countries that came from the same Spanish colonization, share almost identical agricultural economies, and retain a close relationship, it is logical that they would follow similar trajectories. This assumption proves to be inaccurate in more ways than one, but most prominently within the environmental sphere. One way to analyze this difference in policy implementation lies in compliance with international environmental treaties which contain specific goals and limits for all parties involved. The Kyoto Protocol presents a …

Transferred Emissions Are Still Emissions: Why Fossil Fuel Asset Sales Need Enhanced Transparency And Carbon Accounting, Jack Arnold, Martin Lockman, Perrine Toledano, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Shraman Sen, Michael Burger

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

In a widely reported trend, the “Oil Supermajors” — BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies — are selling off many upstream fossil fuel assets.

Selling these assets to entities that will continue producing and selling the fossil fuel resources does not necessarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the supermajors have used these asset sales to support claims that they are making progress toward reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Emissions reporting frameworks allow companies to conflate the apparent emissions reductions from asset sales with direct reductions from efficiency improvements and asset retirements. In doing so, they hinder the ability …

Ghg Accounting Methods In The Aluminum Industry, John Biberman, Perrine Toledano, Rohini Ram Mohan

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Primary aluminum production is one of the world’s most GHG-intensive industries, and also one where GHG accounting methods have become the most fully developed. GHG reporting for the primary aluminum sector has largely consolidated under the International Aluminium Institute’s (IAI) guidance, although Environment Canada (EC) guidance remains active and Chinese aluminum smelters will soon additionally be required to report their emissions under the China National Development and Reform Commission’s (China NDRC) guidelines, meant to support the development of the Chinese emissions trading system. The IAI method largely follows best GHG accounting practices, but aspects of it can be improved, and …

Appeal No. 1022: Peter J. & Beth B. Dewitt V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2022-285; Oliver CR Mon North Unit (EAP Ohio, LLC)

Appeal No. 1014: Miley Gas Company V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2022-156 (Plug Order, Bond/Weirton Steel 12 Well)

Appeal No. 1004: Eric Petroleum Corporation, Et Al. V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management And Eap Ohio, Llc, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2021-173 Dawson South Unit (EAP Ohio LLC)

Appeal No. 1013: Victor Mckenzie Drilling, Llc V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2022-72

Impact Assessment In The Ring Of Fire: Contested Authorities, Competing Visions And A Clash Of Legal Orders, Dayna Nadine Scott

Commissioned Reports, Studies and Public Policy Documents

In 2007, a significant mineral deposit dubbed the “Ring of Fire” was discovered in the boreal peatlands in Treaty No.9 territory in the far north of Ontario. The original project proposal submitted to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency was for a chromite mine and an associated infrastructure corridor to connect the remote location to the provincial high-way system. As years went by without progress on the regulatory approvals, the proponent sold its claims at a loss. In the period that followed, Ontario negotiated with the Matawa First Nations (the nine most proximate First Nations) who were, as a united block, …

Ad Coelum And The Design Of Property Rights, Joseph A. Schremmer

Faculty Scholarship

This Article seizes on a specific doctrinal discussion in Eric Claeys’s Natural Property Rights to argue for the importance of understanding property doctrines in the context of a system of interconnecting rules and standards and not in isolation. The ad coelum doctrine provides that land ownership entails ownership of the suprajacent airspace as well as the underlying subsurface. As Claeys’s discussion highlights, scholars disagree about the significance of ad coelum both conceptually, as to what function the rule serves in defining and allocating property, and normatively. It is only by viewing ad coelum in the context of how it interacts …

Sustainable Seabed Mining And The Phase 1 Environmental Standards And Guidelines, Keith Macmaster

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The oceans are home to a rich diversity of plant and animal life and a source of food and marine resources that drive economies. Climate change and pollution are changing ocean dynamics and the ability to support life. Seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction will add to the ocean's stressors and could cause severe environmental damage. The International Seabed Authority (“ISA”) is mandated to manage access to and benefits from the seabed, its subsoil and mineral resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the “Area”). Although the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea sets out the legal …

Deals In The Heartland: Renewable Energy Projects, Local Resistance, And How Law Can Help, Christiana Ochoa

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Informed by original empirical research conducted in the Midwestern United States, this Article provides a rich and textured understanding of the rapidly emerging opposition to renewable energy projects. Beyond the Article’s urgent practical contributions, it also examines the importance of formalism and formality in contracts and complicates current understandings.

Rural communities in every windblown and sun-drenched region of the United States are enmeshed in legal, political, and social conflicts related to the country’s rapid transition to renewable energy. Organized local opposition has foreclosed millions of acres from renewable energy development, impeding national and state-level commitments to achieving renewable energy targets …

Climate Choice Architecture, Felix Mormann

Faculty Scholarship

Personal choices drive global warming nearly as much as institutional decisions. Yet, policymakers overwhelmingly target large-scale industrial facilities for reductions in carbon emissions, with individual and household emissions a mere afterthought. Recent advances in behavioral economics, cognitive psychology, and related fields have produced a veritable behavior change revolution. Subtle changes to the choice environment, or nudges, have improved stake-holder decision-making in a wide range of contexts, from healthier food choices to better retirement planning. But the vast potential of choice architecture remains largely untapped for purposes of climate policy and action. This Article explores that untapped potential and makes the …

Appeal No. 1006 (2nd): Kevin J. Simballa V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Chief's Order 2021-192 (Elkrun Wertz NE Unit; Hilcorp Energy Co.)

Appeal No. 1011: John M. Brown & Debra S. Brown V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management And Ascent Resources ---Utica, Llc., Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2022-92; Lori NE SMF JF Unit (Ascent Resources -- Utica, LLC)

The Paradox Of Plenty: Why Guyana’S Local Content Law Needs A Reality Check, Vivian M. Williams

Publications and Research

The effectiveness of coercive local content requirements to the development of resource rich developing countries is an area attracting increasing global attention. Local content requirements are especially popular in the extractive sector though empirical studies show that they do not fulfill their intended purpose. Now recognized as the world's fastest growing economy after becoming an oil producing country, Guyana has passed a local content law. The real concern is not merely whether local content requirements fail to fulfill their objectives but whether they create market distortions that lead to the resource curse. This issue was addressed by Baruch's Adjunct Assistant …

Supporting Good Governance Of Extractive Industries In Politically Hostile Settings: Rethinking Approaches And Strategies, Leila Kazemi, Ricardo Soares De Oliveira

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

This discussion paper is the product of a workshop entitled “Supporting Good Governance of Extractive Industries in Politically Hostile Settings: A View from Sub-Saharan Africa,” organized by the Oxford Martin School (OMS) Programme on African Governance and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) and supporting research. The workshop brought together global and local researchers and practitioners with a wide range of experience with extractives governance, particularly, though not exclusively, in the sub-Saharan African region. The meeting built on prior research and discussions held as part of CCSI’s project on the Politics of Extractive Industries, dedicated to supporting the field …

Impact Assessment And Responsible Business Conduct Tools In The Extractive Sector: An Environmental Human Rights Toolbox For Government, Business, Civil Society, And Indigenous Groups, Sara L. Seck, Charlotte Connolly, Penelope Simons, Audrey Axten

Responsible Business Conduct and Impact Assessment Law

This toolbox provides guidance on how governments, businesses, civil society, and Indigenous groups may encourage and adopt a human rights approach to impact assessment (IA). It forms part of a broader research project aimed at highlighting the interrelationship between IA laws and Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) tools, funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Knowledge Synthesis Grant: Informing Best Practices in Environmental & Impact Assessments (the “KSG”).

Appeal No. 0997: Awms Water Solutions, Llc V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2021-97 (AWMS #2 well)

Appeal No. 1002: Omni Energy Group Llc V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2021-179 & 2021-180 (Saltwater Injection Wells GMR #1 & GMR #2)

Appeal No. 1001: Omni Energy Group Llc V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2021-179 & 2021-180 (Saltwater Injection Wells GMR #1 & GMR #2)

Appeal No. 1005: Atlas Noble, Llc. V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2021-182 (Thap William Unit 1 Well)