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Accelerating Clean Energy: A Road Map for Regulatory Reform

This Article analyzes domestic hurdles to renewable energy development, and explores effective regulatory strategies at both the national and state levels to overcome barriers to clean energy transition. Projections indicate that the United States will need to triple its transmission grid capacity by 2050 to achieve decarbonization at the scale promised under the Paris Agreement. The transition faces major obstacles in permitting and siting, with limited transmission access and complex processes effectively obstructing the transition.

Agrivoltaics as a Lifeline for Rural Farmers and California's Renewable Energy Goals

Agrivoltaics, the concept of using solar energy systems to enhance agricultural production and generate renewable energy on the same plot of land, offers a lifeline to beleaguered farmers and  communities facing water shortages, cost increases, and marginal agricultural profitability. This concept seeks to aid California in its ambitious renewables portfolio standard, and could reduce the impacts of climate change and the toll agricultural operations take on the San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater resources.

Lost in Transmission: How to Bring More Clean Energy Onto the Grid

The Inflation Reduction Act and other policies are pushing solar, wind, and other clean energy technologies into the marketplace. But these generators struggle to make the physical connection to the electricity market because interconnection is proving to be a bottleneck; over 2,000 gigawatts of capacity are waiting to connect to the grid. This Article examines the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) regulations that govern the entry of new generation resources onto the grid.

Renewable Energy Federalism

This abstract is adapted from Danielle Stokes, Renewable Energy Federalism, 106 Minn. L. Rev. 1757 (2022), and used with permission.

Regulating EV Batteries’ Carbon Footprint: EU Climate Ambition or Green Protectionism?

The European Union’s (EU’s) recent proposal for a new regulation on EV batteries is a groundbreaking effort, the first to focus on the entire value chain to improve product sustainability and safety throughout the life cycle. Battery producers inside and outside of the EU will have to meet a series of requirements, starting from carbon footprint declaration and related labeling to complying with life-cycle carbon footprint thresholds, for having their products placed in the EU market.

This Permit Reform Already Works. Why Aren't More Mining Projects Using It?

In January 2021, the mining sector was made eligible for coverage under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41) program, a pilot project designed to expedite federal permitting. Although mining projects have been eligible for over two years, only recently was the first one posted on the Permitting Dashboard.

Crossed Wires and Split Circuits: Transmission Rights of First Refusal

As population growth and increased electrification rapidly raise demand for power, U.S. electric grids are struggling to keep pace, and the need for more transmission capacity is pressing. The U.S. Congress has delegated its interstate commerce authority to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to regulate interstate transmission rates. Meanwhile, states regulate intrastate transmission rates. What is perhaps surprising, though, is the fact that states generally have authority over the siting and construction of interstate transmission lines.

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

In 2015, the United Nations Member States, including the United States, unanimously approved 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. In a forthcoming book, leading legal scholars examine each of the SDGs and recommend a suite of government, private-sector, and civil society actions to help the United States achieve these goals. This Article is adapted from Chapter 7 of that book, Governing for Sustainability (John C. Dernbach & Scott E. Schang eds., ELI Press, forthcoming 2023).