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the energy & environmental security initiative
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History:
"What we set out to do," explains Doran, "is to develop a center dedicated to creating legal and policy solutions to energy and environmental issues that are informed by the very environments and processes they're meant to deal with." In 2007 EESI has grown to a group of almost 20 researchers—composed of EESI faculty, professional staff, and law students. Working at international, national, local levels, EESI researchers provide decision-makers with an interdisciplinary, law and policy-based understanding of energy security and climate change issues.
Traditionally, national security has been associated with armed aggression and the ability to thwart military invasions or subversion. More contemporary concepts of security include critical threats to vital national and international support systems such as the economy, energy, and the environment. In this context, the increasing reliance on hydrocarbons has created energy, environmental, and economic insecurity.
Throughout the world, energy economies are undergoing major changes. Old systems of regulation are being supplanted by new policies. Scientific and technological advances, along with wildly fluctuating markets, are calling into question the strategic reliability of long-range industry plans. Older firms are merging and consolidating across traditional sectoral boundaries to meet the competition posed by new entrants to the energy industry. Developments in the environmental sciences identify new and increasingly complex issues, such as global climate change, that significantly impact the energy industries.
See History, Page 5

Projects in Progress
This inaugural issue contains a brief overview of select current EESI projects. Subsequent issues of EESI News will provide detailed profiles of individual projects and updates on our progress.

International Focus

International Project on Energy Commitments and Compliance
With support from the Argosy Foundation (see Our Generous Sponsors), IPECC plans to use an innovative collaborative online monitoring system to create a global network of expert participants dedicated to monitoring and improving actions taken worldwide by governments, corporations, and other entities pursuant to existing sustainable energy commitments. Project information, analysis, and recommendations will also be made freely available to the public.

International Sustainable Energy Assessment
With support from the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) (see Our Generous Sponsors), ISEA will create an online, searchable, and freely accessible database of bilateral and multilateral international energy agreements currently in force. The database will include analysis of the implementation and impact of these agreements. ISEA will provide decision-makers, academics, industry personnel, researchers, and students with an invaluable tool for understanding the current and potential impact of international agreements on the attainment of a sustainable energy future.

International Energy Law & Renewable Energy Markets
EESI is assisting the Renewable Energy and International Law (REIL) in developing a comprehensive account of the extent to which international law can and should be used as a tool for expanding the use of renewable energy. Dr. Lakshman Guruswamy and Kevin Doran have co-authored a paper investigating the effectiveness and impact of international energy treaties, which will be published by Yale University later this summer. The full text of the article is available on the EESI Website. See Projects, Page 5