President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Accords is disheartening for many that work in and around the renewable energy industries, and believe in the importance of a truly diversified energy portfolio.  While it is certainly not a perfect agreement, 195, now 194, countries from around the world recognized a pressing need to take steps to cut carbon emissions and attempt to turn the tide on climate change.  That level of…

I am excited to announce that several members of the Polsinelli Energy Group (myself included) will be attending the AWEA Wind Project Siting & Environmental Compliance Conference this week in Austin, TX.  Our energy team has been hard at work with AWEA over the last few months to develop a few exciting new offerings for AWEA members, which we hope to roll out shortly (more on that soon).  We’ll be on the floor throughout the conference, so…

I wanted to provide a quick heads-up to let you all know that I will be participating as a panelist at the Linda Hall Library’s “Second Saturday Conversation”  tomorrow, March 11th, from 11 AM to noon Central Time.  The topic will be the hopes, concerns, and possibilities for research funding, infrastructure projects, and energy development under the new Trump administration, which should prove to be a fruitful topic. I’m looking forward to an excellent discussion.…

Recently, Alan Anderson and I were thrilled to be invited to present to a class at the Washburn University Law School.  For those of you that don’t know, Washburn has developed a truly exceptional energy and oil & gas law program (something that I dearly wish I could have had in law school), thanks in large part to the efforts of Prof. David Pierce.  When Prof. Pierce’s invites us to do just about anything,…

On May 28, 2015, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed legislation that will have a significant impact on the future of wind generation in the state.  The history of the political struggle underlying this legislation is a topic worthy of its own post, but suffice it to say that SB 91 represents a compromise between the wind industry and a faction of legislators that have attempted to reduce the state’s support of wind energy over the…

Last week the White House released its first installment of the Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) recommending investments in energy transmission, storage and distribution infrastructure.  While the U.S. is now the largest producer of oil and natural gas and is rapidly expanding renewable energy like wind and solar power, this energy must now travel across millions of miles of outdated infrastructure.  Ultimately, the QER envisions ensuring resilience, reliability, safety and security of the transmission, storage and…

On Nov 4th, Congressional Republicans beat back their Democratic opponents in nearly every part of the country.  Because of this resounding victory, Republicans have a tighter control of Congress than they’ve enjoyed since America teetered into the Great Depression at the end of the 1920s.  (Hopefully this is not foreshadowing). Although Republicans already enjoyed a solid, governing majority in the House heading into the 2014 midterms, the party still managed to gain more than a…