I prepared this post before Ida. It might now be perceived as cynical, or unsympathetic to the plight of those affected in South Louisiana and the Northeast. Is the intensity of hurricanes exacerbated by global warming? Some say it is; some say it isn’t. Regardless, what to know and do about climate change
Is There a Problem With Nuclear Energy?
From the “Not-my-circus-not-my-monkeys” department, after the 10th anniversary of the Fukishima disaster last March my curiosity ventured into the nuclear energy debate. See these observations from those who actually know something about the issue (read the articles themselves for the full story). Opinions vary widely:
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Climate Change for Landmen and Lawyers – Part 5
In the fifth and final installment on the climate change debate, Gray Reed energy partner Paul Yale considers (and responds to) another criticism of Bjorn Lomborg’s False Alarm: How Climate Panic Costs Us Billions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet.
Joseph Stiglitz in the New York Times negatively reviewed False Alarm
A Big Decision on Texas PSA and Allocation Wells? Not so Fast.
In Opiela v. Railroad Commission of Texas and Magnolia Oil and Gas Operating, LLC, an Austin district court determined that the Commission’s Final Order granting a permit for a Production Sharing Agreement well in Karnes County did not comply with the Administrative Procedure Act. Here is the Commission’s hearing examiners’ recommendation. It is
Climate Change for Energy Professionals – Part 4
The fourth installment on the climate change debate by Gray Reed energy partner Paul Yale looks at criticisms of Bjorn Lomborg’s False Alarm: How Climate Panic Costs Us Billions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet. These short summaries can’t do justice to Paul’s articles, or the books themselves for that matter.
Climate Change for Energy Professionals – Part 3
In his third installment on the climate change debate, Gray Reed energy partner Paul Yale discusses the assertions of Bjorn Lomborg in his book False Alarm:
- Lomborg relies on two major sources: Reports from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the US Government’s National Climate Assessment.
- He says their forecasts about
Climate Change for Energy Professionals – Part 2
This is the second in a series of Gray Reed energy lawyer Paul Yale‘s examination of three books that raise questions such as:
Can we save the polar bears and the whales, … Are they in need of saving?
Will we 
drown by 2100? (Not “we” as in you and me, but you know
Climate Change for Energy Professionals – Part 1
Gray Reed’s in-house Cassandra, energy partner Paul Yale, has set out to educate energy industry professionals, and anyone else willing to learn, on the latest developments in the climate change debate. Here is Part One, in which Paul reviews three books with differing points of view: The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming,
Predicting the Effect of Biden’s Election on the Oil Industry and the Climate
Now that our new president has been elected (Proud Boys, its over!), let’s take a look at what people smarter than I are predicting it will mean for the domestic oil and gas industry and the climate. In summary: bad for one, no meaningful help for the other, and the fury of the fiscal kraken will be unleashed. (As usual these are summaries; see the articles for a fuller picture).
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Louisiana Oil Pipeline Expropriation System is Constitutional
The battle lines between pipeline companies and landowners are still being drawn. In Bayou Bridge Pipeline v. 38.00 acres nobody had a gun, nobody got taken away, and one side was right and one side was wrong.
There were two survivors:
- The constitutionality of Louisiana’s statutory scheme for expropriation of private land for oil pipelines, and
- BBP’s gamble to trespass and begin work before a judgment was obtained. As BBP said, “time is money”.
Note to non-Louisiana lawyers: Unlike Texas at least, a Louisiana pipeline must obtain a judgment of expropriation before going on the property.
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