Associate Professor, University of Wyoming College of Law Tara K. Righetti Interviewer: James Coleman Interview date: May 23, 2020 Keywords: Conservation Agencies, Well Placement, Directional Drilling “Well placement is one of those critical environmental issues. ......
Busby, Bazilian & Mulvaney – A Just Energy Transition in Both the Old and New Energy Sectors
Associate Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas Joshua Busby Director Payne Institute and Professor of Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines Morgan Bazilian Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, San Jose State...
K.K. DuVivier – Siting Wind Turbines
Professor, Sturm College of Law, University of Denver K.K. DuVivier Interviewer: Sharon Jacobs, Interview date: May 23, 2020 Keywords: Wake Effect, Legal Regimes, Terrestrial Wind “Despite the federal government's efforts to promote wind energy, only about 5 percent...
Holly J. Buck — Social Acceptance & Negative Emissions Technologies
Postdoctoral Fellow in Environment & Sustainability, UCLA / Assistant Professor of Environment & Sustainability, University of Buffalo Holly J. Buck Interviewers: David Spence Interview date: May 20, 2020 Keywords: Negative Emissions Technologies,...
Eric Hittinger — Cost Reductions vs. Value Loss in the Renewables Build-Out
Associate Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology Eric Hittinger Interviewer: David Spence, Interview Date: May 13, 2020 Keywords: Electricity Markets “There's these two effects: one says that as you build more wind and solar they get cheaper; one says...
Katharine Hayhoe – Magic Numbers in the Climate Debate
Professor of Public Policy & Public Law, Texas Tech University Katharine Hayhoe Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: May 6, 2020 Keywords: Two Degrees Celsius “Virtually every week I have someone come up to me and say we have -- originally 12, then 10, then...
Guillermo Garcia Sanchez — Energy Infrastructure & Indigenous Communities
Associate Professor of Law, Texas A&M University School of Law Guillermo Garcia Sanchez Interviewer: James Coleman, Interview date: April 2020 Key Terms: Indigenous Land Rights “On the one hand we have a human rights regime that protects indigenous rights...
James Coleman – Restricting Energy Production & Flaring
Associate professor of law, smu dedman school of law James Coleman Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: March 27, 2020 Keywords: Gas Flaring "The U.S. has moved from being an energy importer ... to being an energy exporter [with] an interest, at least...
Michael Webber – Renewable Natural Gas & a Decarbonized Energy Future
Josey Centennial Professor of Energy Resources, University of Texas & Chief Science & Technology Officer, ENGIE Michael Webber Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: March 27, 2020 Keywords: Decarbonization, Energy Storage, Renewable Natural Gas,...
J.B. Ruhl – Green New Deal Meets Old Green Laws
David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School J.B. Ruhl Interviewer: Jim Rossi, Interview date: February 19, 2020 Keywords: Green New Deal, Environmental Law “Green energy isn’t necessarily environmentally neutral. It’s green in that...
Annie Eisenberg – Just Transitions
Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina School of Law Ann M. Eisenberg Interviewer: Shelley Welton, Interview date: February 14, 2020 Keywords: Just Transition “More and more people are waking up to the fact that the need for decarbonization is more urgent...
Eric Orts – Climate Change & the Ethical Obligations of Business
Guardsmark Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics, Professor of Management, and Director of the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania Eric Orts Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: February 13, 2020...
David Konisky – Public Attitudes on Energy & Climate
Professor, Paul H. O'Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University David Konisky Interviewers: Shelley Welton, Interview date: February, 2020 Keywords: Climate Public Opinion “’What we found is that there is a structure [to preferences], ......
Sheila Olmstead — Carbon Taxes: The Evolving Conventional Wisdom
Professor of Public Affairs, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin President’s Council of Economic Advisors, 2016-17 Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center Sheila Olmstead Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: January 23, 2020,...
Doug Kysar — Tort Law & Climate Litigation
Deputy Dean and Joseph M. Field ’55 Professor of Law, Yale University Douglas Kysar Interviewers: Sharon Jacobs Interview date: December, 2019 Keywords: Tort Law, Our Children's Trust“All of us are at the same time both causes and victims of climate change. So...
Hannah Wiseman – Balancing the Local Costs and Wider Benefits of Energy Development
Attorneys Title Professor, Florida State University College of Law Hannah Wiseman Interviewers: David Spence Interview date: October 30, 2019 Keywords: Fracking “Many states have preempted local control [over energy permitting of oil and gas development]. When you...
Caroline Cecot — Regulating the Risks of Fracking to Water
Assistant Professor of Law, Scalia Law School, George Mason University Caroline Cecot Interviewer: James Coleman Interview date: October 14, 2019 Keywords: Fracking “It's easy to discredit local [anti-fracking] movements as totally speculative or fear-based ... This...
Scott Burger – How to Value Distributed Resources
Analytics Lead, Form Energy, & Research Affiliate/Lecturer MIT Center for Environmental Policy Research Scott Burger Interviewer: David Spence Interview date: October 2, 2019 Keywords: Distributed Energy “We simulated rooftop solar adoption across single...
Michael Wara on PG&E Wildfire Liability and Bankruptcy
Senior Research Scholar, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment & Fellow, Stanford Law School Michael Wara Interviewer: David Spence Interview date: October 3, 2019 Keywords: Bankruptcy, Disaster Response, Microgrid, Reliability, Safety, Transmission...
Eric Biber – How Law Must Change in the Anthropocene
Edward C. Halbach Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley School of Law Eric Biber Interviewer: David Spence Interview date: October 4, 2019 Keywords: Anthropocene “Human impacts on a global scale are causing the kinds of changes ... that are...
Michael Burger – Climate Litigation & the Green Transition
Executive Director, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School Michael Burger Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: September 26, 2019 Key Terms: Carbon Majors Project Public Nuisance New York v. Exxon...
Rossi & Serkin – Energy Exactions
Judge D.L. Lansden Chair in Law, Vanderbilt University Law School Jim Rossi Elisabeth H. & Granville S. Ridley Chair in Law, Vanderbilt University Law School Christopher Serkin Interviewer: David Spence Date: August 29, 2019 Keywords: Marginal Cost ...
Yael Lifshitz – Private Energy
Lecturer in Law, Kings College London Yael Lifshitz Interviewer: James Coleman Interview date:August 7, 2019 Keywords: Distributed Energy “When you think about the transition [toward] distributed energy, if you understand private law as a category that governs...
Rhodes & Meehan – Keeping the Lights on in a High Renewables Grid
Senior Energy System Modeler and Analyst, Vibrant Clean Energy Joshua Rhodes Director of Regulatory Affairs, First Solar Colin Meehan Interviewer: David Spence, August 7, 2019 Keywords: ancillary services, frequency control, rotational inertia ...
Mike Gerrard – Legal Impediments to a Massive Renewables Build Out
Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice, Columbia Law School Michael Gerrard Interviewer: Shelley Welton Interview Date: July, 2019 Keywords: NEPA “We are facing an existential environmental threat. One element of addressing that threat is a massive increase...
Kristen van de Biezenbos – Social License and Fossil Fuels
Assistant Professor, University of Calgary Faculty of Law & Haskayne School of Business Kristen van de Biezenbos Interviewer: James ColemanInterview Date: July, 2019Keywords: Social License, NIMBY“The term 'social license' is used to mean so many things that it...
Sanya Carley – Energy Justice
Professor, O'Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Sanya Carley Interviewer: Sharon Jacobs, Interview date: June, 2019Keywords: Decarbonization“There are in fact some negative or adverse consequences associated with [the green energy...
Monika Ehrman – Energy Realism
Associate Professor of Law & Faculty Director, Oil & Gas, Natural Resources and Energy Center, University of Oklahoma College of Law Monika Ehrman Interviewers: James Coleman, Interview Date: June, 2019 Keywords: Keep It In The Ground, Energy Realism “I think...
Victoria Mandell: Energy Poverty, Energy Burden and Rooftop Solar
President, GRID Alternatives Colorado Victoria Mandell Interviewer: Sharon Jacobs, Interview date: June, 2019 “There is a strong impetus nationally to invest in solar for many good reasons.. But the policies haven't been designed to incorporate equity issues....
Arne Olson: Modeling Decarbonization in the West
Senior Partner, E3 Consulting Arne Olson Interviewer: David Spence, Interview Date: June 6, 2019 Keywords: Decarbonization, Resource Adequacy “In the Pacific Northwest ... the good news is that we can ... achieve 80% reductions below 1990 levels in something...
Leah Stokes: The Politics of Technology Transitions
Assistant Professor, in the Department of Political Science, the Environmental Studies Department and the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara Leah Stokes Interviewer: David Spence, Interview Date: June 4,...
William Boyd: ‘Public’ Utility: Steering Markets Toward Public Ends
Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law, & Professor, UCLA Institute of Environment & Sustainability William Boyd Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: April 18, 2019 Key Terms: Public Utility, Rates, Restructuring, Market-based Pricing “Markets are...
Carey King: Economic Growth, Inequality & Decarbonization
Research Scientist & Assistant Director, University of Texas Energy Institute Carey King Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: May 24, 2019 Keywords: Decarbonization, GDP, Variable Costs, Capitalism, Energy Return on Investment (EROI) "It's not clear...
Daniel Raimi: Fossil Fuels and the Risk Profile of Fracking
Senior Research Associate, Resources for the Future & Lecturer, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan Daniel Raimi Interviewer: David Spence, Interview Date: May 22, 2019 Keywords: Fracking, Methane Migration, Induced Earthquakes, Shale...
Elizabeth Wilson: Regional Differences in RTO Governance and Decision-making
Director, Arthur L. Irving Institute for Environment & Society, Professor of Environmental Studies, Dartmouth University Elizabeth Wilson Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: May 16, 2019 Key Terms: RTO/ISO, pumped storage, energy imbalance...
Ari Peskoe: Reliability, Decarbonization & Federal-State Conflict Over Electricity Markets
Director, Harvard Electricity Law Initiative & Lecturer, Harvard Law School Ari Peskoe Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: May 13, 2019 Keywords: Capacity Markets, Clean Energy, Decarbonization, Federal Power Act, Federalism, Nuclear Power, Resource...
Melinda Taylor: Studying Intensive Energy Development (Oil & Gas, Wind and Solar) in West Texas
Senior Lecturer, University of Texas School of Law Melinda Taylor Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: April 29, 2019 "Everyone is familiar with the boom of energy expansion in west Texas -- fracking and wind and solar investment. The project we are...
David Spence: The Politics of Siting Energy Infrastructure
Baker BOtts Chair in law, university of texas school of law Professor of business, government & society, mccombs school of business David Spence Interviewer: Shelley Welton; Interview date: April 10, 2019"In a green transition we are going to build a lot of...
David Adelman: Modeling the Evolution of a Greener Grid
Harry reasoner regents chair in law, University of Texas school of Law David Adelman Interviewer: Joshua Rhodes, Interview date: 4/3/19 “We observed that natural gas prices below $3.50 delayed entry of renewable generation into the market. Higher gas prices...
Jesse Jenkins: The Best Route to Net-Zero Emissions
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School of Government Fellow, Harvard University Center for the Environment Jesse Jenkins Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: 2/21/19 Keywords: Cost of Energy, Decarbonization, Resource Adequacy, Resource Planning Model...
David Spence: “Naïve Energy Markets” and the boundary between markets and regulation
Baker Botts Chair in law, university of texas school of law Professor of business, government & society, mccombs school of business David Spence Interviewers: Sharon Jacobs & Shelley Welton, Interview date: 11/7/18 Key Terms: Cost of Service Ratemaking,...
Todd Davidson: Long-term storage needs, ‘green gases,’ & the energy transition
Research Associate, University of Texas Energy Institute Todd Davidson Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: April 24, 2019 Keywords: Decarbonization, Energy Storage, Hydrogen Fuel, Intermittent Resources “There are times when it is really not windy, or is...
Joel Eisen and Shelley Welton: Net Metering & the Value of Distributed Solar Generation
Professor of Law, Univ. of Richmond Joel Eisen Assistant Professor of Law, Univ. of South Carolina Shelley Welton Interviewer: David Spence, April 4, 2019 “Net metering got adopted because it is a simple policy. I don’t worry a lot about net metering...
Dana Harmon: Energy Poverty and the Green Transition
Executive Director, Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute Dana Harmon Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: 4/16/19 “Only 5% of the people who are eligible for federal energy poverty assistance receive that assistance. There is a need for more and...
James Coleman: The Difficulty of Siting Pipelines and Transmission Lines
Associate professor of law, smu dedman school of law James Coleman Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: 11/7/18 “Right now we are wasting natural gas and wind power because we haven’t build the pipelines and power lines to bring those products to market....
Frank Wolak: Market Solutions to Reliability Challenges in Electricity Markets
Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies Director, Program on Energy & Sustainable Development Stanford University Frank Wolak Interviewers: David Spence, Interview date: 4/4/19 Keywords: Energy Storage, Externalities, Intermittent Resources, Price...
Amy Stein: Maintaining reliability in a distributed energy world
Professor of Law, University of florida Levin college of Law Amy Stein Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: March 2019 Keywords: Energy Storage, Demand Response, Transaction Cost Framework, Monopoly Control Utility, Regional Transmission Organization...
Alexandra Klass: Network Infrastructure: Permitting & Eminent Domain
Distinguished McKnight University Professor, University of Minnesota School of Law Alexandra Klass Interviewers: David Spence, Interview date: December 14, 2018 “In these times of uncertainty and change, how do we decide what to build? Pipelines and transmission...
Michael Wara: California’s Energy Transition—Decarbonization & Decentralization (Community Choice)
Senior Research Scholar, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment & Fellow, Stanford Law School Michael Wara Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: December 14, 2018 “There are issues with energy poverty in California, and they tend to be localized...
Sheila Olmstead: Cost-Benefit Analysis, “Secret Science,” and OIRA Reviews of Rulemaking
Professor of Public Affairs, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin President’s Council of Economic Advisors, 2016-17 Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center Sheila Olmstead Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: 11/7/18 Key Terms:...
Nathan Richardson: The Politics of Carbon Taxes vs. Regulation
Associate Professor of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law Nathan Richardson Interviewer: Shelley Welton, Interview date: March 2019 “I’d take any carbon tax today and then work from there. My faith in the ability of the Clean Air Act to effect...
Sharon Jacobs: Environmental Privileging
Associate Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School Board of the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources Sharon Jacobs Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: 11/12/18 Key Terms: NEPA “Privileging certain values and goals is not a...
Joshua Rhodes: Tinkering with Energy Tradeoffs Online
Research Associate, University of Texas Energy Institute Joshua Rhodes Interviewer: David Spence, Interview date: 4/10/19 “In this tool we calculated the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for 12 different electricity generation technologies, in all 3,110...
Shelley Welton: The Distributional Impacts of Distributed Energy Resources
Assistant Professor of Law, Univ. of South Carolina Shelley Welton Interviewer: David Spence, November 2, 2018 “Utilities are raising an important and fundamental question about how we want to fund the massive transition [to a green energy economy]. Net...