Law Commons^™

Expedited Approval Of Energy Projects: Toward Assessing The Forms Of Procedural Relief, Michael B. Gerrard

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This research is heading toward two further sets of questions, which may or may not be reached in the current phase of the work.

First, if certain permits or reviews can be dispensed with for certain projects, and there are few negative collateral consequences, do we need these permits and reviews at all? Every proposed project is important to someone, and arguments can almost always be mounted that a given kind of project warrants special treatment. The present inquiry may help identify some requirements that are obsolete and should not apply to anyone, and it may also help identify others …

Expedited Approval Of Energy Projects: Toward Assessing The Forms Of Procedural Relief, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

If we are to prevent the worst effects of climate change, a major shift in the world’s energy systems will be needed, including the construction of a massive number of clean energy facilities. Under one well-known scenario, this will require — along with many other actions — the construction of 230 wind farms the size of the proposed Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound; 1,000 large solar generating facilities of about ten square miles each; 1,400 natural gas-fired electric generating stations; 800 carbon capture and sequestration systems at coal-fired power plants; and 850 new nuclear power plants.

The Cape Wind …