Law Commons^™

Preventing Wind Waste, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The United States has vast offshore wind resources—nearly double the total electricity consumption of the country—ideally located in close proximity to the largest population centers. This abundance has remained stubbornly untapped for over a decade, without a single commercial scale wind project built in federal waters as of early 2021. In contrast to obstruction by the Trump administration, President Biden, in his first days in office, singled out offshore wind development as one of his priorities for tackling the climate crisis. As a result, the United States may soon see an offshore wind rush. Onshore, the United States is a …

Moat Mentality: Onshore And Offshore Approaches To Wind Waking, K.K. Duvivier, Brendan Mooney

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Wind energy developers are becoming increasingly aware of the dam- aging impact of wakes from turbines. To deal with the issue on land, many terrestrial developers have adopted a “moat mentality,” creating buffer zones around their wind plants1 to protect them from neighboring wind de- velopments. While these “moats” may protect the investment of a partic- ular wind developer, they render large areas that could be generating elec- tricity into unproductive waste zones. US offshore wind development is in its nascence. This article will explore ways that offshore wind developers are addressing waking issues and whether they can find more …

How Science Has Influenced, But Should Now Determine, Environmental Policy, Jan G. Laitos

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This Article makes the case that for environmental laws to succeed, they must reflect and conform to the universal scientific truths of nature. The mantra for policymakers is simple: successful environmental laws, as well as the policies that structure and cabin these laws, should adhere to the fundamental laws of the natural world and our biosphere. What are these universal truths? What laws, or rules, do physical, biological, and chemical systems all follow? Scientists have begun to unravel nature’s secrets, the principles which all natural phenomena obey, and which comprise nature’s master plan. This Article urges that our environmental policies …

Costs And Consequences Of Wake Effects Arising From Uncoordinated Wind Energy Development, J.K. Lundquist, K.K. Duvivier, D. Kaffine, J.M. Tomaszewski

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Optimal wind farm locations require a strong and reliable wind resource and access to transmission lines. As onshore and offshore wind energy grows, preferred locations become saturated with numerous wind farms. An upwind wind farm generates ‘wake effects’ (decreases in downwind wind speeds) that undermine a downwind wind farm’s power generation and revenues. Here we use a diverse set of analysis tools from the atmospheric science, economic and legal communities to assess costs and consequences of these wake effects, focusing on a West Texas case study. We show that although wake effects vary with atmospheric conditions, they are discernible in …

Distributed Renewable Energy: Summary And Key Recommendations, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Distributed generation (DG) is probably the energy source most impacted by different levels of government and non-governmental actors. This makes DG vulnerable to policy choices, and consequently the recommendations for this chapter are many. However, DG is also most immediate to consumers, especially with new technologies or rate structures that give them feedback about their own individual generation and consumption patterns. This, along with exciting new leaps in DG technologies, suggest there are opportunities for DG to play an increasing role in significantly decarbonizing U.S. energy.

Nimby To Nope—Or Yess?, K.K. Duvivier, Thomas Witt

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

On December 12, 2015, 195 governments around the world agreed to the COP21 commitments to combat climate change. Pivotal to the success of these goals is a shift from fossil-fuel energy generation to renewable resources. Wind power is one of the largest renewable energy generation sources in the United States and has the greatest potential for future development. While wind energy generation has enjoyed some of the most impressive gains in development of new capacity, reaching future goals will face more challenges. In addition to resource potential, wind development is also confined to locations that meet the sweet spot of …

Regulation Of Fracking Is Not A Taking Of Private Property, Kevin Lynch

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

As the use of fracking has spread during the recent oil and gas boom, inevitable conflicts have arisen between industry and its neighbors, particularly as fracking has moved into densely populated urban and suburban areas. Concerned over the impacts of fracking – such as risks to health and safely, diminished property values, air and water pollution, as well as noise, traffic, and other annoyances – many people have demanded a government response.

Government regulation of fracking has struggled to catch up, although in recent years many state and local governments have taken steps to reduce the impacts of fracking in …

Wind Power Growing Pains, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The United States loves wind power. Since 2004 alone, U.S. wind capacity has multiplied almost ten times — from about 6.7 gigawatts in 2004 to over 65.9 gigawatts by 2014. This growth in generation potential has been accompanied by a growth in the size of the turbines that deliver that power — from approximately 56 feet in the 1980s to over 300 feet in 2015. As the turbines and meterological or met towers push up into non-surface atmospheric weather layers and navigable airspace over 200 feet, new wake efficiency and competing legal concerns arise.

The Superagency Solution, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

In many parts of the country, hydraulic fracturing has brought energy development onto people’s doorsteps. Efforts by local governments to employ traditional land use mechanisms to study and mitigate some of the impacts of these latest intrusions have erupted into battles over the scope of statewide agencies’ control. Forgotten in this fray are many renewable energy resources. As a general rule, they are not subject to statewide oversight, and consequently renewable energy providers must navigate the myriad of siting and permitting requirements of local jurisdictions. For several years, scholars have urged more statewide renewable energy siting procedures to level the …

Natural Resources Law, Jan G. Laitos, Sandra B. Zellmer

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This treatise is a thorough assessment of the important and growing field of natural resources law. It provides comprehensive coverage of the laws, policies, and decision-making processes pertinent to the "core "commodity natural resources - rangeland, timber, mineral resources, energy resources, and water. It also covers the management and protection of non-commodity resources, such as wildlife, wilderness, and other types of preservation and recreation lands. As an essential addition to any environmental, natural resources, or public lands library, the book puts natural resources law in context with a review of the National Environmental Policy Act, a history of natural resources …

Rural Wind Windfalls, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Wind power can provide rural communities with unexpected gains or “windfalls.” As one North Dakota farmer put it, “Who could have guessed that the air above our land might be worth money someday?” According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the amount of installed wind electricity capacity in the United States increased by a factor of 25 between 2000 and 2012. The United States is second, behind only China, for the most wind electricity capacity in the world. In 2012, Kansas more than doubled its installed wind capacity by adding 1,441 MW to the 1,272 MW installed before that …

Sins Of The Father, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Are the sins of previous generations of energy development, such as with oil and gas, being visited on the newest forms of energy? That is the question this article attempts to address. Specifically, this article will focus on the problems created by the severance of the mineral estate from the surface and the related dominant mineral–servient surface estate doctrine. Hydrofracturing or “fracking” for oil and natural gas has placed the problems of split estates in the spotlight more than they been in generations. People have been shocked to find drill rigs in their backyards, school playgrounds, and parks. They have …

Solar Skyspace B, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The cleanest source of electricity is that generated from photovoltaic solar panels (PV). Unlike fossil fuels, PV does not require extraction and does not burn, so it emits no carbon. Unlike hydropower, it does not require the damming of natural rivers and the destruction of upstream areas through flooding. Unlike industrial-scale concentrating solar thermo-electric power, it does not consume water to generate electricity. Finally, when placed on existing rooftops in developed areas, distributed solar PV does not require long-term dedication of public lands to an industrial use, does not disrupt native habitat (a potential problem with all of other energy …

Converting Natural Resources Into Electricity, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This paper provides the groundwork for understanding the conversion of natural resources, such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal, into electric energy. It includes a summary of the current technologies and latest statistics on their distribution among states and on land and water. It also provides an introduction to some of the legal issues related to their deployment and interconnection with the electric grid.

Good-Bye Christopher Columbus Langdell?, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The call of this Article was to take "A Prospective Look" at Environmental and Natural Resources Law for the next 40 years with a special focus on law school teaching. Daunted by the hubris involved in prognosticating so far into the future, this piece more modestly explores three areas in which law school teaching is currently changing: I. Methods of Presentation; II. Use of Skills Exercises; and III. Influence of Digital Technologies and the Internet. To add an empirical component, the author canvassed AALS members about pedagogies they used both in class and outside of classroom time, as well as …

The Right Of Nonuse, Jan G. Laitos

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The Right of Nonuse provides a fresh and remarkably different perspective on the real causes of the ills plaguing the world's resources and environment. It reexamines the very nature of nature, and from this new perspective, argues that what is needed is for humans to grant to natural resources a legal right to be left alone - a right of nonuse. In the process, it explores the following questions: Why do natural resources continue to be depleted and removed at an alarming rate? Why are species becoming extinct at a pace that may be unprecedented? Why does the environment continue …

Letter To Editor—Trees Vs. Air Pollution, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Bruce Finley's article lauded trees for absorbing smog. Trees also mitigate CO2 emissions. But not all trees are equally beneficial: some species emit more volatile organic compounds than they absorb. In urban environments, we need more restrictions to avoid negative impacts on those around us: e.g., wood burning or watering restrictions. Sunlight plays an increasing role in energy solutions - for solar energy and urban gardens. Trees that mature at over 70 feet can create shade pollution for neighbors up to three lots away. Several of the "right trees" for smog absorption are also those that mature at lower heights: …

Guest Commentary—Retain Solar Access In Code, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Good news: The Denver City Council is poised to enact the first comprehensive update to the Denver zoning code in 53 years. This new code could put Denver in the forefront as a progressive planning city and could serve as a blueprint for communities throughout the nation. Bad news: While the new code’s context- and form-based approach may improve transportation efficiencies in some parts of the city, in other respects it represents a step backward for sustainability, specifically for solar access.

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral—Wind? The Severed Wind Power Rights Conundrum, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

U.S. wind power capacity increased fifty percent in 2008, making wind one of the fastest growing energy sources. Wind has several advantages over conventional energy fuels: it is renewable, does not emit pollutants, and does not require scarce water resources to process the raw product or to generate electricity. Yet wind power’s rapid growth is creating its own crisis. Thousands of landowners across the country have severed their “wind rights,” splitting wind ownership apart from surface ownership. However, wind power development requires extensive, and perpetual, surface disturbance. As surface owners are the parties most impacted, taking them out of the …

Jousting At Wind Mills: When Wind Power Development Collides With Oil, Gas, And Mineral Development, K.K. Duvivier, Roderick E. Wetsel

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Success for the renewable energy economy rides on wind power. Although wind currently accounts for only one percent of the total electricity generation in the United States, the Obama administration hopes to leverage it to twenty-five percent by 2025. Even before setting the current goals, our government recognized wind power as 'the fastest growing source of new power generation.' As fate would dictate, some of the nation’s most promising wind resources overlap regions of the country rich in oil, gas, and other minerals. The intensive surface footprint of wind farms makes conflict with the development of underlying resources inevitable. This …

Attorney Fees As Superfund Response Costs, K.K. Duvivier, Carolyn L. Buchholz

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Although other areas of natural resources law have been hit by hard times, the environ- mental area is burgeoning. The intricacies of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com- pensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Super- fund), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), ensure attorney participation. Further- more, much of the fuel that drives CERCIA lit- igation is the presumption by many clients that their attorney fees are costs that can be re- covered as response costs under section 107 of CERCLA. 42 U.S.C. S 9607 (1983). Such an assumption may be a serious and costly …