Colorado Environmental Law Journal

I. Introduction Testifying before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in 2003, then Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan cautioned, “Today’s tight natural gas markets have been a long time in coming, and futures prices suggest that we are not apt to return to earlier periods of relative abundance and low prices anytime soon.”[2] By 2008, U.S. natural gas prices soared to a record high of $10.79 Mcf.[3] Entrepreneurs turned to Liquefied Natural Gas (“LNG”) imports to satisfy demand. During this period, the Federal Energy Continue reading →

I. Introduction The planet is warming, both on the surface and in the oceans.[1] Warmer surface temperatures result in faster rates at which ice caps and glaciers melt, while warmer ocean temperatures lead to thermal expansion of salt-water molecules.[2] The cumulative effect of increased melting and thermal expansion is significantly higher sea levels, with a predicted global mean rise of twenty-six to eighty-two centimeters by 2100.[3] Sinking beneath these rising seas are the small island-states of the Asia-Pacific region (“APSISs”).[4] All are least developed countries Continue reading →

I. Introduction It takes over one gallon of water to grow a single almond in California.[1] California farmers raise $5 billion of the nuts annually,[2] but because of the 2014 drought farmers let almond orchards die and bulldozed productive trees for firewood.[3] According to the United States Drought Monitor, nearly seventy-five percent of the state was blanketed by “extreme” or “exceptional” drought[4] that affected products from melons to cattle.[5] President Obama pledged nearly $200 million of relief.[6] Democratic legislators proposed hundreds of millions more in Continue reading →

In measure, however, history has repeated itself . . . . To all these places the oil derrick has come like a conquering army driving all before it. Farms, fields, orchards, gardens, dooryards, and even homesteads have been given over to the mad search for oil. In nearly all appear the same steps of progress; a lucky strike, the rush for leases, sudden wealth to the fortunate ones, boom towns, stock companies, and sooner or later the inevitable decline.[1] I. INTRODUCTION The State of Colorado owes a great deal Continue reading →