Energy and Utilities Law Commons^™

Shell Gulf Of Mexico, Inc. V. Center For Biological Diversity, Nick Vandenbos

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In an attempt to stave off what it saw as impending litigation, Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. filed suit under the Declaratory Judgment Act against a range of environmental groups opposed to Shell’s oil exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas of Alaska’s Arctic Coast. Shell requested a declaratory judgment that its oil spill response plans, as approved by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, did not violate the Administrative Procedures Act. Although noting the novelty of Shell’s argument, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded the district court had erred in determining a justiciable …

Maine Distributed Solar Valuation Study, Benjamin L. Norris, Philip M. Gruenhagen, Robert C. Grace, Po-Yu Yuen, Richard Perez, Karl R. Rábago

Environmental Law Program Publications @ Haub Law

During its 2014 session, the Maine Legislature enacted an Act to Support Solar Energy Development in Maine. P.L Chapter 562 (April 24, 2014) (codified at 35‐A M.R.S. §§ 3471‐3473) (“Act”). Section 1 of the Act contains the Legislative finding that it is in the public interest is to develop renewable energy resources, including solar energy, in a manner that protects and improves the health and well‐being of the citizens and natural environment of the State while also providing economic benefits to communities, ratepayers and the overall economy of the State.

Section 2 of the Act requires the Public Utilities Commission …

Green Energy In Indian Country As A Double-Edged Sword For Native Americans: Drawing On The Inter-American And Colombian Legal Systems To Redefine The Right To Consultation, Diana Coronel David

Student Works

Energy is a key component in the redress of climate change evils and the United States has one of the highest per capita energy consumption in the world. The federal government’s goal is to reduce the country’s dependence on oil and double its wind and solar electricity generation by 2025. The development of renewable energy projects is to a great extent tied to Indian Country. This is highly important for Indian tribes as an empowering mechanism. Such projects could represent new sources of income for tribes whose traditional subsistence-based lifestyles have been impacted by climate change. Renewable energy projects in …

Getches-Wilkinson Center Newsletter, Spring 2015, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment Newsletter (2013-)

No abstract provided.

Expanding The Renewable Energy Industry Through Tax Subsidies Using The Structure And Rationale Of Traditional Energy Tax Subsidies, Blake Harrison

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Just as the government invested in oil and gas, it must now invest in new energy sources. In a sense, Americans need history to repeat itself. This Note suggests that Congress should amend the United States Tax Code to further subsidize the renewable energy industry. Congress should use subsidies historically available to the oil and gas industries as a model in its amendments. These subsidies serve as a model for promoting the renewable energy industry because such subsidies were fundamental in facilitating the oil and gas industries’ dominance today. Ultimately, Congress must further subsidize the renewable energy industry to avoid …

Cause For Rebellion? Examining How Federal Land Management Agencies & Local Governments Collaborate On Land Use Planning, Michelle Bryan

Faculty Law Review Articles

This Article examines how well federal agencies and local governments are collaborating in land use planning, with a particular focus on the West.26 Part I provides a brief overview of local government planning as well as the overarching National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”)27 requirements that apply to federal planning. Part II offers a comparative summary of the varied planning approaches across federal agencies, with a particular focus on the role that local governments can play in agency planning.28 Based on case studies and interviews with federal and local officials, Part III then recommends how to improve federal-local planning efforts so …

Gaps And Changed Circumstances In Energy Contracts: The Devil In The Detail, William W. Park

Faculty Scholarship

Energy contracts have long been vexed by questions about the role of gap filling by arbitrators and judges, along with the effect of changed circumstance on the parties’ obligations. Each challenge continues to resist facile analysis as differing legal standards interact with subtleties of contract language and factual matrixes. In the face of these challenges, arbitrators must seek a delicate equilibrium between legitimate respect for bargains and an equally legitimate recognition of expectations that genuine gaps be filled and dramatically changed circumstances receive appropriate consideration. In aiming for counterpoise, common sense normally pays greater dividends than ideology or dogmatism.

Advancing Climate Justice In International Law: Evaluating The United Nations Human Rights Based Approach, Dr. Damilola S. Olawuyi

Environmental and Animal Law

The Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University College of Law's Center for International Law & Justice and the Environment, Development & Justice Program presented the First Annual Climate and Energy Justice Lecture featuring Dr. Damilola S. Olawuyi. Dr. Olawuyi teaches and conducts research in the area of public international law, specializing in natural resources, energy and environment, oil and gas law and international human rights law.

Foreign Oil And Taxation: The Need For A Coordinated Energy Policy, E.C. Lashbrooke Jr.

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Measuring Brief, Susan Johnson, Mitchell Lowenthal, Rose Monahan

Pace Environmental Law Review Online Companion

No abstract provided.

Measuring Brief, Alex Acerra, Grant Campbell, Lauren Christmas

Pace Environmental Law Review Online Companion

No abstract provided.

Measuring Brief, Harley Carmer, John Robinson Jr., Douglas Naftz

Pace Environmental Law Review Online Companion

No abstract provided.

2014 Bench Memorandum

Pace Environmental Law Review Online Companion

No abstract provided.

2014 National Environmental Moot Court Competition Problem

Pace Environmental Law Review Online Companion

No abstract provided.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, John W. Kindt

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Implementation Of The Eu Directive On Environmental Impact Assessment In The Czech Republic: How Long Can The Wolf Be Tricked?, Veronika Tomoszkova

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the former Czechoslovakia experienced the most enthusiastic wave of environmental law drafting in its history. The Czech Act on Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA Act”) was among the first new environmental statutes adopted already in 1992 with the intention to harmonize Czechoslovakian law with European Union (“EU”) law and to prevent exploitation and pollution of the environment in Czechoslovakia, which in the early 1990s counted for one of the worst in the world. The hardship of transition process that hit Czechoslovakia in 1992 caused a shift from enthusiastic pro-active environmental movement towards more pragmatic approach …

Rising Seas, Receding Ethics? Why Real Estate Professionals Should Seek The Moral High Ground, Keith W. Rizzardi

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

Despite the scientific consensus, some political leaders in the United States deny the need for policy making in response to sea level rise. Even in coastal Florida and Virginia, where communities face acute risks of flooding and economic damage, the problem has been denied. Land use development and real estate professionals, when discussing the subject, have a responsibility to do better than our political leaders. In fact, the ethical codes of the professions – law, architecture, engineering, planning, real estate, and corporate compliance – all demand honesty. Material facts must be disclosed, and professionals cannot conceal truth, particularly if it …

Table Of Contents

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

No abstract provided.

Masthead And Front Matter

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

No abstract provided.

Moving Military Energy “Behind The Fence:” Renewable Energy Generation On U.S. Defense Lands, Cameron E. Tommey

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

The United States Department of Defense stands as the world’s single largest consumer of energy—domestic consumption alone by the Department amounts to nearly one percent of the United States’ total energy consumption and nearly eighty percent of the energy consumed by the Federal Government. Although a cadre of statutes, Executive Orders, and agency priorities set high goals for the introduction of renewable energy into the Department’s portfolio, it has historically failed to meet both its target for reducing facility energy use and its target for renewables integration. This Note suggests moving the Department’s energy production “behind the fence,” fixing technology …

Necessary Change: Re-Calculating Just Compensation For Environmental Benefits, Scott Salmon

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

This Note is about the recent New Jersey Supreme Court case, Borough of Harvey Cedars v. Karan, and how other courts should adopt its holding of allowing all reasonably certain and calculable benefits to be considered in determining partial takings just compensation. Furthermore, it addresses the impact that the decision will have on environmental takings and its importance to the future of both property and environmental law.

The Shifting Use Of The So-Remote-As-To-Be-Negligible Standard For Qualified Conservation Contributions, Ashley H. Waterbury

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

Qualified conservation contributions, also known as conservation easements, have become a subject of close scrutiny under the Internal Revenue Service within the past decade. One reason for such scrutiny is that conditions are being imposed on these contributions, testing the perpetuity requirement for conservation easement deductions. In order for a condition on the donation to survive, the condition must be “so remote as to be negligible.” The judicial interpretation of the so-remote-as-to-be-negligible standard has fluctuated since its addition to the Treasury Regulations in 1939. Most recently, the Tax Court in Graev v. Commissioner, explored the meaning of the so-remote-as-to-be-negligible standard …

An Increase In Beach Reconstruction Projects May Mean A Decrease In Property Rights: The Need For A Multi-Factor Balancing Test When Protecting Waterfront Property, Amy Forman

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

In recent years, many states have struggled to come up with an adequate solution to the negative effects of climate change, specifically rising sea levels and severe storms. The most common and successful method of protection, erecting barriers on the waterfront, not only raises its own environmental concerns, but also forces the government to invade on a homeowner’s property rights for the sake of protecting the beach. Recent cases such as the Borough of Harvey Cedars v. Karan, illustrate that when courts abandon traditional property rights, it becomes easier to implement protective measures and save their waterfront properties. This protection …

The Privatization Of Antarctica, Leonid A. Krasnozhon, Pedro A. Benitez, Walter E. Block

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

The seventh continent, Antarctica, is a no man’s land in terms of economic development. This is not due to its harsh weather conditions. Parts of Alaska, Canada and Russia are almost equally inhospitable. Rather, this Article argues that Antarctica’s economic isolation is the result of political paralysis and a lack of appreciation for private property rights. This Article makes the case for adding Antarctica to the family of nations, whether as one or several countries.

Slides: Practicing Sustainability In Natural Resource Industries, Gary D. Libecap

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: Gary D. Libecap, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and Economics Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

10 slides

Lessons From China’S Carbon Markets For U.S. Climate Change Policy, Susan Vermillion

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Agenda: Seeds Of Change: Responding To Global Change In A Bottom-Up World, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law, Posner Center For International Development, Resolve (Firm), Newmont Mining Corporation

Seeds of Change: Responding to Global Change in a Bottom-Up World (Martz Winter Symposium, February 12-13)

Sponsors: Posner Center for International Development, RESOLVE, Inc., Newmont Mining Corporation, and Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment.

Conference moderators, panelists and speakers included University of Colorado Law School professors Phil Weiser, Sarah Krakoff, Britt Banks, and Lakshman Guruswamy.

This conference is made possible through the generous support of donors who sponsored this year’s Martz Sustainability Symposium (including Newmont Mining Corporation) and those who have invested in our Clyde O. Martz Endowed Fund for Natural Resources Management (including Brian Dolan and Davis Graham and Stubbs LLP). The Martz Natural Resources Management Fund was established in the memory …

Symposium - The 9 Billion People Question: The Challenge Of Global Resource Scarcity

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

From Scarcity To Abundance: The Changing Dynamics Of Energy Conflict, Michael T. Klare

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

Energy security and geopolitics have played a pivotal role in international affairs for a very long time, ever since the development of oil-powered vehicles and weapons of war. Until recently, the geopolitics of energy have largely been governed by perceptions of scarcity—the assumption that oil and other energy reserves were relatively limited, and that competition over their exploitation would lead to recurring crisis and conflict. However, the recent utilization of advanced extractive technologies—including deep-sea drilling and hydraulic fracturing—have resulted in unexpected production gains and fostered a sense that abundance, rather than scarcity, will govern the future energy picture. …

London Calling To The Underground: Waste Heat In Urban Morphology Is Going Down The Tube, Nicholas J. Thies

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.