Environmental Law Commons^™

Shopping For State Constitutions: Unequal Gift Clauses As Obstacles To Optimal State Encouragement Of Carbon Sequestration, Nicholas Houpt

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Carbon capture and sequestration technology (CCS) could drastically reduce CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants, thereby mitigating climate change. CCS, however, faces a difficult barrier to market entry: liability for the technology’s many long-term risks. States would like to alleviate this long-term liability problem to capture CCS’s social benefits. Some state constitutions, however, have provisions called “gift clauses” that prohibit giving aid to private parties. This Note argues that some state constitutions’ gift clauses prevent indemnification of private CCS developers. As this Note’s fifty state survey shows, other state constitutions allow indemnification. This asymmetry in constitutionally-allowed financial encouragement results in …

'American Electric Power’ Leaves Open Many Questions For Climate Litigation, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

On June 20, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in American Electric Power v. Connecticut, the second climate change case to be decided by that Court and the first to concern common law claims. The decision resolves a few issues but leaves many others open.

Environmental And Energy Legislation In The 112th Congress, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

When Barack Obama succeeded George W. Bush in January 2009, backed by solid majorities in both the House and the Senate, the country seemed poised for the first major environmental legislation since 1990, the year of the Oil Pollution Act and the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. Under the leadership of Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), the House passed a comprehensive climate change bill based on an economywide cap-and-trade system. The House also passed a bill to lift oil spill liability caps and adopt additional reforms in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill. …

Model Municipal Ordinance Project Designed To Facilitate Wind And Solar Projects And Green Buildings, Michael B. Gerrard, Danielle Sugarman

Faculty Scholarship

Soaring oil prices and the reality of climate change have underscored the heed to reduce U.S. fossil fuel dependence by improving energy efficiency and by developing and expanding renewable sources of energy. The International Energy Agency declared in 2010 that "[i]ncreasing energy efficiency, much of which can be achieved through low-cost options, offers the greatest potential for reducing CO2 emissions over the period to 2050." Furthermore, increasing our reliance on renewable resources such as wind and solar energy is not only a prudent measure in helping America to improve its energy security, but is a necessary component of a basket …

Harmonizing Climate Change Policy And International Investment Law: Threats, Challenges And Opportunities, Daniel M. Firger, Michael Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter responds to a chorus of commentary about the potential for conflict between the international investment law regime and an array of national and international actions being undertaken to mitigate and adapt to global climate change. Contrary to conventional wisdom, while some climate-friendly regulations may indeed be facially incompatible with the obligations imposed on states by typical international investment agreements (IIAs), many climate policies – especially those related to clean energy finance and technology transfer – involve principles common to foreign investment law and are largely compatible with that regime. Moreover, pending the unlikely negotiation of a single global …

New York's Revived Power Plant Siting Law Preempts Local Control, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

Taking most observers by surprise, the New York State Legislature on June 22, 2011, overwhelmingly passed The Power NY Act of 2011. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it on Aug. 4. The new law revives Article X of the Public Service Law after a nearly nine-year hibernation. As before, the law creates a one-stop, state-led program for permitting electric generating facilities while preempting local requirements. But the new Article X differs from its predecessor in several important ways: It covers facilities as small as 25 megawatts (down from the prior 80 megawatts threshold), it has even more generous provisions for funding …

Increasing Use Of Renewable Energy: Legal Techniques And Impediments, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

The current turmoil in the Middle East and the consequent rise in oil prices are highlighting the long-recognized need for the United States to reduce its dependence on foreign energy sources. The most promising way to do that is through increased efficiency in our use of energy. My last column (Jan. 13, 2011) discussed the legal aspects of that measure. Today’s column is devoted to the legal aspects of the second most important way – increasing the share of the energy that we use that comes from renewable sources.

What’S Ahead For Power Plants And Industry? Using The Clean Air Act To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Building On Existing Regional Programs, Franz T. Litz, Nicholas Bianco, Michael B. Gerrard, Gregory E. Wannier

Faculty Scholarship

In the absence of congressional action on climate change, all eyes are on the states and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to see how they will regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing large power plants and industrial facilities. Indeed, power plants and industrial facilities are the sources of half of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making those plants and facilities central to any effort to reduce the country’s total emissions. This working paper explores a promising pathway for the states and EPA to make these reductions using the standards of performance under section 111 of the Clean Air …

Environmental Law, Caleb A. Jaffe, Sean M. Carney

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Implications Of A Federal Renewable Portfolio Standard: Will It Supplement Or Supplant Existing State Inititives?, James M. Van Nostrand, Anne Marie Hirschberger

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Design Principles For Carbon Emissions Reduction Programs, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Paul C. Stern, Gerald T. Gardner, Thomas Dietz, Jonathan M. Gilligan

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The goal, articulated by President Obama in 2009, of reducing U.S. carbon emissions 17% from the 2005 level by 2020 iseminently achievable without new technology or appreciable sacrifice by energy users. However, achieving it will in part require sophisticated energy efficiency and conservation programs. To overcome institutional and behavioral barriers, these programs will need to implement six principles of effective design derived from 30 years of behavioral and social science research. We focus on the household sector, but believe our general conclusions likely apply to other sectors as well.

We recently developed an analysis for the household sector--energy use in …

Carbon Capture And Storage: An Option For Helping To Meet Growing Global Energy Demand While Countering Climate Change, Victor K. Der

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Energy Independence And Climate Change: The Economic And National Security Consequences Of Failing To Act, Mark E. Rosen

University of Richmond Law Review

This article draws heavily from the works of the CNA MAB, namely the twin and interrelated challenges arising from imprudent reliance on fossil fuels by developed and developing countries, as well as the serious environmental and national security"externalities" that directly result from current consumptive trends.

Offshore Windfall: What Approval Of The United States' First Offshore Wind Project Means For The Offshore Wind Energy Industry, Michael P. Giordano

University of Richmond Law Review

This comment explores the Cape Wind project with an emphasis on its role as the first United States offshore wind energy project. Part II of this comment explains the potential energy resource that offshore wind provides and examines some of the economic, technological, and regulatory challenges facing the development of offshore wind projects in United States waters. Part III of this comment introduces the Cape Wind project as a case study by briefly describing the particular political struggles and permitting challenges faced by its developers. Part IV of this comment analyzes how DOI approval and the eventual construction of Cape …

Finding The Proper Forum For Regulation Of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Legal And Economic Implications Of Massachusetts V. Epa, George F. Allen, Marlo Lewis

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Agenda: The Promise And Peril Of Oil Shale Development, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

The largest known oil shale deposits in the world are in the Green River Formation, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Fully one-half of the world’s oil shale lies within 150 miles of Grand Junction, Colorado, and about 80% of these reserves are on federal land. Estimates of recoverable reserves in the Green River Formation range from 500 billion to 1.53 trillion barrels. At present consumption rates, this is enough oil to satisfy 100% of U.S. demand for well over 100 years.

Development of oil shale could cause significant impacts on the Colorado Plateau. It would provide for …

Slides: The Elusive Bonanza, Randy Udall

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

Presenter: Randy Udall, Co-founder, Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA

62 slides

Believe, Taggart Hutchinson, Shauna Stringham, Beth Grasso, Will Tilburg

Student Environmental Law Films/Golden Tree Films

The student created film “Believe,” a parody of the notion of clean coal, won the “Golden Tree” for Best Use of Humor. Produced by Taggart Hutchinson, Shauna Stringham, Beth Grasso and Will Tilburg, the film featured Tagg showering with coal-based soap, using a coal lightbulb, and cooking with coal.

Colorado’S Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act: Encouraging Conversion Of Coal Plants To Natural Gas, Jonathan Talamini

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

The State of Colorado's recently-enacted Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act (CACJA) requires utilities to create plans that reduce NOx emissions by 70% at a specified portion of their coal-fired electricity generation facilities by the end of 2017. It allows utilities to use many different methods to achieve those reductions, but encourages and incentivizes the replacement of coal-based generation with natural gas. Utilities must seek approval for their plans from state agencies and must work closely with those agencies in designing the plans. This paper discusses the legal, political, and economic context for CACJA, and highlights the bill's advantages and disadvantages as …

Emerging Law Addressing Climate Change And Water, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The World Economic Forum recognizes that while restrictions on energy affect water systems and vise versa, energy and water policy are rarely coordinated. The International Panel on Climate Change predicts that wet places will become wetter and dry places will become dryer. Transboundary water, energy and climate coordination can occur through international consensus building.

Energy Justice And Sustainable Development, Lakshman Guruswamy

Publications

Sustainable Development ("SD")--an expression of distributive justice--is the foundational premise of international energy and environmental law. It posits that international answers to environmental and energy problems cannot be pursued as independent and autonomous objectives but must be addressed within the framework of economic and social development. SD has been politically institutionalized in the Millennium Development Goals and a plethora of significant international instruments. Perhaps more importantly from a legal standpoint, SD is unequivocally codified, in the most widely accepted international energy and environmental treaties. This Article affirms the importance and continuing applicability of SD to the "other" third of the …

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.

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 …

Agenda: Western Water Law, Policy And Management: Ripples, Currents, And New Channels For Inquiry, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Policy Program

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

In many pockets of the American West, stresses and demands on water resources are overwhelming our capacity to effectively manage change and accommodate the diversity of interests and values associated with our limited water resources.

This event will offer an opportunity for lawyers, policymakers, and water professionals to engage the experts on the challenges and emerging solutions to the most pressing water policy and management issues of the day.

Planning For A Bull Market For Wetlands, Fred P. Bosselman

All Faculty Scholarship

Until recently, wetlands had value in the marketplace only as targets for destruction. Today, wetlands often have market value for uses that do not require that they be dredged and filled. Such opportunities include: 1. Carbon storage offsets for greenhouse gas emissions; 2. Mitigation banks for destruction of other wetlands; 3. Conservation banks for wildlife protection; 4. Tradable water quality protection rights; 5. Sites for growing algae or other biofuel crops. These new uses have valid public benefits, but most laws and ordinances were not written with these possibilities in mind. Planners and lawyers need to think about ways to …

Addressing The Energy Efficiency Financing Challenge: The Role And Limitations Of A Green Bank, Christopher Angell

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This paper will address how a federal program to aggregate and potentially guarantee loans made to finance energy efficiency projects can be leveraged to promote best practices on the state and local level for opening up energy efficiency projects to external financing. There are a number of existing financing tools that have started to solve the problem of providing access to capital for efficiency projects, but the programs are all relatively small and have had limited market penetration. One essential, but not exclusive, solution will be to create a federal entity, based on existing green bank proposals, that has the …

Cash For Clunky Appliances, Anna S. Fleder

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This paper examines the viability of a “Cash for Appliances” (“CfA”) program that targets home appliances toward the goal of increasing energy efficiency and decreasing greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. Analyzing an existing CfA effort at the federal level, this paper argues that the case for a federal CfA program is strong, but that the current federal effort falls short of fulfilling its potential. The analysis proceeds in four parts. Part I makes the case for a Cash for Appliances program as a policy tool for promoting energy efficiency. Part II examines existing programs that have done just this – utilized …

Foreword: Energy And The Environment: Empowering Consumers, Katrina Fischer Kuh

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The conference Energy and the Environment: Empowering Consumers brought together legal scholars, attorneys, scientists, philosophers, journalists, sociologists, elected representatives, and agency experts. This symposium issue of the Hofstra Law Review presents a selection of papers from conference participants that, together, illustrate some of the opportunities, challenges, and diverse questions that arise in the effort to deploy energy and environmental law and policy to embrace individual consumers and combat climate change.

First Annual Climate And Energy Law Symposium: Federal Preemption Or State Prerogative: California In The Face Of National Climate Policy: An Introduction, Richard J. Lazarus

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The University of San Diego School of Law's decision to create a new scholarly law journal dedicated to climate and energy issues could hardly come at a better time. ...
... The resulting debate and discussion, reflected in the following papers that the speakers produced, should be required reading for those lawmakers both in Washington, DC and in state capitals such as Sacramento, as they craft federal and state laws that seek to address this "most pressing environmental challenge."

Green From Above: Climate Change, New Developmental Strategy, And Regulatory Choice In China, Dongsheng Zang

Articles

This essay discusses a developmental strategy formulated in China between 2004 and 2007, with a strong emphasis on energy efficiency in response to growing pressure from global concerns of climate change. It tries to show how a top-down regulatory structure was reinforced in the process.