Arctic Oil & Gas White Papers

Professor Betsy Baker and the Institute for Energy and the Environment announce a series of white papers titled "Implementing Offshore Oil and Gas Guidelines in the United States and Canada.” The introduction and the first of four IEE White Papers are now available.

The Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School is pleased to present this white paper series on “Implementing the Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas Guidelines in the United States and Canada.” We began the project well before the fatal April 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion at the BP Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. Our objective was to compare relevant U.S. and Canadian laws and regulations for ways in which they comport with the Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas Guidelines endorsed by the Arctic Council in 2009. We believe that the Guidelines, or AOOGG, can serve as a template for both countries as they revisit, revise and possibly even harmonize aspects of their regulatory systems for this fragile and resource-rich region. The series focuses on the western Arctic because both countries have offshore oil and gas jurisdiction there and share a boundary in the Beaufort Sea; the United States has no Arctic waters on the eastern side of the North American continent.

AP, AARP, and the P Word in MontPelier

Plagiarism is in the eye of the beholder.

Take, for example, my former employer – the venerable newsgathering cooperative Associated Press. Well before I was there from 1981 to 1986, and certainly thereafter, central to AP’s business model was what we euphemistically called “rewrite” – the practice of taking original reporting out of the pages of an AP member newspaper and “turning it around” for dissemination on the AP news wires.

This is not, in fact, plagiarism – but it does give rise to a certain irony in Associated Press using that word in connection with a pleading submitted to the Vermont Public Service Board by Sarah Hofmann, the chief lawyer at the Department of Public Service. Hofmann, according to an AP story that appeared in the Barre Times Argus, is “under fire for apparently plagiarizing long passages from a utility lawyer’s writing in a case in which both the department and utilities are fighting a proposal to give low-income residents a break on their electric bills.”

AP reported that “more than two of six pages are word-for-word identical to a filing made in January by David Mullett, a lawyer for the Vermont Electric Cooperative and municipal electric departments.”

At the risk of plagiarizing someone else’s famous phrase: Read my lips – Hofmann did absolutely nothing wrong.

Public Service Board proceedings typically involve multiple parties, including the Public Service Department (which is the executive branch agency charged with representing utility customers in proceedings before the quasi-judicial board). More often than not, some of those parties find themselves agreeing with each other on some or all issues in a case. They adopt each other’s arguments as a matter of routine in these circumstances.

Briefs like the ones Mullett filed on behalf of the electric cooperative are not created as protected intellectual property. They are substantive positions on contested legal and factual issues. If anything, it was good news for the co-op that Hofmann was adopting its arguments in her filing. Calling what she did plagiarism is unfair and reflects a worrisome willingness on the part of AP to be manipulated by parties who are opposing the Public Service Department before the Public Service Board.

In this instance Hofmann’s accuser is apparently the AARP, which is the group proposing rate reductions for low-income members of the electric co-op and other utilities. But, at least in the AP story, the AARP did not use the highly charged “P” word. Rather, the organization’s Vermont advocacy director, Philene Taormina, posed this rhetorical question when interviewed by AP:
“Are you really zealously representing your client, the public, when you’re taking an argument from a regulated utility?”

The short answer to this question is: Yes.

A longer answer, from the standpoint of legal ethics, is that Hofmann’s “client” is not technically the public but, rather, the political appointee whose job includes developing a policy agenda that, in his judgment (and presumably that of his boss, the governor) is in the best interests of the utility-using public. This is an established principle with respect to lawyers who represent government agencies.

Chiming in on the AP’s unfounded plagiarism allegation against Hofmann is my Vermont Law School colleague, Brian Porto, who teaches in the legal writing program at VLS. According to Porto, as quoted by AP, “If you’re taking someone else’s idea and not citing the person, and you’re falsely suggesting that those ideas are your own, certainly within the definition of plagiarism that comes within it.”

Porto is correct that if a law student did as he described, submitting such work as her own to a VLS professor, the student would be guilty of plagiarism as defined in the VLS academic regulations. But, to state the obvious, VLS’s rules do not apply to pleadings submitted to the Vermont Public Service Board. Nor do they apply to AP – which, in light of “rewrite,” would be guilty of such plagiarism hundreds of times a day.

The AP story also quoted attorney Sandra Levine of the Conservation Law Foundation – another advocacy group with frequent business before the Public Service Board and one that typically disagrees with the Public Service Department. According to AP, Levine said it is “very unusual to have identical language from two different lawyers submitted in the same case without attribution to the original source.” She’s entitled to her opinion, and also to her much more relevant observation that Hofmann’s wholesale adoption of the electric cooperative’s argument would be worrisome if it is “indicative of a lack of independence from the department in its analysis or evaluation of this issue.”

Those questions – which involve examining the merits of the position the Public Service Department is taking with respect to efforts to use utility bills to require utility customers generally to subsidize the needs of low-income customers particularly – are the ones AP should be writing about. But facile and unfounded allegations of plagiarism are much easier to produce, unfortunately.

-- by Don Kreis, the institute's associate director.

China Energy Monthly - June

In addition to strengthening ties with Canada, the Chinese government is revising its oil and natural gas pipeline laws to emphasize safety in light of the BP Gulf oil spill. Other news items include BP investment in oil exploration in the South China Sea, nuclear leaks, more electric vehicles charging stations.

GOVERNMENT

China Attends the G20 Summit and Strengthens Canadian Ties (6-28-10)
President Hu Jintao visited Toronto, Canada for the G20 summit. Before the G20 summit, Present Hu met with Canadian leaders to discuss the expansion of bilateral cooperation in areas such as energy and natural resources, two way investment and trade cooperation. Several documents deal with energy cooperatives which will give China access to Canada’s oil sands and gas. Already apparent is China’s interest in shale natural gas. China’s largest state oil company, China National Petroleum Corporation, singed an initial agreement with Encana Corp. of Canada.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010g20canada/2010-06/28/content_10028057.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010g20canada/2010-06/26/content_10023108.htm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703615104575328200873180036.html

Learn more about the BP gulf oil spill at Spillthetruth.org

Food & Water Watch's website, Spillthetruth.org, compiles articles on the oil spill, a timeline, and the opportunity to take action. Go to their website learn why Food and Water Watch is campaigning the Obama Administration to shut down Atlantis immediately.

China Energy Monthly - May

In this month's issue, read about U.S. and China political dialogues, biogas digesters as CDM projects, and Chinese global investments in oil, gas, and transmission lines.

GOVERNMENT

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Visits China
From May 15 to May 25, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke headed a trade mission to China and Indonesia. 24 U.S. companies joined Secretary Locke in China. The goal of the visit is to promote exports of leading U.S. technologies related to clean energy, energy efficiency, and electric energy storage, transmission and distribution. In Shanghai, Secretary Locke expressed the hope that a clean energy partnership will help both countries’ work force. Challenges exist in fair cooperation, the U.S. export license policy and the Chinese innovation accreditation system. Secretary Locke also delivered speech at Tsinghua University, stating that the U.S. and China should be leaders in the $6 trillion clean energy market. Secretary Locke informed the audience that some restrictions make little sense; therefore, the U.S. government is looking to revise its export control policies, which may encourage the sale of more high technology goods in China.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/13/content_9877128.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2010-05/21/content_9880097.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-05/22/content_9880306.htm

The perils of PowerPoint at Vermont Yankee

The perils of PowerPoint at Vermont Yankee

China Energy Newsletter- April

China Energy Monthly- April 2010

CLIMATE CHANGE

The West’s Global Warming Hoax and China’s Low-carbon Economy (4-21-2010)

Many radical Chinese nationalists claim that global warming is merely a conspiracy that the western world is using to depress the economic development in China. Climate change skepticism in the US has also experienced renewed support in recent months, but the obvious effects of profligate energy use are increasingly more visible in China than in the US. For instance, the number of full-cover smog days has significantly increased in the past 20 years. This has led some voices in the Chinese media community to condemn the skeptics regarding change—regardless of whether climate change is real, realizing a low-carbon economy will ultimately benefit all of China. Short-term economic disadvantages are a real concern, but China must embrace a new globalization that recognizes the security a low carbon economy would provide.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2010-04/21/content_9755908.htm

Climate Change threatens to Steal Spring (4-23-2010)

Spring in Beijing seems to have delayed its arrival—and climate change is at the heart of the problem. Cold fronts and snowstorms have pounded the northern regions, and low temperatures are beginning to impede crop growth. Additionally, the number of sand storms and other natural disasters is at the highest level in 50 years. These signs of global climate weirding are just another indicator that sustainable development and cleaner fuels are needed not only in China, but also across the globe.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2010-04/23/content_9765358.htm

Wind Energy in Pop Culture: Last Night's "The Simpsons"

The above 5-minute clip showcases the April 25, 2010 episode of "The Simpsons," in which Homer purchases a wind turbine for his family's backyard, in order to reduce the family's electricity costs. The clip takes jabs at wasteful electricity usage, comments on popular reluctance to move towards energy efficiency, mocks solar power, derides renewable energy's intermittence, and so much more. Enjoy.

Wind Farm Leapfrog: Has Rhode Island Pulled Ahead of Massachusetts in the Race to Build the First Offshore Wind Farm?

Several of the Institute for Energy and the Environment's Research Associates are also members of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law (VJEL). We analyze recent events and write assessments on frontier issues of environmental law. In my most recent piece, I take a look at the recent NY Times article that suggested Rhode Island may have surpassed Massachusetts as the leader in the race to develop the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. I disagree with the article's implication, but I do assert than the Rhode Island siting regime may be the new model and to that extent, Rhode Island has caught up to and passed Massachusetts. The impetus to analyze this issue originated last fall, when Danielle Changala and I represented the Institute at the New England Regional Ocean Law and Policy Workshop in Rhode Island.

Here is an excerpt:

Since mid-2001, the U.S. energy community has expected that the first American offshore wind farm would be located just off of Massachusetts, in the waters of Cape Cod. However, due to astonishing legal and regulatory delays, Massachusetts still does not have an offshore wind facility. Meanwhile, as reported in the New York Times ("Massachusetts and Rhode Island Compete Over Wind Farm") in April 2010, Rhode Island has developed its own offshore wind farm siting regime, which may prove superior to Massachusetts' permitting and siting regime. Unlike in Massachusetts, where a private developer initiated the permitting process, Rhode Island has decided that it will make the siting and planning decision, then choose a private developer to execute the state's vision. Currently, Massachusetts and Rhode Island appear to be at the head of the pack in offshore wind farm siting.

Continue reading at VJEL.org...

Energy Efficiency and Emission Reduction: The Chinese Power Industry Dealing with Climate Change

By Wang LiFen, Student at Vermont Law School 2008-2009


I. Introduction

As a developing country with 1.3 billion citizens, China is trying to develop its economy and improve people’s living standard at the same time. It is quite understandable that the rapid development of the economy always accompanies heavy pressure on the environment and resources in a developing country. With the environmental degradation, the power industry bears the major share of the blame. The Chinese Government is now dedicating itself to addressing the environmental issues with great efforts towards energy efficiency and low-carbon economy development. Environmental protection and economic development have become a dilemma for the Government and industry to face.

For more than 30 years, China has witnessed a rapid development in social economy with double-digit growth rates in each year. In the year 2008, China's economy expanded 9 percent and its gross domestic product amounted to 30.07 trillion yuan (about $4.43 trillion dollars). With the momentum for rapid growth, nationwide total electricity output hit 3433TWh and power consumption recorded 3427 TWh in 2008. The power industry is leading the trend in the economic rapid growth. 

In order to keep pace with its development, China has also paid a high price in its resources and environment despite achieving miraculous economic progress. Though China no longer suffers starvation or attacks, but it still suffers abuse for its potential title of the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. International Energy Agency forecasts predict that China will experience the largest growth in carbon dioxide emissions between now and the year 2030 .

The power industry is one of the largest fossil-fuel consumers and pollutant emitters when gearing up the social economy. In China, the power supply is still lagging far behind the demand, and there are more power plants and supply equipment under progress. To maintain a sustainable development, the power industry needs restructuring in energy mix and technical innovation in pollutant control. Both the government and industry welcome new technologies, ideas and insights dealing with emission reduction and efficiency.

China gives top priority to meeting the challenge of climate change and development of a green economy. Thanks to the hard work on the part of the officials and workers across the power sector in recent years, China has recorded dramatic achievements in improving efficiency. Last year, per unit GDP energy consumption dropped 1.33%. The Chinese government in its 11th five-year plan has set targets to annually reduce the per unit GDP energy consumption by 4 percent and in total by 20 percent in five years. 

China has become a booming economic country with its rapid growth rate in GDP. Although it is not the greatest country in terms of per capita greenhouse gas emission, the government is very active and dedicated to controlling pollutant emissions and developing a green economy. The power industry is on the front lines to take action and meet targets. The paper presents an introduction to the power industry in China, and what the Chinese government and its industry have done and shall do in order to save energy, reduce pollution, and develop a low carbon economy as well as carry on its high-paced growth. 

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