University of Colorado Law Review
Volume 81, Issue 3, Summer 2010
FOREWORD
Each year, the University of Colorado Law Review designates one of its issues as the Natural Resources and Environmental Law Issue. This year, the Board of Editors selected a group of articles that focus on the cutting edge of renewable energy policy. In light of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the articles presented herein call attention to a grave and timely area of interest. In particular, all the articles in this issue demonstrate the importance of coherent and intelligent regulatory framework and collaboration between private industry and governmental entities to reduce our dependence on carbon-based fuels.
First, the Board of Editors is excited to produce three articles focused on the problems involved in multistate decision making for the transmission of renewable energy. Renewable energy sources are often located remotely from the population and energy consumption centers. As such, to be effective, renewable energy must be transmitted long distances, perhaps crossing state lines. On August 11, 2009, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (“NREL”) held a conference that gathered policy makers from Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming to address questions of how states can cooperate in developing transmission lines across state borders. Entitled “Multistate Decision Making for Renewable Energy and Transmission,” the conference produced three papers, published here.
In his introductory Essay, Multistate Decision Making for Renewable Energy and Transmission: An Overview, David J. Hurlbut lays the technical groundwork for the conference and introduces the two subsequent papers: Siting Transmission Lines in a Changed Milieu: Evolving Notions of the “Public Interest” in Balancing State and Regional Considerations, by Ashley C. Brown and Jim Rossi, and Constitutional Contours for the Design and Implementation of Multistate Renewable Energy Programs and Projects by Robin Kundis Craig.
One popularly proposed method for implementing renewable energy is the so-called “smart grid.” In Envisioning the Smart Grid: Network Architecture, Information Control, and the Public Policy Balancing Act, Elias Leake Quinn and Adam Reed, of the University of Colorado Law School’s own Center for Energy and Environmental Security, tackle some of the questions and concerns surrounding the development of appropriate regulation for smart grid development. To demonstrate some of these intriguing problems, Mr. Quinn and Mr. Reed use a hypothetical marketplace of information obtained via the smart grid to demonstrate the need for intelligent regulation to properly guide the development of smart grid infrastructure.
Finally, Kelly Crandall critiques the existing regulatory scheme surrounding the advertisement and trade of renewable energy credits in her student Comment, Trust and the Green Consumer: The Fight for Accountability in Renewable Energy Credits. Crandall argues that under the current inconsistent regulatory patchwork, gaps exist which allow for deceptive and opportunistic advertisement at the expense of well-meaning but uninformed consumers. In response, she calls for a cohesive, national regime to provide greater regulation of deceptive advertising in the renewable energy industry.
The recent oil spill only heightens the need for our country to develop clean and renewable energy sources. However, as the articles presented in this Natural Resources and Environmental Law Issue demonstrate, renewable energy entrepreneurs and innovators will need clear, coherent, and intelligent regulatory frameworks in order to achieve their laudable goals.
Zachary P. Mountin
Editor-in-Chief