Law Commons^™

Beyond Tax Credits: Smarter Tax Policy For A Cleaner, More Democratic Energy Future, Felix Mormann

Felix Mormann

Solar, wind, and other renewable energy technologies have the potential to mitigate climate change, secure America’s energy independence, and create millions of green jobs. In the absence of a price on carbon emissions, however, these long-term benefits will not be realized without near-term policy support for renewables. This Article assesses the efficiency of federal tax incentives for renewables and proposes policy reform to more cost-effectively promote renewable energy through capital markets and crowdfunding.

Federal support for renewable energy projects today comes primarily in the form of tax incentives such as accelerated depreciation and, critically, tax credits. Empirical evidence reveals that …

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 …

Marijuana Agriculture Law: Regulation At The Root Of An Industry, Ryan Stoa

Ryan B. Stoa

Marijuana legalization is sweeping the nation. Recreational marijuana use is legal in eight states. Medical marijuana use is legal in thirteen states. Only three states maintain an absolute criminal prohibition on marijuana use. Many of these legalization initiatives propose to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol, and many titles are variations of the "Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act." For political and public health reasons the analogy makes sense, but it also reveals a regulatory blind spot. States may be using alcohol as a model for regulating the distribution, retail, and consumption of marijuana, but marijuana is much more …

Voter Psychology And The Carbon Tax, Gary M. Lucas Jr

Gary M. Lucas Jr.

Economists across the political spectrum argue that a carbon tax is the most effective and economically efficient policy for addressing climate change. Voters, however, strongly oppose the carbon tax and instead favor “green” subsidies and command-and-control regulations. If carefully designed, these policies might complement a carbon tax, but by themselves, they will make global warming mitigation incredibly expensive and perhaps even infeasible. Moreover, if poorly designed, subsidies and regulations can be counterproductive.

This Article argues that the public dislikes the carbon tax because the tax possesses attributes that make it psychologically unappealing relative to other climate policy instruments. The Article …

One Oil And Gas Right To Rule Them All, Monika Ehrman

Monika U. Ehrman

The Granting Clause In The Modern Oil And Gas Lease, Monika Ehrman

Monika U. Ehrman

Book Review: Global Energy Justice, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

The Political Economy Of Decarbonization: A Research Agenda, Eric Biber, Nina Kelsey, Jonas Meckling

Eric Biber

Addressing climate change entails daunting policy challenges for nations seeking to decarbonize their energy systems. Current policies are inadequate to achieve the necessary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in major part because of political resistance to more aggressive policies. Academic policy research to date has primarily focused on what policies are economically optimal, or on what is politically feasible in the short-term. But given the long-term nature of the problem and the scale of the policy challenges, an essential question is how to improve the political landscape for aggressive climate policies over time. In this paper we outline a research …

The Geography Of Climate Change Litigation: Implications For Transnational Regulatory Governance, Hari M. Osofsky

Hari Osofsky

This Article aims to forward the dialogue about transnational regulatory governance through a law and geography analysis of climate change litigation. Part II begins by considering fundamental barriers to responsible transnational energy production. Part III proposes a place-based approach to dissecting climate change litigation and a model for understanding its spatial implications. Parts IV through VI map representative examples of climate change litigation in subnational, national, and supranational fora. The Article concludes by exploring the normative implications of this descriptive geography; it engages the intersection of international law, international relations, and geography as a jumping-off point for a companion article.

Dynamic Energy Federalism, Hari M. Osofsky, Hannah J. Wiseman

Hari Osofsky

No abstract provided.

Introduction, G. Emlen Hall

G Emlen Hall

No abstract provided.

Introduction, G. Emlen Hall

G Emlen Hall

No abstract provided.

Fracking: The Unconventional Energy Response To Climate Change: Implications For The Real Estate Industry, 49 J. Marshall L. Rev. 449 (2015), Celeste Hammond

Celeste M. Hammond

No abstract provided.

The Future Of The Canadian Energy Industry In A Low Price Commodity Environment

Monika U. Ehrman

Enhancing Public Engagement On Offshore Wind Energy Using Genius Loci: A Case Study From A Lake Michigan Coastal Community, Erik Edward Nordman, Daniel O'Keefe, Erika Arndt

Erik Edward Nordman

Appliance Efficiency, David R. Hodas

David R. Hodas

Protecting States’ Interests In The Brave New World Of Energy Federalism, Daniel Lyons

Daniel Lyons

No abstract provided.

California Climate Law---Model Or Object Lesson?, Daniel A. Farber

Daniel A Farber

In the invitation to this Symposium on Reconceptualizing the Future of Environmental Law, the organizers explained that the Symposium “focuses on the continued expansion of environmental law into distinct areas of the law, requiring an increasingly multidisciplinary approach beyond that of traditional federal regulation.” In short, the question posed is about the future proliferation of environmental measures outside the previous domains of federal environmental statutes. At the risk of being guilty of local parochialism, I would like to discuss how the future described by the organizers has already arrived in California--both in the sense that a great deal is happening …

Demand Response And Market Power, Bruce R. Huber

Bruce R Huber

In her article, Bypassing Federalism and the Administrative Law of Negawatts, Sharon Jacobs educates her readers about the concept of demand response, and then describes its propagation in recent years while making the broader argument that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) — the federal government’s principal energy regulator — has engaged in a strategy of “bypassing federalism” that may entail more costs than benefits. Professor Jacobs is right to call attention to demand response and to FERC’s approach to matters of jurisdictional doubt. While I share many of her concerns about boundary lines in a federal system, I argue …

Cracking The American Climate Negotiators’ Hidden Code: United States Law And The Paris Agreement, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

The Natech: Right-To-Know As Space-Time Puzzle, Gregg P. Macey

Gregg P. Macey

Federal environmental law began with a plea: that agencies and other parties consider, and mitigate, the environmental impacts of their work. The task remains unfulfilled given the nature of those impacts: They feature system effects, nonlinear interactions, feedback loops, discontinuous and threshold dynamics, and uncertain boundaries. The administrative state has limited means to address them. It relies on artificial constructs to assess and respond to impacts, such as worst-case scenarios, reasonable foreseeability, and scales that are either inappropriately narrow (“linked” projects) or large and vague (“program-level”). Right-to-know laws share this shortcoming, a product of the disasters that led to their …

Solar Rights In The United States, Sara Bronin

Sara C. Bronin

Solar rights are legal rights needed to ensure that a piece of land has access to sunlight. These rights may be of interest to property owners seeking to undertake a variety of activities: farming, lighting, and clothes drying, to name a few. But perhaps the most economically significant purpose for which solar rights may be utilized is for the purpose of solar collectors. Such devices are used to harness the rays of the sun and transform them into thermal, chemical, or electrical energy. In an era of increasing deployment of solar collectors across the globe, the fair and efficient allocation …

Regulating Pot To Save The Polar Bear: Energy And Climate Impacts Of The Marijuana Industry, Gina Warren

Gina Warren

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Energy: The European And American Approaches -- The American Approach, Gina Warren

Gina Warren

No abstract provided.

Offshore Petroleum Resource Access And Regulation In Canada, Kylie Fletcher

Kylie Fletcher

Extract: Canada is one of the world’s leading petroleum producers. It claims significant proven reserves of oil and natural gas. Canada’s reserves are estimated to be in the order of 173 billion barrels of oil and 70 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Canada’s provinces, listed in order of entry into confederation, are Ontario (1867), Quebec (1867), Nova Scotia (1867), New Brunswick (1867), Manitoba (1870), British Columbia (1871), Prince Edward Island (1873), Saskatchewan (1905), Alberta (1905) and Newfoundland and Labrador (1949). Its territories are the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut. Canada has an extensive coastline, and lays claim to significant …

Working Paper: International Cooperation, Intellectual Property, And Climate-Essential Innovation, Brian R. Israel

Brian R Israel

No abstract provided.

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 …

"First, Do No Harm": Human Rights And Efforts To Combat Climate Change, Naomi Roht-Arriaza

Naomi Roht-Arriaza

No abstract provided.

Involuntary Cotenants: Eminent Domain And Energy And Communications Infrastructure Growth, Andrew P. Morriss, Roy Brandys, Michael M. Barron

Andrew P. Morriss

No abstract provided.

The Regulation Of Scarcity And Its Impact On International Regimes, Gabriel Eckstein, Lillian Aponte Miranda, Kristen Boon, Peter Appel

Gabriel Eckstein

No abstract provided.