Law Commons^™

Developing An International Carbon Tax Regime, Steven Specht

Steven Specht

As atmospheric CO2 remains in the range of 400 ppm, it is necessary to find new international coordination to deal with climate change. The best way forward is an international regime of harmonized domestic carbon taxes. By agreeing to a minimum amount of taxation on domestic, point-source producers, money can be set aside for adaptation costs and alternative means of energy production. Finally, such a plan will overcome the problem of non-participation of countries in agreements like the Kyoto Protocol. As this is a treaty dealing with economics and trade, countries can place taxes on imports of non-participatory countries under …

Sustaining An Unsustainable Fuel Source: How Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Limitations Can Improve The Sustainability Of The Tar Oil Industry, Brittany Debord

Brittany DeBord

The United States seeks to achieve energy security and self-sufficiency by acquiring energy from Canadian tar sands and promoting a domestic tar sands industry. However, support for this industry is inconsistent with the greenhouse gas reduction policies of the Energy Independence and Security Act and the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, since tar oil extraction creates three times more carbon emissions than conventional oil extraction. Legislation limiting lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions has already been implemented through the Renewable Fuel Standard Program in response to concerns that plant-based fuel production leads to greater carbon emissions than intended. Since the lifecycle …

Drones, Henry H. Perritt Jr., Eliot O. Sprague

Henry H. Perritt, Jr.

Ferc Enforcement On Market Manipulation Testing The Law’S Limit, John Ye

John Ye

A 2012 article from the New York Times[1] reported that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had taken aggressive steps against market manipulation in the electricity trading space against large investment banks. Notable cases were taken against Barclays[2], JP Morgan[3] and Deutsche Bank[4].

The fine for Barclays was a steep $469.9 million, which the bank said it would contest. JP Morgan was ordered to suspend selling energy capacity for 6 months. Deutsche Bank, on the other hand, was only fined for $1.5 million. Yet, Deutsche Bank was ready to mount a vigorous defense at …

The Rising Tide Of Climate Change: What America’S Flood Cities Can Teach Us About Energy Policy And Why We Should Be Worried, Joshua P. Fershee

Joshua P Fershee

To provide a model for assessing the current and likely responses to climate change risks, this Article considers two of America’s worst flood disasters—in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and New Orleans, Louisiana— and applies the same rationale to critical climate change issues facing the nation today. This Article, written by a current resident of Grand Forks and a former New Orleans resident, begins with a background on climate change and related policy initiatives. Next, it considers the flood of 1997 in Grand Forks, which caused more than 50,000 people to abandon their homes. The development of the flood preparations, the …

Misguided Energy: Why Recent Legislative, Regulatory, And Market Initiatives Are Insufficient To Improve The U.S. Energy Infrastructure, Joshua P. Fershee

Joshua P Fershee

This Article argues that recent legislative and regulatory attempts to address inadequate energy infrastructure in the United States are too limited in scope and rely too heavily on market-based initiatives to stimulate the urgent improvements that are necessary. The Article analyzes the likely effects of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, challenging the assumption that the provisions intended to remove potential impediments to investment--including those repealing the Public Utilities Holding Company Act and modifying the merger review authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”)--are likely to result in significant new investment in energy infrastructure. In addition to identifying remaining …