Law Commons^™

V.10, 2019 Mastead

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Fracking The Public Trust, Kevin J. Lynch

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article explores the application of the public trust doctrine to fracking, specifically as it relates to regulations designed to prevent harms of continued greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a result of the extraction and burning of fossil fuels.

Evolving Energy Federalism: Zero Emissions Credits And Opportunities In State Energy Policy, Matt Flaherty

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

Courts traditionally view regulation of the energy sector as a dual federalism framework in which a “bright line” separates sovereignty of the states from the power reserved to federal regulators. In particular, the Federal Power Act (FPA) grants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authority over wholesale electricity markets. Courts generally interpret this authority over wholesale markets as exclusive, which ensures the federal government and states occupy different fields of the electric industry. States retain authority in fields that bookend FERC’s power over wholesale markets— electric power generation on one side and retail sales of electricity on the other…

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The Emergence Of Commercial Scale Offshore Wind: Progress Made And Challenges Ahead, Joseph B. Nelson, David P. Yaffe

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article examines the offshore wind development process from leasing and permitting to electric power supply and interconnection. Willing developers may divide the process into three discrete, but not necessarily sequential, endeavors. First, the developer must secure a viable purchaser or market for the output. “Offshore wind energy” is a more complex commercial product than one might envision—it includes the actual electric energy produced, the electric generating capacity that is available to serve load, and both the environmental and clean energy attributes of wind energy. The environmental and clean energy attributes may have an economic and regulatory value separate from, …

State Climate Actors Under The Federal Power Act: A 2017 Fpa Update, Guidance, And Solution, Ian Kearney

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

Climate change poses the greatest single threat to nearly every being on this planet. It is the result of many factors, but anthropogenic emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gasses (GHGs) are among the largest contributors to climate change. Though many sources emit anthropogenic GHGs, the energy sector is the largest global emitter of any economic sector. As such, the energy sector has come under particular scrutiny as it relates to climate change policy.

Today in the United States, state climate action is as prevalent as ever. However, the federal government’s environmental progress under the Obama Administration has come to …

Enforcement Or Fiction? Considering Grants Of Authority Under The California Global Warming Solutions Act Of 2006 And An Alternative To Compel Enforcement, Jessica Kirshner

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

California has long established itself as a leader in climate change policy, with a deeply entrenched and ever-developing regulatory framework. The state is home to some of the earliest research on, and regulations targeted at, mitigating the severe implications of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, like carbon dioxide (CO2), on Earth’s atmosphere. It is therefore unsurprising that California’s regulatory approaches for climate change mitigation and GHG emissions reductions influence local and national climate change law and policies. This influence also notably percolates international climate policy. However, before California may definitively proclaim itself as a global model for successful climate change efforts, …

Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift: The Risks Of Net Neutrality Repeal To Energy Reliability, Public Safety, And Climate Change Solutions, Catherine J.K Sandoval

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article contends that the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) January 2018 repeal of net neutrality rules created a “zero-day” cybersecurity vulnerability for the energy sector and other criti¬¬¬cal infrastructure. “A zero-day cybersecurity vulnerability is a previously unknown flaw in a computer program that exposes the program to external manipulation.” The flaw may also reside in compromised hardware that creates a “back door” into the internet-connected device. This Article argues that cybersecurity has been primarily viewed from a “hacker paradigm” that obscures systemic threats an Internet Service Provider (ISP) can create to energy reliability and cybersecurity through paid priority and other …