Law Commons^™

Requirements For A Renewables Revolution, Felix Mormann

Felix Mormann

This Article identifies and analyzes the obstacles presently barring the rise of renewables, evaluates the role of the current policy favorite emission pricing, and offers design recommendations for a comprehensive U.S. renewables policy.

Successful climate change mitigation requires a timely shift to renewable sources of energy, such as sunlight, wind or tides, to decarbonize today’s high-carbon electricity sector. But market pull alone is not strong enough. This Article discusses the most widely cited economic barriers and identifies and evaluates additional obstacles related to the electricity sector’s regulatory framework.

Emission pricing is largely considered the most efficient policy to drive the …

Mobilizing Public Markets To Finance Renewable Energy Projects: Insights From Expert Stakeholders, Paul Schwabe, Michael Mendelsohn, Felix Mormann, Douglas J. Arent

Felix Mormann

Financing renewable energy projects in the United States can be a complex, time consuming, and expensive process. Currently, most equity investment in new renewable power production facilities is supported by tax credits and accelerated depreciation benefits, and is constrained by the pool of potential investors that can fully use these tax benefits and are willing to engage in complex financial structures. For debt financing, non-government lending to renewables has largely been provided by foreign banks that may be under future lending constraints due to economic and regulatory conditions.

To discuss these and other renewable energy financing challenges and to identify …

Enhancing The Investor Appeal Of Renewable Energy, Felix Mormann

Felix Mormann

This article introduces an investor-oriented framework for the evaluation of renewable energy policy, applies these newly developed criteria to a qualitative comparison of the primary policy instruments, and offers recommendations to enhance the investor appeal of renewable energy in the United States.

The multi-trillion dollar task of scaling renewable energy technologies to mitigate climate change, ensure energy security, and create green jobs is one of the most daunting challenges of the twenty-first century. It is, in fact, too great a challenge for either the public or private sector to shoulder alone. Rather, public policy must catalyze private investment in renewable …

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 …

The Next Great Compromise: A Comprehensive Response To Opposition Against Shale Gas Development Using Hydraulic Fracturing In The United States, Monika Ehrman

Monika U. Ehrman

Testimony Before The U.S. House Of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee On Agriculture, Rural Development. Food And Drug Administration, And Related Agencies, Regarding The “Commodity Futures Trading Commission”, Michael Greenberger

Michael Greenberger

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development. Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies on the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s regulatory efforts Pertaining to excessive speculation within U.S. energy futures markets in general, and futures based on U.S. delivered crude oil contracts.

Competition Is A Sin: An Evaluation Of The Formation And Effects Of A Natural Gas Opec, Monika Ehrman

Monika U. Ehrman