Law Commons^™

Shouldering The Burden Of Renewable Energy: Lithium Mining In Chile’S Indigenous Communities, Asha Wedemier-Allan

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

Technology has improved society, from bridging digital divides to increasing efficiency. To power technology, energy sources were traditionally derived from diminishing and exhaustible resources like fossil fuels. The renewable energy revolution emerged to balance the global demand for technology with its impact on natural resources. Lithium is a critical, non-renewable mineral that clean technology relies on. Essentially, lithium makes renewable energy possible. As the pillar for a fossil fuel-free yet technology-driven society, it is imperative to examine the sustainability and impacts of lithium mining.

This Note discusses the legal and socio-political frameworks shaping foreign direct investments in Chile’s lithium mining …

A Path To Achieve European Energy Security, Nicholas Wolf

Student Theses 2015-Present

The apparatus of Europe’s energy security has collapsed. The Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, hydrocarbon market turmoil, and the ever-growing threat of climate change has thrust the continent into crisis. As the risks of severe recession, acute energy shortages, and climatic disasters have begun to materialize, the member states of the European Union (EU) have been left scrambling to secure novel energy supplies. In the short-term, these developments pose severe risks to the EU and its member states. Yet, opportunity often presents itself in the midst of hardship, and the European Energy Crisis of 2022 is no different. This essay …

Grid Governance In The Energy-Trilemma Era: Remedying The Democracy Deficit, Daniel E. Walters, Andrew N. Kleit

Faculty Scholarship

Transforming the electric power grid is central to any viable scenario for addressing global climate change, but the process and politics of this transformation are complex. The desire to transform the grid creates an “energy trilemma” involving often conflicting desires for reliability, cost, and decarbonization; and, at least in the short run, it is difficult to avoid making tradeoffs between these different goals. It is somewhat shocking, then, that many crucial decisions about electric power service in the United States are made not by consumers or their utilities, nor by state public utilities commissions or federal regulators. Instead, for much …

Using Federal Public Lands To Model A New Energy Future: Why The Biden Administration Should Prioritize Renewable Energy Development On Public Lands, Meghen Sullivan

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Oil and gas extraction on public lands and waters is responsible for twenty percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. If American public lands were their own country, they would be the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. As of 2020, only twenty percent of total U.S. electricity generation came from renewable energy sources. While renewable energy development on public lands has increased, most renewable energy comes from private lands. However, public lands contain immense renewable energy potential; for example, it is estimated that half of this country’s geothermal resources are found on public lands. Despite underutilized renewable energy potential …

Shifting Away From Coal Power: Prioritizing Ratepayers And Communities Vs. Shareholders?, Shanti Gamper-Rabindran

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.