Daniel Katter ’20 has won the 2019 edition of the Hartrick Scholar Writing Competition of the Institute for Energy Law. In addition to receiving a $2,500 prize, the Fordham Law student was also invited to attend the Institute’s 70th Annual Oil & Gas Law Conference in February.
Katter’s winning paper, entitled Two Birds, One Stone: How Incidental Take Permits Can Strengthen Bird Conservation and Alternative Energy, was originally inspired by an article published in the New Yorker about the dangers that wind turbines pose to birds. After reading the article, Katter started thinking about ways to expand wind power while also conserving avian life.
“There are laws in place to prevent that, specifically the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA),” Ketter said. “The Obama Administration actually sued two big wind farms in Wyoming for killing about 500 protected birds. Today, the Trump Administration is no longer enforcing the MBTA at all.”
Katter continued, “Looking at the MBTA, which is the primary law here, I make a case for allowing wind farms to buy permits that would allow them to accidentally kill a set number of birds per year. The Department of the Interior would periodically visit wind farms and work with developers to figure out the right number. At the same time, the MBTA would be used to crack down on the fossil fuel industry, which kills 5-10 times more birds per year than wind.”
At the annual Oil & Gas Law Conference, which took place in Houston, Katter said he met several people who are interested in creative regulation of the petroleum industry.
Given his interest in global warming and energy law, Katter said: “I’d really like to work in renewable energy.”