New UN Report Says "Poor Countries Need to Rethink Development Model"

A new report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says the poorest countries in the world "are bearing the brunt of the global economic crisis" and that their governments need to rethink the development model used for the last 30 years.

"The Least Development Countries Report 2009" says:

"In recent decades, many LDCs have severely reduced the role of government in promoting development. Yet the current crisis has 'exposed the myth of self-regulating markets' and neo-liberal economic policies have also not succeeded in tackling other problems such as bottlenecks in production, chronic deficits and shortages of skills and knowledge among the labour force.

"The roles of the state and the market must be rebalanced, and many affluent countries have already started shifting to include a much bigger role for the state in economic management, especially through fiscal stimulus packages."

The report recommends that poor countries emphasize greater collaboration between the private sector and the state as well as increase technological capabilities.

(Muchas gracias to Sergio Stone, International, Foreign, and Comparative Law Librarian at the Stanford Law School for calling this to my attention.)

Jo Leinen, a German member of the European Parliament (EP), has been elected chair of the EP's Environment Committee for the 2009-2014 session.

Mr. Leinen, a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, was Minister of the Environment in the German state of Saarland from 1985-1994. He is a lawyer.

Historically the Environment Committee has been one of the most active and most powerful committees in the EP. For instance in the just completed term, 2004-2009, the Environment Committee was active in two major groups of legislation involving climate change and regulation of chemicals. In my opinion, the EP is the "greenest" of all EU institutions and has aggressively pushed the EU in a "greener" direction.

One of the many reasons the EP has tended green is the fact that it includes elected members of the Green Party. In fact, the Greens increased their number of members from 43 to 53 in the last election, which was not at all an insignificant increase bearing in mind that the total number of MEPs was reduced from 785 to 736. Anyone checked recently how many members of the Green Party are in the U.S. Congress?

Meanwhile, the Environment Committee has published its 2004-2009 Activity Report, which summarizes its work in the last parliament.

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.  

The Evolution of an "Energy Law" Practice: One Denver Practitioner's Story

The practice of energy law is evolving to be sure. Thus, while energy law may have been historically associated with a practitioner working only on gas, utilities, mining or some combination of these issues, the picture has begun to change significantly.

One attorney whose practice reflects the change is Jeffrey G. Pearson, a solo practitioner in Denver and an alum of the DU College of Law. Ann Vessels, the director of the law school internship program, and I met recently with Mr. Pearson to talk about what the evolving practice of energy law looks like.

In a word, Mr. Pearson's work is "varied." He represents some gas firms. And he does his share of regulatory work on behalf of clients. But he's also representing independent power generators as well as entrepreneurs who are trying to capitalize on the "new energy economy."

An example of one of his most interesting clients is a firm called Ice Energy. With its corporate headquarters about 40 miles north of Denver in Windsor, Ice Energy has pioneered the "Ice Bear energy storage module" that works with a standard commercial air conditioner. The Ice Bear "delivers the industry's first hybrid cooling solution specifically developed to reduce air conditioning energy demand for small to mid-sized commercial businesses," according to the company. To watch a video about this new technology, click here.

In effect, as Mr. Pearson points out, entirely new businesses are being formed based on technologies that take advantage of the new energy realities that we face. And lawyers will play major roles in helping these businesses form, develop, and take their products and services to market.

Practicing energy law means many things to many people. But how energy will be generated in the future -- bearing in mind that the U.S. is on the verge of putting a national price on carbon emissions and the European Union already has -- will include an array of current technologies as supplemented with many new technologies.

Clever firms and businesses will profit from what is being called "the new energy economy." Just ask Jeff Pearson. He is representing some of them.

Developing and Transferring New Technologies Key to Reducing GHG Emissions, Center for American Progress Says

The Center for American Progress (CAP), a left of center Washington, D.C. think-tank, has published a report asserting that, "The fight against climate change will not be won without a revolution in the use of existing low-carbon technology and a tidal wave of new innovations."

In "Breaking Through on Technology: Overcoming the Barriers to the Development and Wide Deployment of Low-Carbon Technology," the CAP and the Global Climate Network interviewed more than 100 experts from business, government, education, and NGOs in eight countries (Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Nigeria, South Africa, and the U.S.).

A key conclusion, drawn by the CAP, is that "without a firm commitment to develop and transfer new technologies, with industrialized countries taking the lead on financing these endeavors, consensus will be difficult to reach and, in practical terms, emissions will be hard to reduce, at least without unacceptable penalties to human development, social cohesion, and economies well being."

Sheila Hollis, Leading Washington, D.C. Energy Attorney and DU Law Alum, Talks About U.S. Climate Legislation

Sheila Hollis, chair of the Washington, D.C. office of Duane Morris and graduate of the DU College of Law, was interviewed earlier this week about the status of climate legislation in the U.S. Congress.

The interview, "Duane Morris' Sheila Hollis Previews Difficult Climb to 60 in the Senate," was part of E&E TV's continuing coverage of major environmental and energy issues.  The program features experts, such as Ms. Hollis, talking about the most important issues before Congress.

Ms. Hollis has received multiple awards including recently being named as one of the 50 Key Women in Energy worldwide.   She was also a finalist for Lifetime Achievement in Energy in Platt's Global Energy Awards, an honor made even more noteworthy since she is the first attorney in private practice to be nominated for the award. In 2001-2002 Ms. Hollis chaired the Section of Environment, Energy and Resources of the American Bar Association.  In 2007 she was recognized by the college of law as an outstanding graduate.

Anyone -- lawyers, law students, graduate students, engineers, accountants, industry leaders, etc. -- interested in climate legislation should watch this video.  Ms. Hollis' observations about, among other things, the distribution of allowances made in the Waxman-Markey energy bill, which passed the House several weeks ago, as well as the "tariffs issue" that has arisen are extremely useful. 

As I have said before, there is no substitute for learning from the experts.  Sheila Hollis is definitely one of the best in the energy law field.

National Clean Energy Summit to be Held Aug. 10

Senator Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat and majority leader in the U.S. Senate, will co-host the National Clean Energy Summit 2.0: Jobs and the New Economy in Las Vegas Aug. 10.

Among the speakers will be former Vice President Al Gore and energy executive T. Boone Pickens.

Cost to attend is $150 per person or $25 for students.