On April 23-24, Lewis & Clark Law School and the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program hosted legal and energy leaders from across the country at a conference, Greening the Grid: Building a Legal Framework for Carbon Neutrality. They met to discuss the laws needed to support the growth of low- or no-carbon energy sources for the power transmission grid. More than 50 participants from government agencies, energy companies, environmental nonprofits,, and law firms attended sessions that looked at renewable energy, clean coal technology, and nuclear power.
Janice Weis, Associate Dean and Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program, said the conference was groundbreaking given its comprehensive scope.
“The conference moved beyond a discussion of climate change and its causes and tackled the issue of how alternative or renewable energy sources might be used to ‘green the grid,’” Weis said. “The conference looked at the economic, legal, and technical issues involved in employing a variety of different energy sources and, in doing so, allowed us to gain an appreciation for the very complex issues involved in climate change.”
Speakers addressed a wide spectrum of energy sources including ocean wave, nuclear, coal, solar, and wind, as well as the federal and state regulatory landscape that contributes to or impedes renewable energy development.
“It was clear that the speakers have been spending time in their positions giving great thought as to how all sectors—academic, private, government, and non-profit—might contribute to a better understanding of how to address climate change.”
In this video, conference participants share their motives for attending and the rolls they each play toward Greening the Grid.