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Energy Law and Policy in a Climate-Constrained World

by Victor Byers Flatt, Alfonso López de la Osa Escribano, Aubin Nzaou-Kongo

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Energy law and policy is in transition, the scope which is wide and vast. This discipline itself is accompanying a profound social, environmental, and economic change or transformation. One could not diminish the significance of aspects of the transition that are not apparent in the overall picture. This book addresses different aspects of the phenomenon and tackles the energy field from the double perspective of law and policy. Scholars from France, the U.K., and the U.S. have written chapters on different areas of energy law and policy, analyzing different instruments, provisions, and objectives, and questioning the role of actors and institutions. This perspective stems from a broader view of the energy transition and security, but mostly from different approaches relying on law, politics, science, etc. This book presents reflections on concepts, foreign policy, regional and international cooperation, and the specific role the state is to play when it comes to such thing as energy law and policy.

Victor B. Flatt is the Dwight Olds Professor of Law and is the Faculty Co-Director of the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (EENR) Center at the University of Houston Law Center. He is also a Distinguished Scholar of Carbon Markets at the University of Houston’s Gutierrez Energy Management Institute.

Alfonso López de la Osa Escribano is the Director of the Center of U.S. and Mexican Law, and Adjunct Faculty on Comparative Health Law of the Health Law and Policy Institute at the University of Houston Law Center. He is also affiliated with the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (EENR) Center.

Aubin Nzaou-Kongo is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow in Law and Energy Policy at the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (EENR) Center, and at the Center of U.S. and Mexican Law at the University of Houston Law Center (U.S.). He is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Lyon 3 and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University Savoie Mont-Banc.

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Managing Challenges for the Flint Water Crisis

Edited by Toyna E. Thornton, Andrew D. Williams, Katherine M. Simon, Jennifer F. Sklarew 

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The field of emergency and crisis management covers countless natural and human-induced hazards as well high threats. Focusing events occur at every level of governance; however, it is at the local level in which the ‘rubber’ response efforts meets the proverbial ‘road.’ While politicians and policymakers typically attempt to reduce the impacts associated with disasters by anticipating the unexpected, many challenges remain. Understanding disaster meaning, even causality, is essential to the problem-solving process.

While the resources of local governments are shrinking, expectations for delivering real-world results are greater than ever before. In the water crisis of Flint, Michigan, decision-makers believed to be making sound choices by changing the treated water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department– water that was sourced from Lake Huron and the Detroit River–to the Flint River. Since the water from Flint River was contaminated, and officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water, it resulted in an environmental water quality disaster; that is, exposing 100,000 residents to elevated levels of lead.

This edited volume examines several public management and intergovernmental failures, with particular attention on social, political, and financial impacts. The editors come from a variety of backgrounds, including a pracademic, an academic connected with communities of practice, a local government expert, an emergency management professional, and an environmental policy scholar. The collection of chapter authors includes professional colleagues and experts from the social sciences, public administration, emergency and crisis management, and environmental policy fields, most of which are affiliated with the key professional association, the American Society for Public Administration.

 

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The Life of the Bee

by Maurice Maeterlinck

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Maurice Maeterlinck was born in August 1862 in Belgium to a wealthy family. Thanks to their abundance, Maeterlinck was able to complete law school at the University of Ghent, travel and write. Instead of practicing law, as his father wished, Maeterlinck focused on writing. He found success with his first play, Princess Maleine. He wrote several books that were well received, such as Twelve Songs (1896), The Treasure of the Humble (1896), and The Life of the Bee (1901). For his works, in 1903 Belgium awarded him the Triennial Prize for Dramatic Literature.Several of Maeterlinck’s writings had challenged the Catholic Church. He had attended the Jesuit College of Sainte-Barbe, which had left him with a disdain for organized religion in general, and Catholicism in particular. He also railed against Germany during both World Wars, which caused him to flee to the United States in 1940. He left for France after the war ended in 1947. One major criticism of Maeterlinck’s work was his plagiarism of La Vie des Termites (The Life of Termites), in which he directly took writings by Eugène Marais in a series of Dutch articles and translated them into French, claiming them as his own. Despite this outcry, Eugène Marais was not recognized by Maeterlinck in the work, and Maeterlinck continued to write and receive accolades for his work. Maeterlinck died in 1949 in France, after suffering a heart attack.

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West Virginia: Its Farms and Forests, Mines and Oil-Wells: with a Glimpse of its Scenery, a Photograph of its Population, and an Exhibit of its Industrial Statistics

by Jacob Richards Dodge

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Jacob Richards Dodge was born on September 28, 1823 in New Boston, New Hampshire. His family traced their arrival to the United States in 1638 from England. Dodge enjoyed the benefits of childhood education in both traditional academic and technical components, which gave him a firm foundation for the rest of his life.

Dodge went on to teach in Mississippi from 1845-9, then later returned to the northeast US as an editor from 1850 up until around the start of the Civil War. Afterwards, be began working for the US Department of Agriculture. He focused on rural economics, edited innumerable reports and handled foreign commissions, and took a special interest in West Virginia as this classic demonstrates. On October 1, 1902 he passed away in Woburn, Massachusetts, and was buried in the Universalist Church Cemetery in Nashua, New Hampshire.

This edition is dedicated to Vernon Smith of American Public University, astute appreciator and energetic contributor to modern West Virginia and its role in modern education.

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Trout-Fishing for the Beginner

by Richard Clapham

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As Richard Clapham introduced his work on trout fishing,
“Although anglers are well supplied with books pertaining to their favourite sport, the majority of such volumes appeals more to the practised fisherman than the novice. Many a beginner, however, is dependent on books for information regarding trout-fishing and the tools of the craft, and naturally expects to find simple hints that will start him on the road to success. The acquisition of an ill-balanced rod and unsuitable tackle tends to engender a slovenly method of fishing that is absolutely detrimental to good sport. A fair start, with a few simple but correct items of outfit, is everything ; the proper methods will then be cultivated from the beginning. It is, therefore, with the idea of helping the beginner that I have written this book, and I hope the information contained therein may prove useful to prospective anglers of both sexes.”

This edition is dedicated to Robert Rich Jr., angler extraordinary in many seas.

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A Common Sense Manifesto (With a Nod to Thomas Paine, Not Karl Marx)

by Max J. Skidmore

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This work examines the political situation in America, and how it came to be. It chronicles the disturbing deterioration of the Republican Party into an extreme and corrupt mechanism ready to receive and incorporate a destructive force that it welcomed wholeheartedly when it appeared in the bombastic, and completely self-centered, form of Donald Trump. Calling for a “blue tsunami,” the Manifesto outlines the way forward, out of the insanity. It notes political realities and thus accepts the need to work within the two-party system. It argues for a rational and comprehensive “Modern Political Economy” that recognizes environmental imperatives, corrects severe income and political inequality, expands Social Security, implements universal health care, protects the rights and dignity of all the people, improves America’s sagging infrastructure and transportation up to world-class and responsible standards, and ensures full participation in the national bounty in ways that protect the world and all its current and future inhabitants.

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Demand the Impossible: Essays in History as Activism

Editors: Nathan Wuertenberg and William Horne

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Born from the wave of activism that followed the inauguration of President Trump, Demand the Impossible asks scholars what they can do to help solve present-day crises. The twelve essays in this volume draw inspiration from present-day activists. They examine the role of history in shaping ongoing debates over monuments, racism, clean energy, health care, poverty, and the Democratic Party. Together they show the ways that the issues of today are historical expressions of power that continue to shape the present. Adequately addressing them means understanding their origins.

The way our society remembers the past has long served to cement inequality. It is no accident that the ahistorical slogan “make America great again” emerged after decades of income inequality and a generation of funding cuts to higher education. But the movement toward openly addressing injustice and inequality though historical inquiry is growing. Although many historians remain tucked away in ivory towers of their own making, we join a long tradition of activist scholars like W.E.B. Du Bois, C.L.R. James, and C. Vann Woodward, as well as a growing wave of engaged colleagues including Keri Leigh Merritt, who penned the foreword for this volume. As historians and citizens, we feel a responsibility to preserve an authentic vision of the past in a moment riddled with propaganda and lies. In doing so, we hope to help provide a framework to fight the inequities we inherited from prior generations that are repurposed and enshrined by the powerful today.

Nathan Wuertenberg is a doctoral candidate at The George Washington University. He is conducting research for a doctoral dissertation on the 1775 American invasion of Quebec, entitled “Divided We Stand: The American War for Independence, the 1775 Quebec Campaign, and the Rise of Nations in the Twilight of Colonial Empires.” William Horne is a PhD candidate at The George Washington University researching the relationship of race to labor, freedom, and capitalism in post-Civil War Louisiana. His dissertation, “Carceral State: Baton Rouge and its Plantation Environs Across Emancipation,” examines the ways in which white supremacy and capitalism each depended on restricting black freedom in the aftermath of slavery.

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Illustrated Sketches of Death Valley: and Other Borax Deserts of the Pacific Coast

by John R. Spears

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John R. Spears was born in 1850 in Van Wert, Ohio. Though an inveterate traveler, particularly out west, he ended up residing in Little Falls, New York. He wrote a great deal, particularly for the
New York Sun, and his books include The Port of Missing Ships and Other Stories of the Sea (1896), The Story of Nee England Whalers (1908), and The Story of the American Merchant Marine (1910). A great deal had been written about life in gold and silver mining camps, as well as the terrain surrounding them. However, Spears felt less attention had been paid to the desert, and wanted to depict the life in Death Valley, which he described as, “a gruesome story of a rugged  country…a story, too, of apparent paradoxes and of wonders.” Spears’ photographs offer a useful historical record of Death Valley, its people and animals, as they were in the 1890s.

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Nonprofit Organizations and Disaster: Individual, Organizational and Network Approaches to Emergency Management

Edited by Scott Robinson and Haley Murphy

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Disasters have become a more salient part of our life. Events ranging from terrorist attacks to major hurricanes to heatwaves can significantly disrupt our communities and place the most vulnerable among us at risk. The largest of these events—within seeming increasing frequency—test our communities’ capacity to handle these threats. These broad threats call for a broad range of responses—and responding organizations.

This text collects a series of perspectives on the role of charitable and nonprofit organizations in helping our communities address the threats served by natural and man-made disasters. The chapters introduce varying approaches that assess the nature of non-profit organizations responding to disasters from the personal to the systemic level. They leave the reader with an appreciation for the diverse roles that nonprofit organizations play in community disaster preparedness and response along with the challenges they face.

The contributions to this volume were selected by Scott E. Robinson and Haley Murphy from recent scholarship appearing in the academic journal Risk, Hazards, and Crisis in Public Policy. Scott E. Robinson is Professor and Bellmon Chair of Public Service in the Department of Political Science at the University of Oklahoma. Haley Murphy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Oklahoma State University.

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Productive Bee-Keeping Modern Methods of Production and Marketing of Honey: Lippincott’s Farm Manuals

by Frank C. Pellett

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Lippincott’s developed a series of manuals regarding agricultural production, including this volume on beekeeping. Among other things, it offers a historical look at apiculture, the practice of human harvesting of products from honey bee colonies, as well as its marketing methodology. Beekeeping has quite a history, dating back to at least 15,000 years ago.

The story of J.B. Lippincott & Co. offers a look at the complexities of the publishing industry. J.B. Lippincott & Co. was an American publishing house established in 1836 by Joshua Ballinger Lippincott, which still exists today as Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, which itself is an imprint of the publishing conglomerate, Wolters Kluwer, and focuses on technical journals. Initially J.B. Lippincott & Co. published Bibles and other religious materials, before expanding into fiction, almanacs, medical and other books. Later, Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine was issued, from 1868-1914 and offered novels, short stories, opinion pieces and other writings. In 1978, Lippincott’s was acquired by Harper & Row, which was then acquired by Wolters Kluwer in 1990.

 

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Alchemy: Ancient and Modern: Meaning, Theory and Lies of Alchemists Across the Ages

by H. Stanley Redgrove

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According to the author, alchemy was the belief that “all the metals (and, indeed, all forms of matter) are one in origin, and are produced by an evolutionary process. The Soul of them all is one and the same; it is only the Soul that is permanent…” Redgrove offers a detailed account of alchemy’s controversial history, treating both the theoretical and physical approaches to the field. Alcalchemy1hemy: Ancient and Modern has long been viewed as a significant introductory text to the subject.

Herbert Stanley Redgrove (1887-1943) wrote several texts on similar topics, including A Mathematical Theory of Spirit, Bygone Beliefs and Purpose and Transcendentalism. He was a chemist and a founder of the Alchemical Society in London.


This edition is dedicated to Adam Kendall, in his distinctive way an authority on the mysteries of the past.

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Planning Resilience for High-Impact Threats to Critical Infrastructure

by Charles L. Manto and Stephanie Lokmer

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The InfraGard National Electromagnetic Pulse Special Interest Group (EMP SIG) was formed in July 2011 for the purpose of sharing information about catastrophic threats to our nation’s critical infrastructure. Those threats include extreme space weather, manmade EMP, cyber attacks, coordinated physical attacks and pandemics.
The ultimate goal of the EMP SIG is to assist local communities to enhance their own sustainability with a special emphasis on developing protected local infrastructure ranging from local power generation and energy storage to water and food production.
On October 3-6, 2011, the EMP SIG instigated and cohosted workshops and exercises at the National Defense University at Ft. McNair in Washington, D.C. and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD examining scenarios of national level power grid failures due to extreme space weather. On December 4, 2014, the EMP SIG led a workshop and table top exercise at the National Guard Association of the US to look at grid collapse scenarios due either to space weather, EMP or cyber attacks and developed a Triple Threat Power Grid Exercise. On December 5, 2014 the EMP SIG led public sessions at the Dupont Summit that examined these issues in light of recent developments. Beginning December 2015, the EMP SIG will develop a planning framework for organizations to use to enhance their own continuity of operations and disaster plans in light of the new National Space Weather Strategy.
Information on these planning materials and upcoming activities can be acquired by contacting the EMP SIG at igempsig@infragardmembers.org. To join InfraGard and the EMP SIG, begin the application procedure on the home page of InfraGard.org
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Triple Threat Power Grid Exercise: High Impact Threats Workshop and Tabletop Exercises Examining Extreme Space Weather, EMP and Cyber Attacks

by Charles Manto, Dr. George Baker III, Terry Donat MD, David Hunt, William Kaewert, Mary Lasky, Cedrick Leighton, Dana C. Reynolds, Robert Rutledge

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About this Workshop and Tabletop Exercise Package: This InfraGard National Electromagnetic Pulse Special Interest Group (EMP SIG) exercise package facilitates discussions, planning and preparation for catastrophic events involving the electrical grid and the cascading impacts to other critical infrastructure and the community. It includes three separate scenarios to examine how different causes of grid failure can affect local communities and warrant preparedness efforts. For a facilitator’s guide contact the EMP SIG at: igempsig@infragardmembers.org

White House National Science & Technology Council Recommendations from the Second Goal of the 2015 National Space Weather Strategy:

• “Complete an all-hazards power outage response and recovery plan:

• for extreme space weather event and the long-term loss of electric power and cascading effects on other critical infrastructure sectors;

• Other low-frequency, high-impact events are also capable of causing long-term power outages on a regional or national scale.

• The plan must include the Whole Community and enable the prioritization of core capabilities.”

• “Develop and conduct exercises to improve and test Federal, State, regional, local, and industry-related space weather response and recovery plans: Exercising plans and capturing lessons learned enables ongoing improvement in event response and recovery capabilities.”

For more information about White House NSTC recommendations see: http://www.dhs.gov/national-space-weather-strategy

About the InfraGard National EMP SIG: The EMP SIG was formed in July 2011 for the purpose of sharing information about catastrophic threats to our nation’s critical infrastructure and encouraging local communities to become more resilient. Threats include extreme space weather, manmade electromagnetic pulse (EMP), cyber-attacks, coordinated physical attacks, and pandemics. On October 3-6, 2011, the EMP SIG instigated and cohosted workshops and exercises at the National Defense University at Ft. McNair in Washington, DC and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD examining scenarios of national level power grid failures due to extreme space weather. In December 2014, the EMP SIG led a workshop and tabletop exercise at the National Guard Association of the US to look at grid collapse scenarios due either to space weather, EMP or cyber attacks from which this package was developed.

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Eben Holding’s Last Day A-Fishing

by Irving Bacheller

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In addition to being a writer, Addison Irving Bacheller (1859-1950) founded the Bacheller Syndicate, the first newspaper syndicate in the United States established in 1885 to provide unique content to fill additionBookCoverImageal space of Sunday papers. It was often with writing by well-known authors like Rudyard Kipling, Conan Doyle and helped to make famous Stephen Crane, publishing parts of The Red Badge of Courage. Bacheller moved into writing fiction full time, drawing on life in the Adirondacks of New York State. His works were often best sellers, including Eben Holden: A Tale of the North Country, The Light in the Clearing, and A Man for the Ages.

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The Discovery of the Five Great Lakes

by Sara Stafford

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The Great Lakes consist of Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, and are the world’s greatest concentration, more than 20 percent, of fresh water. In geologic terms they are only about ten thousand years old, formed during the last ice age. Appreciating their history has taken on additional importance as foreign marine life has threatened their unique fishing resources, and pollution has intruded oThe Discovery of the Five Great Lakesn their purity. The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio, presents a comprehensive view of the region. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society maintains historical sites and has identified more than 8,000 shipwreck sites in the lakes, a unique collection of historical evidence through the centuries.

Sara Stafford (1853-1927) was active in the Thunder Bay Historical Society and also wrote The Keeper of the Gate, or the Sleeping Giant of Lake Superior, and Port Arthur in Ye Olden Time, in which she related that in the winter the mail came by dog sled over the ice from Duluth and that “We considered that the news was up to date and not old if the papers received were not more than twenty days old.”

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John Rowe

John Rowe COVER FRONT ONLYby John C. Phillips

with a new preface by Robert E, Rich Jr.

John Rowe’s observations on fishing near Boston in the eighteenth century appeared in a rare limited edition of only 150 copies more than eighty years ago. Besides his Boston area fishing, Rowe went on excursions to the Monument River, which is now the Cape Cod Canal. He appears in American history briefly as an owner one of the ships involved in the Boston Tea Party, but his notes on angling before the Revolution are perhaps a more enduring claim to fame.

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Earthworms, Horses, and Living Things: William DuPuy’s Our Animal Friends and Foes

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William AtEarthworms, Horses, and Living Things COVER FRONT ONLYherton DuPuy was a well-known naturalist who wrote anecdotally and personally about nature in Animal Friends And Foes, Insect Friends And Foes, The Nation’s Forests, and Plant Friends And Foes.  In another vein he authored Green Kingdom, his account of the life of a forest ranger, and controversially produced Hawaii And Its Race Problem.  He also wrote for Harper’s and had a connection with the Department of the Interior and, less happily, with the military’s chemical warfare projects.

 

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No Bird Lacks Feathers: William Atherton Dupuy’s Our Bird Friends and Foes

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William Atherton Dupuy managed to combine a career in public service, playing a role in the Department of the Interior, with the writing of a number of books distinguished by the care he gave to selecting artists and orchestrating an unusually close connection between the illustrations and text. His observations on bird life remain both entertaining and insightful.

 

Original Our Bird Friends and Foes cover