Exploring the Legal Aspects of Renewable Energy

I had lunch yesterday with a young attorney (more details on him soon) who will be researching and writing on the legal aspects of renewable energy for our readers at 2GreenEnergy.  I view this as a fantastic opportunity, since there are dozens of legal elements that need to be sorted out in order to accelerate the adoption of clean energy and, over time, phasing out the consumption of fossil fuels.  We discussed a few of these over our meal:

• Looking at the approach that countries like Germany have taken, i.e., standardizing the process of permitting, installing, and grid-tying solar PV such that lawyers are almost completely removed from the process

• Using the law to create a level playing field for renewables – and everything this implies: incentives, subsidies, carbon taxes, renewable energy credits, etc.

• Establishing Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) – the same legal framework for capital formation of renewable energy projects as those in oil and gas exploration enjoy

• Getting rid of the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling that enables corporations to spend as much as they like influencing our elections

• Exploring the work of the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) in using litigation to protect our natural environment

• Reporting on the work performed by the Environmental Law Institute, which “fosters innovative, just, and practical law and policy solutions to enable leaders across borders and sectors to make environmental, economic, and social progress.”

• Understanding the status of eminent domain law, as it may apply to establishing a build-out of our electrical grid with, perhaps, high-voltage DC power transmission.

There is a ton of extremely interesting and important material to be unearthed here, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity of presenting it here on our site.