Thursday, June 5, 2014
Coal, the Proposed Section 111 Rules, and Hydro
Last year, the Department of Energy published a short pamphlet on the future of hydropower in the United States. The pamphlet contains this graphic, which shows sites where existing dams and waterworks have significant hydropower potential but don't actually produce hydropower. From an environmental perspective, those are very promising sites; the environmental consequences of adding hydropower to an existing dam or lock compare rather favorably to the consequences of building a new dam--or fossil fuel power plant.
What's particularly striking about the graphic is where the greatest potential is concentrated: near the heart of coal country. Why does that matter? On Monday, EPA released its proposed CAA section 111 rules covering greenhouse gas emissions from electrical generating units. The proposed rules would impose statewide limits but would leave states with flexibility to decide on their approach to meeting those limits. One possible approach, which EPA specifically notes in the proposed rule, is to switch from carbon-intensive energy sources, like coal, to energy sources that with lower carbon intensity. Given its current availability and price, natural gas is one likely beneficiary of the new rules. But this map shows that coal country has another intriguing alternative.
-Dave Owen
June 5, 2014 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
ABA Survey for Law Professors
The ABA Section on Energy and Environment would like law professors in the U.S. to fill out the survey linked here. It takes only about ten minutes, at most. For more details, see below.
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On behalf of the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources ("SEER"), we would like to solicit input from law professors on an issue very important to SEER: the participation of environmental, energy, and natural resources law professors-a group that is typically under-represented in the Section. We would like your feedback on the types of benefits SEER can provide that would be of most interest to you. One of SEER’s specific goals is to increase the diversity of its membership to include more environmental, energy, and natural resources law faculty.
To that end, we ask that you follow the link below and complete a short survey that will help us to understand how SEER can best serve the academic community, and how SEER can encourage more academic participation and tailor SEER events to your specific interests. The survey should only take a few minutes to complete and will give each participant a chance to win a fee waiver to a SEER conference of his or her choosing, a value of up to $800.00!
The survey needs to be completed by no later than Friday, June 20, 2014.
Survey Link: americanbar.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_2o7Mqo96Sic71pX
Thanks for your time, and please do not hesitate to contact Omar Ortiz, Membership and Marketing Associate on ABA SEER staff, at [email protected] with any questions or feedback.
Sincerely,
Priscilla Harris
Kyle Landis-Marinello
ABA SEER Members and Leadership Development Program Participants
June 5, 2014 | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
