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Corruption, Constitutions And Crude In Latin America, Fredrick V. Perry, Scheherazade S. Rehman

Fredrick V. Perry

This paper examines the perception of corruption that exists throughout Latin America, and analyses the importance of the institutional environment in Latin American countries, which are both richly endowed with and dependent on oil and natural gas. First, we look at corruption generally in the region and then carry our analysis by looking at various countries’ GDP per capita versus several indices measuring different dimensions of countries’ economic development, political progress, and social performance. We also combine corruption indices and separate them by typology of corruption in order to investigate the particular facets of corruption that pose the greatest impediment …

Understanding China’S Need To Focus On Its Renewable Energy Expansion Programme And The Relationship To Its Climate Change Policy, Patricia J. Blazey Ms

patricia j blazey Ms

China is concerned with the need to increased energy production due to ongoing industrial development and an expanding middle class. The government in its 12^th Five Year Plan is focusing on moving to an era of clean energy and advanced energy efficient technology not primarily to address climate change but rather to ensure that its vast energy requirements are procured from other sources rather than continuing to rely on finite sources of energy such as coal, oil and gas.

Science And Compliance In The Arctic: A Constructivist Approach To The Un Commission On The Limits Of The Continental Shelf, Sari M. Graben, Peter Harrison

Sari M Graben

The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is expected to play an essential role in delineating the rights of the Arctic states to sea bed resources in the Arctic Ocean. Positivist theories of international law generally source Arctic state compliance to the binding effect of Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, positivist explanations fail to answer why the Arctic states, which are authorized to establish their own limits, would accept the sovereignty costs associated with the Commission’s legal and scientific interpretations. In order to better understand how the Commission …

Regulating For The Public Health: Perchlorate Regulation Under The Safe Drinking Water Act Exceeds Statutory Authority, Mary Jones

Mary Jones

This paper recommends rethinking the statutory framework of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to provide a more robust rubric, to include a scientific and objective focus, for proper regulation. The SDWA is evaluated through the lens of upcoming perchlorate regulation due in February 2013.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates acceptable contaminant levels and decontamination processes for all public water systems, pursuant to statutory authority granted by the SDWA. Where the policy at work is admirable, the execution falls short.

Perchlorate occurs naturally, but also as a by-product to rocket fuel, firework, and other explosive constructions. Scientific …

Relieving The Congestion: The Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative, Michelle C. Bailey

Michelle C Bailey

Abstract for: RELIEVING THE CONGESTION: THE EASTERN INTERCONNECTION PLANNING COLLABORATIVE By: Michelle Bailey April, 2013 Congestion within the electric transmission grid, coupled with an absence of transmission, present the most significant barriers to integration of renewable energy sources and advancement of the electric grid towards a more reliable, responsive and efficient energy future. Responding to the critical need for new transmission, however, is a complex, protracted, and difficult process. The key barriers to transmission development are transmission siting and permitting, and cost allocation of transmission projects. Both of these hurdles are exacerbated by the fact that transmission project siting and …

Pirates Of The Australian Election, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

“Pirate parties” have proliferated across Europe and North America in the past decade, championing issues such as intellectual property (IP), freedom of speech, and the protection of privacy and anonymity.This year, the movement hit Australian shores: The Pirate Party Australia was officially registered by the Australian Electoral Commission in January 2013. (You can read its principles and platform here.)“More than ever before, there is a necessity in Australia for a party that holds empowerment, participation, free culture and openness as its central tenets”, Pirate Party founder Rodney Serkowski said in a press release announcing the group’s successful registration. Their first …

Climate Change, Forests, And International Law: Redd's Descent Into Irrelevance, Annecoos Wiersema

Annecoos Wiersema

Forestry activities account for over 17% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Since 2005, parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change have been negotiating a mechanism known as REDD – Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation – to provide an incentive for developing countries to reduce carbon emissions and limit deforestation at the same time. Many believe this mechanism will not only mitigate climate change but will also provide biodiversity and forests with the hard international law regime that has so far been missing. These commentators assume REDD will develop into this kind of hard international law regime. They …

The Management Of Public Natural Resource Wealth, Paul Rose

Paul Rose

As improved but often more environmentally-obtrusive technologies such as hydraulic fracturing facilitate the extraction of billions of dollars in natural resource wealth, more states are now faced with a welcome but exceedingly complex set of problems: Who should benefit from natural resources extracted from public lands? If the state retains much of this wealth in the form of tax receipts, how should these funds be spent? What do states owe to the communities from which these resources were extracted? What do states owe to future generations? While these are questions of first impression for a few, fortunate states, a number …

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Conserving A Place For Renewable Power, Jacob P. Byl

Jacob P. Byl

Promoting renewable power and conserving land are often conflicting goals because renewable power requires a lot of land. The conflict is becoming an important issue on lands encumbered by conservation easements. I argue that the current legal rule allowing oil and gas development, but not wind and solar development, on conserved land does not make sense in light of the threats of climate change. The best way to encourage renewable power while respecting the intent of landowners is to have the Internal Revenue Service promulgate rules that explicitly allow renewable power going forward and interpret existing easements with a set …

International Trade And Investment Law And Carbon Management Technologies, Shi-Ling Hsu, Nigel Bankes, Anatole Boute, Sarah Mccalla, Steve Charnovitz, Liz Whitsitt, Nicholas Rivers

Shi-Ling Hsu

Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases will require the development of carbon management technologies that are not currently available or that are not currently cost-effective. While market mechanisms such as carbon pricing must play a central role in stimulating the development of these technologies, governmental policy aimed at fostering carbon management technologies and lowering their costs must also play a part. Both types of policies will form part of an optimal greenhouse gas control portfolio.

This article develops a framework of international trade and investment law insofar as they may affect carbon management technologies. While it is commonly perceived that international …

Cybersecurity Policy For The Electricity Sector: The First Step To Protecting Our Critical Infrastructure From Cyber Threats, Zhen Zhang Ms.

Zhen Zhang Ms.

Electricity forever changed the dark nights. Without the human ingenuity that harnessed energy in the form of electricity, our world would be very different. Computers and information technology would have never become part of our social fabric. Today, no country is more reliant on information technology and electricity than the United States. Due to these inter-dependencies, cybersecurity threats can compromise the critical infrastructure foundation of the United States. In light of this, the electricity sector is among the only critical infrastructure sectors with mandatory cybersecurity standards. This Article focuses on cybersecurity in the context of the electricity sector, despite that …

Lightning In A Bottle: Using Tax Policy To Solve Renewable Energy's Storage Challenges, Roberta F. Mann

Roberta F Mann

Government support for renewable energy has increased the generation of electricity from intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar. The United States delivered almost $14 billion in renewable energy tax incentives in 2011. More renewables in the electricity mix means lower carbon emissions. Intermittent energy sources can reliably provide up to 20 percent of the electricity mix. However, increasing renewable generation above 20 percent requires better weather forecasting, improved coordination, increased grid capacity or more storage capacity. Batteries and electrical energy storage technologies straddle two major energy sectors: transportation and the grid. Unfortunately, compared to other types of technology, …

The Key Stone In The Carbon Tariff Wall: The Alberta Oil Sands And The Legality Of Taxing Imports Based On Their Carbon Footprint, Mark L. Belleville

Mark L. Belleville

Can one nation—consistent with international trade law—tax imports or otherwise treat them differently based on the CO2 emitted in another country during production of the import? This Article analyzes the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), relevant World Trade Organization (WTO) decisions, and the considerable amount of scholarship regarding Border Tax Adjustments (BTAs) and concludes that such treatment of imports is legally permissible. In early 2013, the European Union (E.U.) will vote on a proposed rule that seeks to classify crude oil coming into E.U. refineries based on “life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions,” including CO2 emitted during extraction. Canada, seeking …

Shale Gas: Evolving Global Issue For The Environment, Regulation And Energy Security, Jeffery R. Ray

Jeffery R Ray

Environmental issues such as water contamination, air pollution and the potential for earthquakes are analyzed in comparison to the leading energy fuel—coal. The United States and global energy security impact of shale gas is assessed by a brief comparative analysis of the United States and United Kingdom regimes while discussing whether there is a need for a special regulator for the industry. Socio-economic and global issues that regulators may wish to address are discussed.

Attempting To Think Green But Covered In Red Tape: Re-Thinking The Need For Exclusivity Grants In The Modern Movement Towards Green Energy, Richard Bahrenburg

Richard Bahrenburg

No abstract provided.

The Promise And Perils Of Renewable Energy On Tribal Lands, Sara C. Bronin

Sara C. Bronin

In theory, the ninety-five million acres of tribal lands in the United States are perfect sites for the renewable energy infrastructure that could help to meet the energy needs of not just tribes, but the rest of the nation. They often have plentiful sunlight, wind, and open space, resources that are important prerequisites for renewable energy production. They are not necessarily governed by the land use or environmental regulations that sometimes inhibit energy projects in more densely populated areas. At the same time, on-site renewable energy may provide direct economic benefits for tribes, including “green jobs,” infrastructure improvements, and production …