January 22, 2021
by Farrah Yan
Energy
Renewable Energy
COVID-19 has brought a lot of uncertainty to renewable energy projects. Even though the government recently enacted bills to extend renewable energy tax credits, whether this relief will be effective is of a question. As Joe Biden has put great emphasis on funding clean energy projects for his upcoming term, the questions are: what are some effective methods to boost the renewable energy industry? Are these methods viable under COVID-19?
October 13, 2020
by Volodymyr Ponomarov
Energy
International
Natural Resources
Renewable Energy
The European Green New Deal is an environmental plan aimed at making Europe carbon-neutral by 2050.[1] In order to achieve this ambitious goal, the European Union (“EU”) initiated the revision of a number of international agreements. Among one of those agreements is the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”). In July and September, 2020, the European Commission and EU Member States had two rounds of negotiations at the Energy Charter Conference dedicated to the modernization of the ECT.[2] The call for the ECT’s reform was, among other things, prompted by the ECT’s purported “serious threat to Europe’s climate neutrality target and more broadly to the implementation of the Paris Agreement.”[3]
The ECT’s modernization is important because this is the first targeted attempt to reshape the unique, legally-binding, energy-related multilateral treaty and marks a step towards compliance with the Paris Climate Accord. Additionally, modernization of the ECT provisions is relevant to U.S. companies investing in both the renewable and fossil fuel energy sectors of the ECT Member States. At this point, it is unclear how the two rounds of negotiations went and whether the actual changes are coming in the nearest future. The third round of negotiations is scheduled to take place in December 2020. This post will take a closer look at the ECT’s history, goals, and environmental standards. Furthermore, this post will address novel critiques as to its incompatibility with the Paris Climate Accord.
May 3, 2020
by Robert Patton
Climate change
Energy
Natural Resources
Renewable Energy
The coronavirus pandemic provides a unique opportunity to address global climate change.
By Robert Patton, Managing Editor
February 24, 2020
by Roy Jackson
Energy
Federal Rollbacks
Online Supplemental Article
Renewable Energy
In this exclusive online article, Roy Jackson, a recent Georgetown Law graduate, explains how photovoltaic-solar (“PV”) project costs have decreased in recent decades and how investments in this industry may grow stagnant under both recently enacted and proposed federal policy changes.
January 16, 2020
by Julia Sweitzer
Energy
Natural Resources
Renewable Energy
California has seen a recent surge in local municipalities establishing Community Choice Aggregation programs to choose their electricity portfolios. But how do these programs work and are they effective?
October 21, 2019
by Nick Gill
Energy
Fossil Fuels
Natural Resources
Renewable Energy
Although net metering has incentivized residential customers to switch from fossil fuel to solar energy, its pricing model confuses customers and shifts costs, making it untenable in the long-term.
April 6, 2019
by Kevin Hotchkiss
Energy
International
Renewable Energy
Blockchain has been hailed as the future of technology. Although innovative, the system revolves around "proof of work," a process that is resource intensive simply for the sake of being resource intensive. How does this technological innovation collide with the international push for sustainable development
March 6, 2019
by Sophie White
Climate change
Energy
The recent emergence of the ambitious Green New Deal has quickly shaped the conversation on climate change on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail. But what is the Green New Deal and is it really a deal at all?
March 1, 2019
by Sara Divett
Energy
Fossil Fuels
Natural Resources
Regulations
The Trump administration issued oil and gas drilling permits during the most recent shutdown without approval or appropriations by Congress and without following procedures for public participation. Can the administration really do this? If not, how do environmentalists prevent this from happening in future shutdowns?
February 21, 2019
by Kathryn Priester
Air
Energy
Federal Rollbacks
Fossil Fuels
Litigation
Regulations
Environmental groups and the State of California are up in arms over an EPA memo scrapping a decades-old Clean Air Act policy. Will the DC Circuit weigh in on the EPA’s use of “guidance” to drastically shift US regulatory policy?
