On September 21, 2022, the New York Times published an essay by Gabriel Popkin titled “Are There Better Places to Put Large Solar Farms Than These Forests?” Popkin describes a recently approved 4,500-acre solar project in Virginia that will remove approximately 3,500 acres of forest and asks whether such projects […]
Solar Power
13 posts
By Leah Adelman and Jacob Elkin Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law has published an update to its Report on Opposition to Renewable Energy Facilities in the United States, which documents local restrictions on and opposition to the siting of renewable energy projects. The updated report highlights […]
In order to achieve the greenhouse gas reductions needed to sustain a livable climate, we must scale up renewable energy capacity at a rapid pace. Wind and solar energy facilities emit no air pollution and have minimal environmental effects as compared to fossil fuel plants, but like all types of […]
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Marrakech for the 22nd meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), known as COP22. Hundreds queued for hours in the hot Marrakechi sun for an opportunity to hear Secretary […]
by Teresa Parejo Navajas, Professor of Law, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain). In December 2012 the European Commission awarded over €1.2 billion funding to 23 highly innovative renewable energy demonstration projects under the first call for proposals for the so-called NER300 funding program. Projects will be co-financed with revenues […]
By Michael Babakitis, Legal Intern Governor Chris Christie signed a bill on Monday, July 23rd, that will require New Jersey’s utilities to procure 2.05% of their electricity from solar projects in 2014 (.5% more than would have otherwise been required) and to procure 4.1% of their electricity from solar projects […]
By Katee Kline, Legal Intern On July 24, the Department of the Interior released a final programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) identifying prime areas for solar development, approving seventeen large-scale energy projects on public lands, and outlining the procedure for approval of similar projects. The PEIS, authored by the DOI’s Bureau […]
Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL) has prepared a first draft of a model small-scale solar-siting ordinance. The model ordinance offers a framework that can enable municipalities to implement and enforce the effective and efficient use of solar energy resources. The ordinance would govern all new solar […]