Center for Climate Change Law | Columbia Law School
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The Law of Clean Energy
In the era of climate change, energy and environmental law have become inextricably linked. CCCL’s energy law research focuses on how the field of energy law can be updated and expanded to tackle the challenges of creating a sustainable energy future.
The center's work in energy law includes research into energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy law litigation, combined heat and power, and other related topics.
- Michael B. Gerrard, The Law of Clean Energy: Efficiency and Renewables (ABA 2011).
The framework of U.S. laws governing energy efficiency and renewable energy is one of fragmentation across levels of government, regions of the country, types of energy resources, regulatory techniques, and policy objectives. Those who attempt to navigate these various laws and accomplish a substantive objective, such as building a project, must be prepared to dive into a broad range of disparate, uncoordinated provisions that apply to the specific kind of facility and location where it would be built. The Law of Clean Energy provides a current, clearly written explanation of the laws that apply and the critical legal issues involved in the transition to a clean energy economy.
The book, The Law of Clean Energy: Efficiency and Renewables (Michael B. Gerrard, ed.), published by the American Bar Association in May 2011, includes as its appendix a 50-state survey of state actions on clean energy. The survey provides a brief overview of the laws and policies adopted by each state to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy. The 50-state survey maintained on this website includes more detailed coverage of the state actions discussed in the appendix.
The Center for Climate Change Law and the Modi Research Group in Columbia University's Department of Mechanical Engineering are working on a collaborative research report that will seek a comprehensive understanding of the feasibility of combined heat and power (CHP) projects in New York City with an approach that evaluates the entire city as a single institution with many building types and functions available for load sharing.