2011 Carver Colloquium, to be Held at Denver Law October 20, is Energy Transmmission and Governance

The focus of the 2011 Carver Colloquium, to be held at Denver Law on October 20, is energy transmission and governance.

A major challenge with renewable energy is the development of a transmission infrastructure to connect rural sources to the urban users, often crossing local, state and regional jurisdictions along the way. The Carver Colloquium will feature former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. and Robin Kundis Craig, Associate Dean of the Florida State University College of Law, who will present two models of governance that could overcome this challenge.

The Carver Colloquium is an annual event hosted by the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute and Professor Jan Laitos, the John. A Carver, Jr. Chair at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. The Colloquium presents divergent or alternative viewpoints on cutting-edge issues in these fields in a point-counterpoint format.

Former Colorado Governor Ritter is the Director of the Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE) at Colorado State University. Ritter was elected as Colorado's 41st governor in 2006 and established Colorado as a national and international leader in renewable energy by building a New Energy Economy that is creating thousands of new jobs and establishing hundreds of new companies. Ritter served as Denver's District Attorney from 1993 to January 2005, where he earned a national reputation as one of the country's most effective and innovative prosecutors, and several of his programs continue to serve as state and national models.

Robin Kundis Craig is the Attorney's Title Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Environmental Programs at Florida State University College of Law. She specializes in all things water, including the Clean Water Act, water law and the public trust doctrine, water resources and climate change and the intersection of water issues and land issues. She is the author of several books and over 50 law review articles and book chapters. Professor Craig also serves as Chair of the American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources’ Marine Resources Committee. At Florida State, she teaches several courses and seminars, including: Environmental Law, Water Law, Civil Procedure, Property, International Biodiversity Law, and the Clean Water Act, as well as the Environmental and Land Use Law Certificate Seminar.

To register for the event, please click here.

Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr. Interviewed as Part of "Environmental Leaders Series:" Discusses His Administration's Energy Initiatives

Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr. discusses his administration's energy initiatives, with particular focus on renewable energy initiatives, in a new video interview now available on the University of Denver Sturm College of Law website. The 45 minute interview can be accessed by clicking here.

Governor Ritter, who served from 2007 to 2011 and who is credited with coining the phrase "the new energy economy," was interviewed by Don Smith, Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy program.

The interview provides an inside look at Governor Ritter's energy philosophy as well as the challenges he faced in implementing it. Among the key observations made by Governor Ritter are:

• The competitive advantages of establishing a renewable energy portfolio standard (i.e., a minimum level of generation from renewable sources) "are undeniable."
• Colorado is the best place in the world for research and technological development related to renewable energy.

Governor Ritter, who now directs the Policy Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, also discusses how he came to believe that renewable energy, and "the new energy economy," should be a key foundation of his administration's work, why he supported increasing the state's renewable portfolio standard from 10 percent to 30 percent during his term in office, and how the barriers to additional renewable energy development might be addressed.

Professor Smith said, "As Governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter Jr. was one of the nation's leading advocates of renewable energy. But even more importantly in many respects was the Governor's ability to translate his policy vision into legislative reality. The interview with Governor Ritter, which is now available to anyone by way of our website, is one more step in the Sturm College of Law's goal of being 'the' renewable energy law school in the U.S. Next school year (August 2011-June 2012) the Sturm College of Law will offer four renewable energy-related courses, along with numerous other undertakings by faculty and students that also will build our institutional renewable energy expertise."

"It was an honor to host Governor Ritter at the Sturm College of Law. Anyone interested in renewable energy law in any part of the U.S. -- or internationally for that matter -- should watch this video and take account of the Governor's observations. His is one of the most credible voices in the nation talking about renewable energy," Professor Smith said.

Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr. to Visit Sturm College of Law; Will Discuss Renewable Energy Policies and Results

On Saturday March 12, former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. will visit the Sturm College of Law (SCOL) at the University of Denver where he will be interviewed about how his administration approached energy issues during his term as governor.

Of special focus will be the renewable energy policies he promoted and helped enact into Colorado law. His views about regional energy issues -- including transmission -- as well as federal issues will also be explored.

The SCOL Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program is sponsoring the program. Don Smith, the program's director, will conduct the interview, which will begin at 9 a.m. in the Hughes Rare Books room in the Westminster Library (the room is located on the second floor of the Sturm College of Law; enter the Westminster Law Library, turn left, walk by the staircase, and then turn left into the Hughes room.) The interview is open to the public.

Mr. Smith is seeking ideas for questions and would welcome ideas from any members of the DU community. He asks that your question be specific and include any background information that will be useful to provide context for the question. While he will make his best effort to ask submitted questions, the questions will be reviewed to avoid redundancy. Please submit your questions (and background materials) by 5 p.m. Thursday (tomorrow) to his e-mail address dcsmith@law.du.edu.

The full interview will be available on the Sturm College of Law website next week.

Becky Bye, 2005 JD Graduate, Interviews Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter for the Denver Bar Association's "The Docket"

Becky Bye, a May 2005 JD graduate of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, recently published an article titled "A Conversation With Attorney (and Governor) Bill Ritter" (pictured left) for The Docket, the publication of the Denver Bar Association.

Among other things, Ms. Bye asked Governor Ritter about his enthusiasim for promoting the "new energy economy," a term that many ascribe to the Governor himself. During his term in office, Governor Ritter was widely credited for promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency through various executive level decisions as well as legislative initiatives.

As reported by Ms. Bye, Governor Ritter said, "I think I had the ability to...say we can produce energy differently, we can consume energy differently. It would be good for our energy portfolio, and it would be good for national security if we found a way to produce energy domestically more than we currently do." To read the full text of Ms. Bye's article, please click here.

Ms. Bye serves as legal counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. She has also worked for Holland & Hart and as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Colorado. In the latter role, Ms. Bye provided legal advice to the Commissioners of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

Colorado Adopts 30 Percent Renewable Energy Standard for Electricity by 2020; "Cements" Colorado's Reputation as Center of "New Energy Economy"

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has signed into law legislation requiring that 30 percent of electricity generated by state regulated utilities be from renewable sources by 2020. It represents the largest renewable portfolio standard in the U.S. Rocky Mountain West.

According to the Governor, the law will create thousands of new jobs and result in 100,000 solar rooftops between now and 2020. Please click here to listen to Gov. Ritter's remarks about this historic legislation.

In signing the legislation, Gov. Ritter said, "Today we continue to chart a new course for Colorado's New Energy Economy and America's clean energy economy. Colorado is giving every state and the entire nation a template for tomorrow. This is a game-changer. We are transforming the future of Colorado and our country."

Over the past six years Colorado's renewable energy goals for electricity generation by 2020 have increased from zero in 2003, to 10 percent in 2004, to 20 percent in 2007, to 30 percent in 2010. The law calls for three percent of the 30 percent to be met by local solar power.

The measure, which was supported by the state's largest electricity provider Xcel Energy, was embraced by Environment Colorado (EC). "Today we've truly 'hit it out of the park,' taking Colorado's vision for new energy future to the big leagues," Pam Kiely, program director with EC, said.

As this blog has reported many times, Colorado is at the center of the nation's new energy economy. Come learn about it at the Sturm College of Law, where you will find an impressive and steadily increasing offering of energy and renewable energy offerings taught by the nation's best renewable energy policy and technology experts and practitioners.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Testifies Before Congress About "New Energy Economy"

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter testified recently about the "new energy economy" before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Mr. Ritter was joined by governors from other states including Jon Hoeven of North Dakota and Christine Gregoire of Washington.

According to Mr. Ritter, "The new energy economy is energizing Colorado's entire economy, even in the worst downturn in 75 years. This did not happen by accident. It happened through a concerted and aggressive effort, and the new jobs we're creating are real and they are happening in every corner of Colorado."

Mr. Ritter, who was recently ranked by Greenopia as the top state governor for environmental responsibility, said, "We must hand over a world that is more energy secure, more environmentally secure, and more economically secure than it is today.

Now this purpose of this blog is not to promote Mr. Ritter's -- or anyone's -- personal agenda. But it is noteworthy as yet another indication that Colorado is at "ground zero" for renewables, energy efficiency, and the firms that are pushing these into the marketplace.

And before closing, it is worth noting that one of the pioneers in establishing Colorado's renewable energy portfolio -- which was approved by state voters in a 2004 referendum -- was Lola Spradley, the former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. Mr. Ritter is a Democrat; Ms. Spradley a Republican. Speaking conceptually, renewable energy doesn't really have much time -- at least in Colorado -- for party labels.

Howard Kenison, Prominent U.S. Environmental Lawyer and DU Alumnus, Participates in Green Energy Roundtable

Howard Kenison, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Environmental Law and chair of the ABA Working Group on Environmental Issues and the Rule of Law, says that Colorado is in the top five -- and perhaps the top three -- in terms of state activities involving green energy technology.

Mr. Kenison, a DU law alumnus and chair of Lindquist & Vennum's Environment, Natural Resources, and Climate Change practice group, recently participated in a roundtable discussion ("Inside the Boardroom: Being Green and Generating Green Dominates Roundtable," June 15, 2009") about Colorado's leading role in green energy development sponsored by Law Week Colorado. 

Mr. Kenison pointed out that Colorado's impressive green energy technology standing is driven, in part, "by the fact that we're at a place where we have wind, we have solar, and we have a relatively good transmission grid, although we're going to need to do a lot of work to update that grid to bring renewables on line."

Despite Colorado's favorable geographic setting, however, Mr. Kenison said that the state should not assume "just by virtue of sunshine and wind that we'll become a green energy center. I think we have to work at it. I think we have to consciously decide that we as a state want to do that." 

The key is to have many stakeholders working together, he said adding:

"It means working with [utility company] Xcel [Energy], it means working with [utility firm] Tri-State, which just acquired maybe 200 megawatts of solar in New Mexico. And they now have to tap into their transmission system to bring it...to the front range...Whether you are utilities, whether you're in the environmental group, to get us to that point we have to make a conscious decision to do that. And that's what, I think, hopefully, [Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter] is doing. It sounds like he's doing it, because he keeps saying energy policy...and green energy, but we really have to do it as a team."

Mr. Kenison has been a long-time friend of the LLM/MRLS program, supportive of the graduate program's mission and always willing to provide advice about how to improve the program based on his wide-ranging experiences in the practice of environmental law.  

As a leader in environmental law, his observations about what is going on in Colorado, and nationally for that matter, merit close consideration.  Put simply, what he says matters.