The Power of the People: Resisting Big Wind in Rural Iowa
January 24, 2023 by Taylor Fisher Renewable Energy State and LocalBy Taylor Fisher, Staff Contributor
Online Articles
The DOE Wants to Cut the Cost of Geothermal by 90%. Simplifying Geothermal Permitting Could Help it Get There.
November 14, 2022 by Diego Huerta Energy Renewable EnergyBy Diego Huerta, Staff Contributor.
Show Me the Money: Lessons from the New Renewable Energy Capital of the World
October 18, 2022 by Jesse Valente Renewable EnergyBy Jesse Valente, Staff Contributor.
So Long, Solar? The Future of Net Energy Metering in California Will Soon Be Decided
October 19, 2021 by Vyasa Babu Energy Renewable Energy State and LocalBy Jaclyn Lee, Staff Contributor
Word count: 745
In September 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) began its highly anticipated proceeding to reevaluate the state’s net energy metering successor (NEM 2.0) tariff. Expected no later than January 2022, the decision from the national leader in solar electricity production could have far-reaching impacts on the future of customer-owned solar generation and battery storage.
Renewable Energy Framed as the Culprit of Texas Blackouts
April 20, 2021 by Lawrence Corbeille Climate change Energy Environmental Law Review Syndicate Fossil Fuels Renewable EnergyBy Blake Ellis, Staff Contributor
In February 2021, the state of Texas experienced unprecedented power outages caused by severe winter storms. Conservative politicians and media were quick to blame the use of renewable energy as the culprit of the outages. The facts present a different explanation.
Extending Tax Credits for Renewable Energy Projects – Is it an effective relief under COVID-19?
January 22, 2021 by Shannon Twiss Energy Renewable EnergyBy Farrah Yan, Staff Contributor
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?
The Energy Treaty 2.0 - What Does It Mean For The European Green New Deal
October 13, 2020 by Cullen T. Bryant Energy Natural Resources Renewable EnergyBy Volodymyr Ponomarov, Staff Contributor
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.
Don’t Let this Crisis Go to Waste
May 3, 2020 by Camilla Brandfield-Harvey Climate change Energy Natural Resources Renewable EnergyBy Robert Patton, Managing Editor
The coronavirus pandemic provides a unique opportunity to address global climate change.
A National Problem with No National Solution
February 26, 2020 by Sara Douki Energy Fossil Fuels Natural Resources Oil and Gas Renewable Energy State and Local WaterGabriel Dowdell, Staff Contributor
Should the EPA regulate fracking more heavily? Currently, states that benefit financially from fracking regulate the industry.
Too Much, Too Soon: A Case For Slowing The Rate or Degree Of Withdrawing Federal Regulatory Incentives For Photovoltaic Cells
February 24, 2020 by De Vann Sago Energy Federal Rollbacks Online Supplemental Article Renewable EnergyIn 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.