Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

The Natural Resources Committee of the House of Representatives started on February 11 the first of a series of three hearings on the U.S. offshore oil and gas drilling policy. I summarise hereafter the main elements of the current discussion. Why a ban on offshore drilling? The background for the current discussions is the end of two bans on offshore drilling in most of the U.S. waters. The bans consist of: (1) a presidential ban adopted by President George Bush Senior in 1989, in reaction to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, and lifted by his son G.W. Bush in July 2008; (2) a Congressional ban from 1981, under the form of a moratorium, renewable each September, and which expired in September 2008. These bans restricted areas that could be offered by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) for outer continental shelf (OCS) leasing. The remaining restrictions concern: the “Presidential Withdrawal”, which excludes all marine sanctuaries from oil and gas leasing activities;...

I would like to report here on a seminar I attended this week on the topic in title, at UC Berkeley Law School, where Prof. Oona Hathaway presented brillantly her views. She classifies challenges into three categories: framing, structure and substance. I reproduce hereafter my notes from her presentation. 1. Framing, answering shortcomings of previous administration and attacks. Several U.S. politicians expressed strong criticisms against the international institutions, and in particular the United Nations (U.N.)system and the necessity the defend the country sovereignty. Prof. Hathaway quoted among others Congressman Ron Paul or Pat Buchanan (the latter having said that UNCLOS "represents a permenant loss of national sovereingty"). The previous decades saw the withdrawal of the U.S. from several international treaties, and a switch in public opinion regarding the U.S. role in international politics. Only 35 % of the world population see the U.S. as an important international...

… in a declaration to read on the Energy Charter website, here .

For those not familiar with the Superbowl, one of the side entertainment to the sport event is the competition for getting the best TV-ad (at the most dramatic moment of course). And it was with interest that we could watch this year a General Electric advertisement featuring smart grid technologies (on the song "If I only had a brain" from the Wizard of Oz). Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1XqLPa9BoA I will shortly comment on some aspects of the smart grid in a latter message. But to introduce the theme, "smart grid" technologies aim, among other things, to manage energy more efficienctly in particular at the consumption level, increase energy storage capacity (such as in the transport sector), work on transmission and distribution systems, develop large-scale integration of renewable energy.

Facing the urgent challenges of the financial crisis and security of energy supply after the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute, the European Commission is pursuing the foundation of a consistent European energy policy. The plan unveiled on January 28, 2009 by the Commission aims to invest € 3.5 billion in energy projects over at least the next two years . The overall purpose is to “ aid economic recovery by granting Community financial assistance to projects in the field of energy .” In other words, the plan is thought to provide the necessary financial impetus which will not come from elsewhere in a context of financial crisis. This corresponds to the principles of action defined in the European Economic Recovery Plan (COM(2008)800) endorsed by the European Council in December 2008: “ injection of purchasing power into the economy ”, to boost demand and stimulate confidence; “ direct short-term action to reinforce Europe's competitiveness in the long term ”, focusing on "smart...

There is here an obvious coordination of strategies and views on the manner to tackle the financial crisis. Both the European Union (EU) and the U.S. new administration see energy security, in all its different components, as a vital sector for the well-being and growth of their economy in the short-term. The so-called “economic stimulus package” under discussion by the two Houses of the U.S. Congress foresees to invest in clean energy and green jobs, for an approximate amount for $145.3 billion. The House of Representatives have already approved $819 billion under the stimulus bill on January 28, 2009. The bill will now be examined by the Senate. Hereafter are summarised some of the actions and corresponding stimulus instruments (See Apollo Alliance for details): towards a modernised and “smart” electricity grid : funding for R&D, pilot projects, and federal matching funds for the Smart Grid Investment Program, loan guarantees for investment and implementation of infrastructure pr...