Western Governor's Association Releases New Wildlife Map

The Western Governor's Association (WGA) is a non-partisan organization of U.S. Governors in the western region. The organization seeks to address important policy issues in the west, and enhance the social and economic structures of the region. The WGA focuses on collaborative innovation between state governors as well as Canadian representatives.

The WSA recently released a new wildlife habitat mapping database, which has been five years in the making. The Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT) rates resources on a numerical scale, with 6 meaning least crucial. The states involved with the projects have determined their individual priorities based on habitat condition, and the economic and recreational importance of the individual species to the area.

A snapshot of CHAT courtesy of the WGA website

The effort to create CHAT stemmed from the realization that endangered species and habitat preservation were not contained by state boundary lines, nor were planning projects confined within individual states. The GIS mapping project has been praised by developers as well as conservationists.

Although CHAT doesn't provide any regulatory authority, it can assist developers when considering where to develop and will serve conservationists by highlighting important areas. It is hoped that CHAT will bring about greater certainty and predictability to planning efforts in the west.

To watch a WGA webinar on CHAT, follow this link.
For more information, visit the WGA CHAT website.

LLM Alumna's Sustainability Focused Company Partners with City of Boulder

Eco-Loyalty Program Targets Reducing Consumer Waste

LLM alumna, Leslie Weise, founded BEECO Corp. in 2011 with a goal of creating consumer friendly technology and tools to engage more people to incorporate sustainability throughout their lives. "We are consumers in most aspects of our lives, from family, work and school to social and recreational activities, our purchasing decisions not only reflect the price we are willing or able to pay for goods and services, but also the values the companies who manufacture and sell the products represent," said Weise, the President of the Colorado-based business.

BEECO is currently focused on launching several programs that all relate to each other to enhance consumer awareness and in turn promote the sustainability products and services industry. The City of Boulder has chosen to partner with BEECO to promote BEECO Rewards, an eco-loyalty program that has inherent rewards built in to both retail businesses who subscribe to the program, as well as their customers who shop at their stores with their own reusable bags and to-go mugs.

Customers download the free app to their mobile phones to track the points they earn each time they shop with their reusable container (and forego taking single use disposable bags and coffee cups) while shopping. Once they have earned enough points, users of the program can redeem them for free stuff (products, discounts) that are offered by each store. The City of Boulder has found the program to be a great complement to the bag fee that went into place earlier this year, so that residents and visitors feel they have the opportunity to earn rewards for doing the right thing for the environment, rather than simply pay a .10 cent fee each time they forget to bring their reusable bag when shopping.

The Boulder's Daily Camera paper recently featured BEECO's program, which the City of Boulder has named Brought it Boulder Rewards. More information about the Boulder program can be found here, and you can learn more about BEECO and its sustainability programs for businesses here. If you know of any retail businesses or organizations that would be a good fit for BEECO Rewards, please contact Leslie Weise at leslie@beeco.us.

Colorado Energy Coalition Issues New Report: "Resource Rich Colorado"

Resource Rich Colorado Report Cover

The Colorado Energy Coalition (CEC) was formed in 2006, as a organization of diverse interests dedicated to strengthening the business climate in Colorado which supports all sectors of the energy industry. The CEC seeks to brand Colorado as the "Balanced Energy Capital of the West."

Resource Rich Colorado: Colorado's National and Global Position in the Energy Economy is the fifth annual publication which focuses on analyzing key data from a variety of public and private sources to assess Colorado's position in a competitive nation-wide and international energy market.

The recent publication, released December 4th, evaluates Colorado's competitive position in the following sectors: oil, natural gas, coal, renewables, power generation, environment and sustainability, policies and programs, and employment and industry.

The report issued the following rankings for Colorado compared to the nation:

• Second for the amount of square feet per capita that is certified as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
• Fifth in natural gas production, sixth for natural gas reserves
• Fifth in installed solar capacity
• And tenth in installed wind capacity

To access the full report, follow this link.
To view the executive summary of the report, follow this link.

Denver Business Journal's "Who's Who in Energy" Includes Five With Close Ties to Denver Law

Five individuals with close ties to Denver Law have been recognized in the 2013-2014 "Who's Who in Energy" published by the Denver Business Journal. Among these five are graduates as well as current or former adjunct professors.

The publication described its Who's Who listing as "the movers and shakers in the ever-changing fast-moving energy industry..." 

Who's Who in Energy noted that Colorado ranks 10th in the country in the amount of wind-based power the state can produce, ninth in oil production, fifth in gas production, 11th in coal production, a combination of energy sources that the publication described as an "all of the above" strategy.

The five Denver Law-affiliated individuals are:

• Dan Grossman, Rocky Mountain Regional Director for the Environmental Defense Fund and Denver Law graduate
• James King, Of Counsel at BakerHostetler and Adjunct Professor at Denver Law
• Pete Maysmith, Executive Director of Conservation Colorado and graduate of Denver Law
• Tom Sansonetti, partner at Holland & Hart and former Distinguished Natural Resources Law Practitioner in Residence
• Rebecca Watson, shareholder at Wellborn Sullivan Meck & Tooley PC in Denver and former Distinguished Natural Resources Law Practitioner in Residence and Denver Law graduate

Don Smith, Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program at Denver Law, said, "The inclusion of these energy leaders in the Who's Who publication reflects not only the strength of Denver Law's natural resources program but also the types of people who are actively involved in the life of the program and the law school.  All of us at Denver Law congratulate these impressive professionals."

Changes in the Works for Colorado Oil and Gas Emission Standards

A derrick-man services an oil rig.
Photo Courtesy: NIOSH

Recently, the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) held a ruling to discuss a new regulation proposal that aims to seriously reduced air pollution caused by oil and gas activities in Colorado. The proposed rule would cut emissions by one third. The ACPD would reduce the thresholds for acceptable emission levels and set the nation's first statewide standard for methane emissions.

The new rules are a product of negotiations between the APCD, three of the state's largest oil and gas developers (Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Encana Corporation, and Noble Energy), along with the Environmental Defense Fund.

These negotiations came about due to increased citizen concern regarding the increasing oil and gas industry. The number of active wells in Colorado has risen nearly 50% from 2006-2011; there are more than 30,000 active wells within the state (according to the federal Energy Information Adminsitration).

The increase in oil and gas development has lead to an increase of smoggy haze, especially in areas where new well sites are concentrated. Currently, nine counties, including Rocky Mountain National Park, exceed federal ozone limits. However, current federal regulations apply primarily to new wells, in addition, they do not directly limit methane leaks, nor do they require companies to inspect well locations for leaks.

Colorado's new rules would alleviate these concerns by applying to new and existing wells as well as equipment. The rules would cover traditional petroleum and gas exploration and development, as well as hydraulic fracturing (which receives most of the negative attention).

The new rules are being praised by industry representatives as well as environmentalists. The Colorado environment will benefit from the reduction of pollution and oil and gas companies will benefit from the reduced amount of waste occurring during leaks.

There are still a few sticky issues to consider. Environmentalists have expressed concern that there are no requirements for well site inspections. Another issue, is that much of the cost burden of retro-fitting and adapting operations will be felt by smaller oil and gas companies. The rules could be finalized in February of 2014 and have an estimated cost of $30 million.

LLM Student Attends Special Institute on Renewable Electric Energy: Law, Development and Investment

Thanks to sponsorship from the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation (RMMLF), I was able to attend the Special Institute on Renewable Electric Energy in Las Vegas on November 7-8. The Special Institute brought together energy experts, investment specialists, lawyers, law students, and other professionals to examine legal, technological, and investment issues surrounding the development of renewable electrical energy sources.

Topics that were covered ranged from siting and permitting of renewable energy projects, transmission, purchase agreements for renewable power, interconnection and transmission agreements, financing, tax equity and many more. Amongst my highlights was K.K. DuVivier, professor at University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, who spoke about how natural resources are converted into electricity, pointing out that in 2011 renewables counted for 50% of newly installed capacity worldwide.

Professor DuVivier was followed by Robert Noun, formerly working at National Renewable Energy Laboratory and currently teaching at DU. Professor Noun took a closer look at resource impacts of renewable energy projects regarding water and land use. Lastly, the presentation of Mark Safty, practice group leader for Holland & Hart’s Energy and Infrastructure Group as well as adjunct professor at DU, made for the next day’s highlight. Professor Safty reviewed the most significant terms of a Renewable Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), pointing out that revenue generated from a PPA is the most important aspect to determine financing mechanisms for a project.

On Friday I was also kindly invited by Frances Hartogh of the RMMLF, who had organized the conference, to join her and K.K. DuVivier, Mark Safty, Robert Noun and Evelyn Lim (from Chadbourne & Parke LLP and also a speaker at the conference) for lunch. I greatly enjoyed this opportunity to talk to all of them in person and hear more about their thoughts and insights on the conference topics.

In the end, I left the conference with mixed feelings: While all experts agreed that renewable energy no doubt is – and has to be – the future of energy production, there remains a lot of uncertainty in the industry regarding the federal government’s energy policy, especially when it comes to tax benefits for renewable energy projects. Money is a key player in the development of renewable energy sources and financing of projects fluctuates alongside prices and availability of fossil fuels. For example, with the recent increase in the production of cheap natural gas (in Vegas, even the buses are powered by natural gas, see picture) raising the capital for renewable energy projects, which are oftentimes extremely expensive, has become more and more of a challenge. But projects like the Ivanpah Solar Thermal Power Project outside of Las Vegas (see picture) clearly show that, particularly in the West, projects are being developed despite financing difficulties and that the field of renewable energy is a booming industry, where cutting-edge technology is invented, built and put to work an a regular basis.

Andy Liniger, 
Master of Laws in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy (LLM) Candidate,
May 2014

Third Annual Carver Colloquium Presented at Denver Law: "The Colorado River Compact: Effective or Obsolete?"

"The Colorado River Compact: Effective or Obsolete?" was the subject of debate at the Third Annual Carver Colloquium held recently at Denver Law.

The Colorado River Compact, signed in 1922, involves the upper basin states of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, and the lower basin states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Nevada. It sets the allocation of water from the river among the seven states.

Co-sponsored by the John A. Carver, Jr., Chair at Denver Law, the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (RMLUI), and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Carver Colloquium explored two competing sides to the Colorado River Compact issue. Jim Lochhead, CEO and manager of Denver Water, asserted that the compact should be maintained as it now is. On the other side, Denver Law Professor Tom Romero argued that the compact is in need of revision or complete re-writing.

Professor Jan Laitos, current holder of the John A. Carver, Jr. Chair, began the evening by noting that, "The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the American southwest. This region could not have grown as it has without the Colorado River." 

Susan Daggett, director of the RMLUI, said, "Negotiated almost a century ago, the Colorado River Compact allocates water supply among many of the western states, but it may be outdated. The compact overestimated the amount of water available from the Colorado River and failed to anticipate current and future demands on the river that have been exacerbated by climate change. Jim Lochhead and Tom Romero explained why this is such a crucial issue and two different futures for the compact."