Energy and Utilities Law Commons^™

The Ecological Advantages Of Nuclear Power, Fred P. Bosselman

All Faculty Scholarship

Major electric utilities are deciding whether to build nuclear power plants. How will their decision affect ecological processes and systems, both in the United States and globally? The article makes three arguments: (1) if nuclear power plants are not built, the gap will be filled by more coal-fired power plants; (2) the impact of coal-fired power plants on ecological processes and systems is likely to be increasingly disastrous; and (3) nuclear power’s ecological impacts are likely to be neutral or even positive.

The Political Economy Of Energy And Its Implications For Climate Change Legislation, Jim A. Rossi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Public choice themes have arisen throughout the history of U.S. energy regulation and continue to be relevant today, particularly with widespread discussion of deregulation and increased attention to climate change. This Article surveys how public choice themes are relevant to understanding a host of issues of importance to the electric power industry today, including the structure of the industry, the significance of wholesale markets, and the division of regulatory power between state and federal authorities. The Article highlights how an understanding of how public choice has contributed to these features of the electric power industry will prove important to the …

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.

Agenda: World Energy Justice Conference And Appropriate Technology Arcade, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law

World Energy Justice Conference (October 23-24)

The 2009 CEES Energy Justice Conference took place at the University of Colorado Law School on October 23rd and 24th, 2009. It featured 11 sessions, more than 40 speakers, and attracted over 200 attendees. The Conference brought together leading international and U.S. decision-makers in politics, engineering, public health, law, business, economics, and innovators in the sciences to explore how best to address the critical needs of the energy-oppressed poor (EOP) through long-term interdisciplinary action, information sharing, and deployment of appropriate sustainable energy technologies (ASETs).

The Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy (CJIELP) at the University of Colorado Law …

Agenda: Best Practices For Community And Environmental Protection, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center. Intermountain Oil And Gas Bmp Project, Colorado. Oil And Gas Conservation Commission

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

The first Intermountain BMP Project workshop, sponsored by the Natural Resources Law Center and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, was held in Rifle, Colorado on October 14, 2009 at the Garfield County Fairground for over 170 participants.

Speakers from Federal, state and local governments, the community, industry and environmental consultants, and conservation groups focused presentations and discussion on a greater understanding of what Best Management Practices (BMPs) are appropriate to the western slope of Colorado and how they are integrated into developments.

Slides: Best Management Practices: Planning, Leasing, Permitting, Jamie Connell

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Jamie Connell, Northwest Colorado District Manager, U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Colorado

23 slides

Slides: Disappearing Roads--An Efd Project: An Exploration Into Low Impact And Efficient Gas Field Drilling, Charles Dolan

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Rich Haut, Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), for Dr. Charles Dolan, University of Wyoming, Environmentally Friendly Drilling Program

25 slides

Slides: Energy By Design: Possible Bmp For Mitigation Planning, Dave Gann

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Dave Gann, The Nature Conservancy

15 slides

Slides: Recommended Best Management Practices For Plants Of Concern: Practices Developed To Reduce The Impacts Of Oil And Gas Development Activities To Plants Of Concern, Brian Kurzel, Colorado Rare Plant Conservation Initiative

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Brian Kurzel, Colorado Natural Areas Program (CNAP)

27 slides

Slides: Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program (Efd), Rich Haut

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Rich Haut, Houston Advanced Research Center

23 slides

Slides: Innovative Best Practices For The Western Slope: Stormwater Management Solutions And Philosophy For The Oil And Gas Industry, Kyle N. Schildt

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Kyle N. Schildt, P.E., LT Environmental, Inc.

12 slides

Slides: Rifle, Silt, New Castle Community Development Plan: A Collaborative Planning Approach To Natural Gas Development, Peggy Utesch

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Peggy Utesch, Movin' Forward Consulting

25 slides

Slides: Bmp Project, Kent Kuster

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Kent Kuster, Consultation Coordinator, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE)

17 slides

Slides: Comprehensive Drilling Plans, Dave Neslin

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Dave Neslin, Director, Colorado OIl and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC)

8 slides

Slides: The Use Of Terrestrial Cyanobacteria For The Rehabilitation Of Arid Soils: Not Just Another Good Idea, Timothy Flynn

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Dr. Timothy Flynn, Primordial Solutions Inc.

42 slides

Slides: Intermountain Oil And Gas Bmp Project, Kathryn Mutz

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Kathryn Mutz, Natural Resources Law Center

19 slides

Slides: Introduction To Constructive Engagement In The Oil And Gas Industry, Susan T. Wildau, Christopher W. Moore

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenters: Susan T. Wildau and Christopher W. Moore, CDR Associates (Collaborative Decision Resources), Boulder, CO

22 slides

Baselines Newsletter, No. 5, Fall 2009, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Baselines: The Natural Resources Law Center Newsletter (2007-2011)

No abstract provided.

Off The Grid: Federal Jurisdiction And The Canadian Electricity Sector, Ian Blue

Dalhousie Law Journal

The author argues that the federal government should empower the National Energy Board to regulate transmission access on provincial electricity systems including the authority to order a provincial utility to construct new facilities, for the purpose of creating a truly national electricity system and facilitating interprovincial and international electricity sales. First, because Canada needs a national regulator who can address the creeping Americanization of the Canadian electricity sector arising from the U.S. legislation and decisions of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Second, because Canada needs a nationalbody to facilitate the movement ofnon-greenhouse gas sources of electricity to markets where it …

Solar Rights, Sara C. Bronin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The rights to access and to harness the rays of the sun - solar rights - are extremely valuable. These rights can determine whether and how an individual can take advantage of the sun’s light, warmth, or energy, and they can have significant economic consequences. Accordingly, for at least two thousand years, people have attempted to assign solar rights in a fair and efficient manner. In the United States, attempts to assign solar rights have fallen short. A quarter century ago, numerous American legal scholars debated this deficiency. They agreed that this country lacked a coherent legal framework for the …

Restructuring A Green Grid: Legal Challenges To Accommodate New Renewable Energy Infrastructure, Steven Ferrey

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

Things are never as simple as they might appear - and that is particularly true of understanding the demands on the new “smarter” grid. That “smarter” grid will include expanded renewable energy sources and new copper wire transmission to connect these new sources to load centers. Sounds simple, but there is much more to it to get it right. Electricity is our one form of energy that is not capable of efficient or low-cost storage; the grid must remain perfectly balanced second by second, or the power system collapses, as it did in California during its 2000–2001 electric system crisis, …

The Trojan Horse Of Electric Power Transmission Line Siting Authority, Jim A. Rossi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Reform proposals pending in the U.S. Congress would increase federal and regional power to preempt states in siting transmission lines on order to allow the development of a high-voltage transmission grid for renewable resources. This Article recognizes the inadequacy of existing state siting authority over transmission, but takes a skeptical approach to expanding federal siting jurisdiction as a solution to the problem and argues that the over-attention to transmission line siting authority is a bit of a Trojan horse in the climate change debate. Specifically, because it ignores the more difficult issues of how the costs and benefits of transmission …

Harmonious Federalism In Support Of National Energy Goals – Increased Wind Renewable Energy, Ronald H. Rosenberg

Faculty Publications

American energy policy has slowly begun to change the mix in the sources of supply of electricity to residences, industry, and businesses. Renewable sources of electricity have been promoted as future contributors of large portions of the nation's electricity consumption. Wind power has been identified as a potentially substantial future electricity source contributing up to 20% of American demand 2030. To achieve these optimistic goals, there must be: (1) cost-effective, reliable energy technology; (2) sufficient investment capital to finance new construction; and (3) the existence of supportive governmental policies at all levels government. This article discusses the importance of inter-governmental …

The Very Basics Of Sustainability - An Alternative Viewpoint (Slides With Audio) (Large File! To Speed Up Download, Right-Click On "Download" Link To Save To Own Pc.), Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

This presentation sets out the very basics of ‘sustainability’, although a definition of sustainability is not attempted. Some of the very basics are the context in which the Earth and humankind exist in space and time, the Earth’s climate, the Earth’s population and humankind’s options and choices. The author advocates keeping an open mind on all available options, including the use of oil, gas, coal, tar sands, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear power etc., as well as the technologies that are more widely considered ‘green’. The author also argues that, in addressing the challenges that humankind faces, globally concerted effort …

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 …

Front Matter, Natural Resources Journal

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

Slides: Groundwater Law And Administration: From Conflict To Reform, Michael A. Gheleta

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Michael A. Gheleta, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, Denver, CO

14 slides

Slides: Modifying Prior Appropriation: The Spectrum Of Experiences, Adam Schempp

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Adam Schempp, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC

12 slides

Slides: Next Evolutionary Steps In State Instream Flow Programs, Lawrence J. Macdonnell

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Lawrence J. MacDonnell, attorney and consultant, Boulder, CO

27 slides

Slides: Rethinking Western Water Law: Restoring The Public Interest In Western Water Law, Mark Squillace

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado Law School

20 slides