The George Washington Journal of Energy & Environmental Law

Session Two of the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Environmental Law Conference dealt with several leading edge technologies and the challenges associated with establishing a regulatory framework for their safe use.  The session included four distinguished experts on the implementation of new and innovative environmental technologies. This summary is composed from the author’s notes and may not accurately reflect the statements of the panelists. Samuel Thernstrom, a senior climate policy advisor at Clean Air Task Force began the session by…

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The 2011 J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Conference was held at The George Washington Law School from March 23-24 and was devoted to discussions of the central topic, “Environmental Governance at the Leading Edge of Technology.” Fittingly enough, the symposium opened with a panel of presentations on the governance challenges involved in the implementation of said technology. The following is an observer’s attempt to summarize the topics discussed at this panel – please note that the summary is dependant on…

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At this year’s J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Environmental Law Conference on March 23-24, 2011, the symposium focused on the intersection between new technologies and governmental regulations.[1] On Monday, March 23, a panel was assembled to discuss “The Strengths and Limitations of Existing Governance Structure.”  Panelists included: Robin L. Juni, (Moderator), Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Professorial Lecturer, The George Washington University Law School Mark Greenwood, Partner, Ropes & Gray, LLP and former director of the Office of Pollution…

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The Environmental Law Institute, The George Washington Journal of Energy and Environmental Law, and The George Washington Environmental Law Association co-sponsored the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Environmental Law Conference on Environmental Governance at the Leading Edge of Technology on March 23-24, 2011. On the second day of the conference was a Round Table discussion on New Approaches to Government Oversight. LeRoy C. Paddock, Associate Dean for Environmental Law Studies and Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School,…

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The following is a summary of the panel discussion on “Environmental Impact Analysis in the Complex Technology Context” at the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Environmental Law Conference on Environmental Governance at the Leading Edge of Technology, held at The George Washington University Law School on March 23, 2011.  Panelists for the event included Bradley C. Karkkainen, Professor of Environmental and Resource Law at the University of Minnesota Law School, Paul B. Smyth, Of Counsel at Perkins Coie, LLP and…

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When one thinks of “energy” and “Texas,” the first word that pops into most peoples’ heads is probably “oil.”  For decades, Texas was one of the top oil producing states within the United States and was the center of the American oil business.  Today, however, Texas is leading the development of  a new form of energy – wind.[1] In fact, the wind energy industry is both growing faster in Texas than anywhere else in the country,[2] and Texas currently leads…

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Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the 1990 Oil Pollution Act (OPA) Indian tribes may serve as trustees over natural resources damaged by various types of pollution incidents.[1] Some tribes, like the Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin have seized this opportunity and participated in Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDAs).[2] Hundreds of other tribes have not participated in the NRDA system. A closer examination of these two statutes, their associated…

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In marking the fortieth anniversary of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), the White House Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) put forth “four steps to modernize and reinvigorate” NEPA in February of 2010.[1] Among these four steps was issuing guidance on use of categorical exclusions.[2] Just months later, however, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico became a real-life vehicle for examining how categorical exclusions had been applied in NEPA’s environmental review process in the offshore oil and…

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In an interview for the website “Ubiquity” David Rejeski Director of the Foresight and Governance Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars discussed the governance problems associated with rapidly advancing technology. “REJESKI: The one common characteristic underlying surprise over the past decades has been the speed of advance. Think of the sequencing of the human genome. When the project began it was viewed as nearly impossible, then we predicted it would be complete in 2005, then in 2004, and…

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Charles Fournier, a Senior Consultant for FTI  Consulting and a graduate of The George Washington University Law School, recently answered this question in an article for FTI’s quarterly newsletter. Mr. Fournier received his J.D. from GW Law in 2007 and is currently based out of Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Here is a condensed copy of the article: “In the end, the focal issue may be the management of risk: even with robust efforts to prevent oil-related incidents, they can…

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