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If you are interested in participating in this project, please complete this form and you will receive information about opportunities to get involved that relate to your specific interests.

Background Information

The ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) is partnered with the Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization Project (LPDD), which  provides an opportunity to get involved with drafting model laws and other legal documents that can be adopted by all levels of government and the private sector to reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. The project is based on more than 1,000 recomendations from the book, Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States, edited by Professors Michael Gerrard and John Dernbach. The Project is nonpartisan and offers approaches that will appeal to policymakers of every political stripe. There should be a topic a firm or lawyer can address that avoids conflicts no matter what their client base. No specific technical or substantive knowledge is required to contribute to drafting model laws.

To date, dozens of law firms and individual attorneys (including retired judges, retired lawyers, law professors, and in house counsel) have participated in drafting model legislation for this project. Model laws are posted on this page. Firms and individual attorneys are still needed to provide pro bono legal services on the topics listed below.  Also needed are volunteer lawyers with legislative drafting skills or deep experience in the topics listed below for peer reviewing the draft laws, and persons with contacts with policymakers to assist in outreach.

Topics

  • Cross-Cutting Approaches to Reducing Emissions:
    • Financing at the Grid Edge
    • International Trade
  • Energy Efficiency, Conservation, and Fuel Switching in Buildings and Industry:
    • Lighting Appliances and Other Equipment
    • New Buildings
    • Existing Buildings
    • Industrial Sector
  • Transportation:
    • Transforming Transportation Demand
    • Light Duty Vehicles
    • Heavy Duty Vehicles and Freight
    • Aviation
    • Shipping
  • Electricity Decarbonization:
    • Utility-scale Renewable Generating Capacity
    • Distributed Renewable Energy
    • Transmission, Distribution and Storage: Grid Integration 
    • Nuclear Energy
    • Phasing Out Fossil Fuels for Electric Generation
  • Fuel Decarbonization:
    • Bioenergy Feedstocks
    • Production and Delivery of Low-Carbon Gaseous Fuels
    • Production and Delivery of Biofuels
  • Negative Emissions:
    • Agriculture
    • Forestry
  • Non-Carbon Dioxide Climate Pollutants:
    • Black Carbon
    • Methane
    • Fluorinated Gases
    • Nitrous Oxide

More Information

More information on drafting can be found here.

More information on participating in peer review is posted here.

More information on assisting in outreach is available here.