Francisco Corona, Denver Law LLM in Environmental and Natural Resources Law Graduate and Santiago, Chile, Attorney, Meets With Don Smith

Francisco Corona, a 2003 LLM in Environmental and Natural Resources Law Graduate and attorney in Santiago, Chile, recently met with Don Smith, director of Denver Law's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Graduate Program. 

Mr. Corona is a natural resources law attorney for Carey y Cia, one of the leading law firms in South America. He also serves as an Assistant Professor of Mining Law at the University of Chile School of Law in Santiago.

Mr. Smith said, "It is always a great pleasure, as I travel around the world, to meet with Denver Law LLM graduates. Francisco's practice in Santiago reflects his expertise in the mining field. All of us in Denver wish him much good luck (buena suerte) in his career!" 

Denver Law Environmental Clinic Student to Argue Before U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals

Jenni Barnes, a third year law student in the Environmental Law Clinic at Denver Law, will argue before the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals at a special session of the court to be held in Boulder at 9 am on Thursday. The Court will be sitting at the University of Colorado School of Law.

The case involves a 2007 decision by the National Park Service regarding the management of Rocky Mountain National Park. The Park has an excess of elk, which have degraded the quality of willow and aspen habitat from overgrazing.

The Park Service decided to use "volunteer" sharpshooters to "cull" elk in the Park for the next 20 years. The Environmental Law Clinic's client, WildEarth Guardians, has challenged this decision on the grounds that the government should have considered reintroducing wolves into the Park to restore the natural elk-predator balance. In addition, the Appellant argues that the use of volunteer hunters to cull the elk population violates the Congressional ban on hunting in the Park.

DU Law community members are welcome to attend the 10th Circuit oral arguments. The CU organizers suggest that attendees get there early to ensure that they get through security and get a seat. They also suggest that attendees park in lot 308 for $8 cash/person.

Denver Law Students Elisabeth Hutchinson and Robert N. Miller II win Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Scholarships

Two Denver Law JD students have won scholarships from the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation (RMMLF), one of the leading professional natural resources organizations of its kind.

Elisabeth A. Hutchinson was awarded two scholarships from the RMMLF, the Joe Rudd Scholarship as well as a RMMLF Scholarship, Robert N. Miller II was awarded a RMMLF Scholarship. The RMMLF Scholarship program is an especially significant one since the Foundation includes the best natural resources practitioners from the U.S. and Canada as well as from all around the world.

Don Smith, Director of Denver Law's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program said, "Few scholarships in the natural resources field are as prestigious as those awarded by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation.  For that reason, we are particularly proud of Ms. Hutchinson and Mr. Miller's recognition."

Scholarships awarded by the RMMLF support well-qualified law students who have the potential  to make significant contributions to scholarship in natural resources law.  The Rudd Scholarship Program was established in 1980 in honor of Joe Rudd, a prominent natural resources attorney in Alaska. The RMMLF Scholarships were established in 1993.

Our Program's First Ever Annual Report

2011-2012 Environmental and
Natural Resources Law
Annual Report

Denver Law's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program has published its first ever Annual Report.  The publication provides a comprehensive look at the most important developments and achievements during the 2011-2012 academic year.

Among the report's contents include an overview of the new JD certificate program that recognizes JD students who specialize in environmental and natural resources law, faculty scholarship highlights, coverage of major events, a description about how experiential learning plays a major role in the program, the publications associated with the program, and an overview of the Ricketson Law Building, one of the greenest and finest buildings of its kind in the nation.

Don Smith, Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program, said, "The publication of the Annual Report is a milestone in the history of this great program.  It showcases the many important achievements that are taking place at Denver Law as well as highlights the work of our outstanding full-time faculty members and adjunct professors.
The Annual Report clearly illustrates why Denver Law is in the upper echelon of law schools when it comes to the study of environmental and natural resources law."

To see an electronic version of the report, please click here.

New Studies Prove Wind Could Satisfy the World's Energy Needs

Mark Jacobson of Stanford University and Cristina Archer of the University of Delaware performed a study using computer models to predict the potential power generated by wind energy. The study found that about 400 million wind turbines at a height of 300 feet would provide energy for over half of the world's totally energy demands. Jacobs and Archer call for wind turbines on land as well as on water and especially advocate their use in high wind areas. These areas include: the Gobi Desert, the American Great Plains and the Sahara Desert.

“The available wind resources are much larger than that needed to supply the world's power. This renewable resource could easily satisfy the global human energy demand." As stated in the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

However, the study did not take a look at outside factors such as societal or economic concerns. "Wind is unaffordable, unreliable and uncompetitive without subsidies," says David Kreutzer, a research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. "Even at a small scale, wind costs more than getting electricity from a conventional source."

The National Resource Defense Council has addressed these concerns in two recent studies: American Wind Farms and At Wind Speed. They stress the value of wind energy as a renewable energy that doesn't pollute the air. The studies also demonstrate the economic value of wind energy. The wind energy market has added new sources of revenue for landowners, cities and towns.

The Production Tax Credit has been indispensable in creating a market for wind energy in the US, creating 75,000 jobs. The Production Tax Credit is set to expire at the end of the year with the American Wind Energy Association predicting at least 37,000 Americans will lose their jobs if it is not renewed.

Wind has the potential to help meet our energy needs and provide US citizens and residents with job opportunities. It is important that we continue to find ways of implementing the use of wind energy. Congress must continue to provide incentives for renewable energy sources to enable them to compete with the heavily subsidized fossil fuel industry. 

Angelica Oman

Graduate Program Assistant

What Are We Waiting For?

The science on climate change is clear. Climate change is a fact. The new report from the IPCC comes out in 2013-2014, and unfortunately it will probably only reinforce the knowledge that already exists. The goal of limiting global temperature rise to a maximum of 2 ° C must be taken seriously.

As a Norwegian, I am proud that Norway is a leader in the fields of environment and development, but now we must take the lead on behalf of our children and grandchildren when it comes to climate. Otherwise what is the inheritance we leave behind? A pile of oil money that has little value when the weather is at its worst, with the consequent damage to nature, and people being displaced by floods, forest fires, droughts, and other disasters.

I live in Colorado and have particularly noticed the changes this summer, with over 10 forest fires. This is not crying wolf - this is ‘the wolf’ in the form of natural disasters on an unknown scale, all as a result of our failure to change course in time.

We have a small window of time to act now, but the fear of losing votes paralyzes politicians worldwide. Only cowardly politicians act against better knowledge. Now we need courage and fearlessness from politicians who are not just thinking of their own careers.

People must demand that politicians change course and immediately focus on renewable energy and other measures to reduce emissions of CO2. Living in denial is a disservice to ourselves that our children and grandchildren will not appreciate.

We must show the world that it is possible to manage an economy that is not dependent on oil, in spite of a higher cost in the initial phase. Germany has an energy consumption that is 70 percent renewable – Brazil as well. They are not perfect, but they demonstrate that the technology is there. We must demand that oil companies begin the process of replacing oil and gas with renewable energy.

We are committed to this if we are to take seriously the climate agreement that was "taken note of" in Copenhagen and then adopted at Cancun, Mexico in 2010, with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to a maximum of two degrees.

Anita Halvorssen

Adjunct Professor at DU Law

J.S.D., Columbia University, School of Law, New York (1999)
LL.M., Columbia University, School of Law (1988)
Law Degree, University of Oslo, Norway (1985)
Agronomist Degree, Agricultural Academy, Oslo, Norway (1978)

Dr. Halvorssen will be teaching a weekend course,

Sustainable Development and Trade this fall and 

Global Climate Change Law and Policy in the spring.

Solar Garden Mania

Xcel has initiated a new program that will boost the use of renewable energy in CO. The program follows the Colorado Community Solar Garden Act of 2010. The Act was intented to improve the use of solar installations by communities and mandated that the Public Utilities Commission include solar gardens into renewable energy plans.

Solar gardens are commercial-sized solar power systems. These gardens are capable of generating 10 kilowatts to 2 megawatts. The creation of solar gardens will enable those who cannot install solar panels onto their homes or businesses to lease a portion of a solar garden. Xcel is subsidizing the gardens under its “Solar Rewards Program.” In addition, developers will get rebates for installing the panels. The “Solar Rewards Program” was released on August 15^th and applied to gardens generating up to 500 kilowatts. Xcel is accepting applications for small scale gardens (between 501 kilowatts and 2 megawatts) until September 14^th through its "Solar Rewards Community Program."

Who will take advantage of the solar gardens? According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, only about a quarter of the nation’s rooftops are big enough and sunny enough for rooftop solar and not everyone can afford to install the solar panels. The rooftop solar gardens enable people to have access to solar energy through leasing the gardens.

“The Solar Rewards Community standard offer was designed for Colorado customers who could not, for various reasons, take advantage of other solar programs, because they were renting, lived in multi-family dwellings or did not have homes or businesses suitable for solar installations,” Xcel explains in a press release. “Customers are now able to purchase renewable energy through solar project developers from a community-based photovoltaic system.”

Xcel was flooded with so many applications for the large scale gardens it had to close the application window within 30 minutes of opening it. “The success of this initial offering and the fact that it subscribed so quickly clearly shows that this is a beneficial and desirable program for our Colorado customers,” commented Xcel subsidiary Public Service Co. of Colorado president and CEO, David Eves. “Solar Rewards Community makes solar energy available to a new, broad group of customers and we are pleased with the interest shown today.”

This is a great step for renewable energy in CO. Xcel provides its resources, knowledge and experience into the development of solar gardens. This enables Xcel consumers to become renewable electricity producers and users. This trend could serve to reduce communities' reliance on fossil fuels and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

 

Angelica Oman

Graduate Program Assistant