2 research outputs found
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The legal and regulatory regime for offshore hydrocarbon resources in the U.S. Arctic
This article discusses how federal laws and regulations govern offshore oil and gas activity in the U.S. Arctic. It examines three broad regulatory components: leasing (licensing), operating practices, and – more briefly – revenue collection. The background and introductory topics include the potential for and challenges to developing hydrocarbon resources in the region; and an overview of historic and current oil and gas production in the U.S. Arctic. The discussion of the legal and regulatory regime begins with identifying the jurisdictional and geographic boundaries in which it operates. The leasing (licensing) component is described through the four-step process set forth by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). Under operating practices, five areas are covered: waste management, chemical use, and discharge; emissions to air; oil spill prevention and liability; protection of living marine resources; equipment design and performance standards; and health, safety, and environmental (HSE) concerns. The article analyzes the laws and regulations from functional, temporal, and sectoral perspectives rather than providing detailed descriptions of each rule in this complex regulatory area. It identifies key regulatory actors and demonstrates their roles in implementing the primary statutory and regulatory provisions. Regulatory changes implemented since the 2010 Macondo/Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico are analyzed for their relevance to offshore activity in the Arctic. The 2012 exploratory drilling season of Royal Dutch Shell in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas is used to provide the majority of examples of how the laws and regulations discussed apply to offshore oil and gas activities in the U.S. Arctic
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Making the ethical and philosophical case for 'energy justice'
A new conceptual framework, “energy justice,” provides a more comprehensive and, poÂtentially, better way to assess and resolve energy-related dilemmas. This new framework of energy justice builds on four fundamental assumptions and consists of two key principles: a prohibitive principle which states that “energy systems must be designed and constructed in such a way that they do not unduly interfere with the ability of people to acquire those basic goods to which they are justly entitled,” and an affirmative principle which states that “if any of the basic goods to which people are justly entitled can only be secured by means of energy services, then in that case there is also a derivative entitlement to the energy services.” These two principles are premised on the notion that energy serves as a material prerequisite for many of the basic goods to which people are entitled. They also recognize that the externalities associated with energy systems often interfere with the enjoyment of such fundamental goods as security and welfare. They acknowledge that the structuring of energy systems has profound ramifications for human societies, providing historically unprecedented benefits for some, and taking from others the possibility of living a life of basic human dignity