Peak Oil Drives Return to the Big Easy

I have the great pleasure of being back in New Orleans. My wife and I bought our first house here when we came to the Big Easy to attend law school at Tulane, and there is always something special about being in this city for both of us. This trips marks my first opportunity to speak at my legal alma mater as a law professor, and I'm quite excited about it.  

When we came to Tulane, neither of us knew then what kind of law we would practice, or where, much less that would both want to (and be able to) become law professors. From the moment we set foot in New Orleans, though, we knew we loved it here.  And once we started experiencing law school, we both knew we loved that, too.  A lot of people can't say that, but we truly did.  A lot of it was the subject matter, of course. I also think part of that was because we did it together, and so even when it was hard, it was never lonely.  We still love being a part of the law school experience, and we love what we do, and we're thankful to have the opportunity to do what we love. And, again, we get to do that together.

Why is this relevent to this blog?  To the the extent it is, I suppose it is because it serves as part of the background for why I do what I do.  As I have said before, I believe that energy law and policy is business law and policy.  That is true of environmental law and policy in many cases, too.  As such, I am excited to be a part of the Tulane Law School Summit on Environmental Law & Policy on the panel, Are We Out of Gas?: The Peak Oil Question. Here's the session abstract:

Oil is not a renewable resource. Peak oil theory suggests that at some point in time demand for oil will be higher than the supply of oil. As oil reserves are depleted, finding and processing black gold will cost more money; possibly to the point where oil extraction will not be worth the costs. Panelists will discuss the legal and political issues revolving around the theory of peak oil. Oil is not a renewable resource. Peak oil theory suggests that at some point in time demand for oil will be higher than the supply of oil. As oil reserves are depleted, finding and processing black gold will cost more money; possibly to the point where oil extraction will not be worth the costs. Panelists will discuss the legal and political issues revolving around the theory of peak oil.

--JPF