"Careers in Environmental, Energy, and Resources Law" Teleconference Program Available on the Web

Recently the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources sponsored a teleconference program entitled "Careers in Environmental, Energy, and Resources Law."

According to the ABA, "In this teleconference, four lawyers with varied backgrounds in the fields of environmental, energy and natural resources law will provide practical guidance on various career options, advice for achieving certain career goals, and overviews of their day-to-day practices."

The teleconference, which can be accessed by clicking here, provided career option guidance for individuals interested in natural resources, energy, and environmental law. It also included explanations of "pathways" for pursuing careers in these fields.

The panelists on the program included:

• Montina Cole of Schiff Hardin LLP in Washington, D.C.

• John C. Cruden of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

• Robert Ehrler of E.On U.S.., a German-owned utility operating in Louisville, Kentucky

• Bill Sapp of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Atlanta, Georgia

China Becoming a Center for Green Technology?

The New Yorker magazine this week (Dec. 21 & 28, 2009, issue) has an article about the country that it says has taken the lead in clean energy technology.

The article must then be about the U.S. But it isn't. Then it must be an editing slip up and the article is talking not about a "country" per se, but about the economic powerhouse known as the European Union. Wrong again. Hum...Brazil maybe? Not a chance.

The country that the article ("Green Giant: Beijing's Crash Program for Clean Energy") refers to is China, and if you are interested in key developments in green energy then this article is a must read.

A few of the article's key observations:

"As [Chinese] President Hu Jintao...put it in October of this year, China must 'seize preemptive opportunities in the new round of the global energy revolution." (page 54)

"David Sandalow, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs, has been to China five times in five months. He [said], 'China's investment in clean energy is extraordinary.' For America, he added, the implication is clear: 'Unless the U.S. makes investments, we are not competitive in the clean-tech sector in the years and decades to come.'" (page 55)

"China is already buying and installing the world's most efficient transmission lines - 'an area where China has actually moved ahead of the U.S.,' according to Deborah Seligsohn, a senior fellow at the World Resources Institute. In the next decade, China plans to install wind-power equipment capable of generating nearly five times the power of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest producer [of power]." (page 56)

While the article points out that China is now spending $70 billion each year on research and development, it also explains that China has enormous energy challenges and it faces a pollution problem like no other country in the world.

If nothing else, the policy makers in Brussels and Washington, D.C., better be giving careful consideration to what Beijing is doing. On the other hand, the more innovation the better since ultimately does the market really care whether a good idea comes from China, Brazil, the EU, the U.S. or anywhere else?

Open Energy Information Website Launched by U.S. Department of Energy

A new open-source web platform that will allow free access to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) resources as well as allow the energy community to upload additional data was launched last week. Over time, the DOE expects that the website will also include technical expert networks and on-line training.

Open Energy Information includes data and tools that will be used by project developers, the private sector, government officials, the international community and others. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which is part of the DOE, the website's information will "help deploy clean energy technologies across the country and around the world."

Among other information, the website "currently houses more than 60 clean energy resources and data sets, including maps of worldwide solar and wind potential, information on climate zones, and best practices," NREL said.

Bienvenido a los Estados Unidos: Presidents Michelle Bachelet and Barack Obama Meet in Washington,D.C., to Discuss Clean Energy

Presidents Michelle Bachelet of Chile and Barack Obama met yesterday at the White House to announce several clean energy-related projects.

President Obama said, "There is enormous interest both in the United States and Chile in how we can develop solar power and wind power and biofuels and a whole host of other clean energy strategies that will make the people of both countries more prosperous and less dependent on imported energy needs."

President Bachelet said, "We are really enthusiastic about clean energy as we share the idea that the [climate change] crisis should be responded to," and added, "Chile has great conditions for solar energy."

Mr. Obama was also lavish in his praise for Chile and his Latin American colleague, President Bachelet:

"I look to President Bachelet for good advice and good counsel in terms of how the United States can continue to build a strong relationship with all of Latin America. And I think the good progress that we began to make at the Summit of the Americas can be built on with some very concrete steps in the months and years to come. We consider Chile to be one of our most important partners in that process. And so I expect that in the months to come we'll be working very closely together."

Obviously, the relationship between the United States and Latin America has not always been a smooth one. But projects, such as the one the two presidents put into place yesterday, are ways in which strong and enduring bridges can be built between the north and the south.

Since 2000, nearly 35 Latin American lawyers have earned their LLM degrees here. They have added immensely to the diversity of our program and their contributions to all of us -- professors, fellow students, staff -- have been and continue to be remarkable. These graduates are among the leading environmental and natural resources professionals across the whole of Latin America.

Let us hope that the cordial meeting between Presidents Bachelet and Obama will mark the beginning of a new chapter in our relations with energy, the environment, and natural resources being the cornerstone of mutual respect and benefit for all. Energy, environment, and natural resources -- as we all know -- do not fall precisely along geographic lines. Our responses to these great challenges should not either.

Clean Energy Investment Not Immune From Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis has taken its toll on clean energy investment.  Nevertheless, the medium and long term outlook for clean energy investment remain extremely bright.

According to U.K.-based New Energy Finance, a global leader in analysis about carbon markets and clean energy technology, "Investment in clean energy has collapsed to just $13.3 billion in the first quarter of 2009, down by no less than 44% on the fourth quarter of last year and 53% below the level achieved in the first quarter of 2008."  Meanwhile, over $150 billion of economic stimulus funding targeted to clean energy has not fully begun to flow into the market.

According to the firm's report, "The biggest single element in clean energy investment is asset finance of new-build projects such as wind farms, solar parks and biofuel plants.  This amounted to just under $11.5 billion in the first three months of 2009, down 44% from the fourth quarter of 2008 and half the figure for the first quarter of 2008."

On the other hand, Michael Liebreich, chairman and CEO of New Energy Finance, said, "The medium-term and long-term outlook for clean energy is strong, given the imperatives for G20 economies to curb carbon emissions and improve energy security.  We forecast that on current policies, annual investment in the sector will return to growth in due course and reach $350 billion by 2020."