Lawyers witness upswing in sustainable law trends

As former advisor to Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski on sustainability-related public policy, a position I held for the past seven years, I’ve helped the governor push forward some of the nation’s most cutting-edge energy and climate change policies.

As I transition into providing private legal services to clients in the sustainability arena in the Pacific Northwest, I am now helping companies tackle a variety of legal issues arising from increased investment in renewable energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction activities, among other things. Following are some trends I predict many lawyers practicing in the sustainability arena will be faced with in coming years.  

Energy-related projects and deals
Oregon in particular, and the West Coast in general, have been ahead of the national curve in creating policies to attract development of renewable energy projects, as well as the manufacture of renewable energy products and components to support them. A quick review of Northwest law firm Web sites demonstrates that renewable energy is an important new area in which attorneys seek to practice.

To date, large utility-scale wind energy projects have driven the renewables market, with wind industry jobs increasing by 70 percent in 2008 alone. Wind developers and marketers require legal services ranging from siting, financing, constructing and selling output of wind energy projects. Tax lawyers play a surprisingly large role in these and other energy-related projects because tax credits are the dominant federal and state based incentives. Wind projects will continue to thrive as the lowest-cost renewable energy resource, particularly with increased incentives for renewable energy projects at the national level. Also driving this growth is the aggressive requirements for West Coast utilities to integrate renewable energy (renewable portfolio standards), combined with some of the best state incentives for renewable energy projects.

The amount of undergrowth that must be removed to reduce fire impacts on forestlands in the Pacific Northwest, combined with federal stimulus dollars and other incentives, could mean numerous small-scale biomass energy projects will become financially viable and proliferate. Cellulosic ethanol technologies also should accelerate in the Pacific Northwest with our wood resources and stimulus funding.

Wave energy is still years away from significant commercial project development but it and other sectors such as geothermal and small-scale hydroelectric projects will increase over time.