Colorado Wind-Power Industry Set to Grow Before Years End

Colorado wind power capacity is set to grow by 26% before the year ends. The American Wind Energy Association states that with current development plans, the states totally capacity for wind power will grow from 1,805 megawattts to 2,272 megawatts. This energy output would provide enough power to support 568,000 homes.

Xcel Energy opened two new wind farms on October 22nd, Limon I and Limon II. President and CEO of Xcel’s Colorado subsidiary, Public Service Co. of Colorado, David Eves said, “They offer some of the lowest-priced wind energy we’ve seen. And they demonstrate that renewable energy can compete on an economic basis with more traditional forms of generation fuel. They also help us meet the state’s Renewable Energy Standard at a very reasonable cost to our customers.”

This surge of wind powered energy generation stems from the Production Tax Credit (PTC), which is set to expire at the end of this year. Wind farm operators are in a hurry to become operational before the end of the year because they risk losing the assistance of the PTC, which pays $22 for every megawatt hour of energy generated.

President Barack Obama has said he supports extending the tax credit while Gov. Mitt Romney has said he favors letting the credit expire as scheduled. If you are interested in more information about The Election's Impact on Natural Resources Law and Policy, attend a free event by the same name taking place at DU’s College of Law on November 13th!

Angelica Oman

Graduate Program Assistant

Three Denver Law Environmental & Natural Resources Law Colleagues Meet in Papua New Guinea

Left to right Cecilia Dalupan,
Jeklin Talonu, and Kristy Disney in
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. 

Recently, three individuals associated with Denver Law's Environmental & Natural Resources Program met in Papua New Guinea. 

Cecilia Dalupan and Kristi Disney, of the Sustainable Development Strategies Group, met with Jeklin Talonu, Deputy State Solicitor in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Ms. Dalupan is an Adjunct Professor at Denver Law where she teaches in the Sustainable Natural Resources Development Series of courses. Ms. Disney is a 2011 JD and LLM graduate of Denver Law.  Ms. Talonu is a 2008 LLM graduate of Denver Law.

First-Time Offfering of Intercultural Competence Workshop

This year marked the first year that the Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy Program offered a workshop on Intercultural Competence.
All incoming international and master's degree students take an American Legal Systems class to help them prepare for the upper-level law school classes they are about to take. This is the first semester that the course included two lunch hour workshops discussing how to adapt to new and different cultures.

Communication today is characterized by an increasing amount of contacts between people with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The ENRGP 2012 class represents over a dozen countries, from Indonesia to Chile. Intercultural communication is on the rise in the classroom as well as in the business sphere.
   
Today's students must be adept at intercultural communication if they wish to be successful in their work. This is especially true for many of our environmental and natural resource students who will go on to work  internationally. Communication between these actors should be as constructive and precise as possible.

These workshops were taught by our very own Lucy Daberkow, (pictured above) Associate Administrative Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy Program, who is an expert in intercultural communication, applied linguistics, and English as a second language. She was able to engage the students through her ability to relate to the international students' experiences of adapting to life in the US. She focused her discussions on identifying levels of intercultural communication and awareness, and then outlining cultural backgrounds and motivations for differences. The workshops concluded with a discussion on how best to bridge these intercultural differences.

The lunch seminars were lighthearted and engaging. The students enjoyed the opportunity to openly discuss their cultures. They also bonded over the similar barriers they were experiencing to adapting to life in the US. The discussion of gender roles proved to be one of the most interesting for the group.

It is our hope that we can continue to offer intercultural communication seminars to our students, both  international and domestic. Our students should receive every advantage as they complete our program and we are proud to say that intercultural communication is a skill we value and would like to share.

Angelica Oman

Graduate Program Assistant

ENRL Director Don Smith Attends IBA Annual Meeting in his Role as Editor of the Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law

Don Smith, Director of Denver Law's Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy Program, was recently in Dublin, Ireland, where he attended the International Bar Association's Annual Meeting.

Mr. Smith edits the Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law for the IBA's Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law (SEERIL).

While in Dublin he met with SEERIL's governing council to talk about the Journal.  He also met with Professor Aileen McHarg, who teaches at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, and chairs the Journal's Editorial Advisory Committee.

"Attending the Annual Meeting was a wonderful opportunity to me to commission cutting-edge articles for the Journal as well as meet the individuals from around the world whose work in the fields of energy and natural resources will have an impact on how these sectors are approached in the future," he said.  "I met with leading oil and gas, energy, and mining law practitioners from all around the globe."

He said, "There is no substitute for meeting face-to-face with these leaders.  These meetings inform my teaching and my leadership of Denver Law's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program."


 

Denver Law Hosts Second Annual Renewable Energy Law & Policy Summit on October 19, 2012; National Leaders Convene to Discuss the Current State of the Renewable Energy Sector

Denver Law will host the Second Annual Renewable Energy Law & Policy Summit on October 19, 2012, at the Sturm College of Law on the University of Denver campus.

The opening keynote address will be made by former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr, who directs the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University.  The luncheon keynote address will feature Dr. Susan Tierney, Managing Principal at the Analysis Group in Boston.

The program also includes four panels, which will address many of the most important issues being considered today in the renewable energy development community:

• Renewable Energy and the U.S. Military
• The Role the Media Plays in Influencing Renewable Energy Policy
• How are Municipalities Driving the Development of Renewable Energy
• Renewable Portfolio Standards at 10: Where Have we Been?  Where are we Going?

The summit, which will feature many of the nation's renewable energy policy and development leaders, is another example of Denver Law's leadership in the renewable energy sector. Denver Law has the most renewable energy course offerings of any U.S. law school.

Don Smith, director of Denver Law's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program, said, "It is a great honor for Denver Law to organize this event for the second year.  Denver and Colorado are centers of excellence for renewable energy, and Denver Law takes seriously our role to convene national leaders to discuss this important energy sector.

"We are especially appreciative of our sponsors: Holland and Hart, the presenting and founding sponsor; Welborn Sullivan Meck and Tooley PC, the breakfast and morning keynote address sponsor; and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a supporting sponsor.  Their involvement and support makes this event possible and illustrates the leadership they are providing in the renewable energy sector," Mr. Smith said.

To register for the Renewable Energy Law & Policy Summit, please click here.

International Conference on Biodiversity

The 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro created the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This is one of three historic international agreements created at the Earth Summit. On October 8th more than 2,000 delegates from 150 countries met in Hyderabad, India for the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

All 193 UN member governments have signed and ratified the CBD and are a party to it. The objectives of the CBD "are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and to technologies, and by appropriate funding."

The Conference in India is set to discuss progress in the achievement of biodiversity goals as well as problems and challenges faced in the implementation of the CBD. The last conference was held in Nagoya, Japan, two years ago. The main focus rested on reducing the rate of loss of the planet's natural habitats.

The World Wildlife Fund reported that countries have failed to deliver on commitments made in Japan. "Governments can only be serious about these targets if they are prepared to invest in achieving them. We need to see richer countries helping poorer countries and all countries increasing their domestic budgets," Rolf Hogan, biodiversity policy coordinator at the WWF said.

Julia Marton-Lefevre, director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature stated, "We need to keep the momentum going, Biodiversity loss continues and has breached safe planetary boundaries. It's time for a serious check-up on progress we've made to turn the big plan into big action."

Angelica Oman

Graduate Program Assistant

The Environmental and Natural Resources Graduate Program will be attending the Idealist Grad Fair at the University of Colorado, Denver next Monday, the 8th from 5-8PM.

Idealist has been hosting Grad School Fairs across the country. These events are free and open to the public. Graduate schools with programs in areas such as public policy, international affairs, global and public health, theology, education, social work, nonprofit management, and environmental science. On Monday, they can add Environmental and Natural Resources Law to their list featured areas.

The event is free, but Idealist is anticipating large crowds. If you are intersted in attending and learning more about our program please RSVP.

Still not sure? Here is a short video of an Idealist Grad Fair.
If you are interested, but do not live in the Denver area, idealist.org/gradfairs can locate a fair in your area.

Angelica Oman

Graduate Program Assistant