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Section I
Introduction
U.S. energy infrastructure is unquestionably expanding. This may be in response to
recent years’ steep rises in energy prices and concerns about energy security or the
2009 focus on using infrastructure projects to help stimulate the economy and
address climate change.
At a minimum there is tension, if not direct conflict, between the expansion of
energy infrastructure (even “green” energy such as wind) and efforts to conserve open
space. New turbines and transmission lines consume land – often land of high
amenity and ecosystem value. Similar issues arise around the production of biofuels
– do they offer sustainable uses for rural areas or are they just another form of
intensive, destructive agricultural production? Do the efforts to increase domestic gas
and oil production offer only threats or are there ways to couple these activities with
new mitigation/conservation efforts? Is there such a thing as “clean coal” and what
might be its footprint – through mining, transportation, combustion, carbon
dioxide capture, transportation, and underground injection?
For many U.S. land trusts, issues regarding energy infrastructure provide one of
their first, most direct links to the impacts of global warming and possible responses.
Should we support the expansion of wind energy? If so, where? Should we amend
existing easements to allow the construction of new turbines? Should we support the
expanded use of woody biomass or will doing so degrade the health of our soils and
forests? Are mitigation credits – from wetlands, streamsides, forests and other
ecosystems – a valuable source of conservation finance to be pursued or an illusion
that distracts our attention from the real impacts of expanded energy production and
transmission?
Only by stepping back from the day-to-day effort to protect land and engaging
with others from outside the land conservation community can U.S. conservation
leaders hope to develop strategic responses to these questions. The Obama
administration’s efforts to link energy and environmental policies also offer an
opportunity to address these issues in new and more effective ways.
The purpose of the 2009 Berkley workshop was to explore these opportunities and
threats, as well as to develop creative ways forward. The workshop convened a diverse
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    :   
range of leaders in land conservation and energy policy (see Box 1). The facilitated
discussions and free time for thought/conversation on the grounds of the Pocantico
Conference Center were designed to stimulate innovative thinking on new
approaches to these issues. As part of a multi-year effort involving Yale, the Land
Trust Alliance, and other conservation leaders, several mechanisms for follow-up
from the ideas and actions identified during the workshop are already in place.
Box 1 Workshop participants
Judy Anderson, President, Community Consultants
Forrest Berkley, Board Member, Maine Coast Heritage Trust
Aimee Christensen, Board Member, American Council on Renewable Energy
Ernest Cook, Director of Conservation, Trust for Public Land
Kaarsten Turner Dalby, Senior Director Ecological Services, The Forestland Group LLC
Jim Dooley, Senior Staff Scientist, Joint Global Change Research Institute
Kim Elliman, CEO, Open Space Institute
Jay Espy, Executive Director, Sewall Foundation
Brad Gentry, Senior Lecturer and Director, Yale Program on Strategies for the Future
of Conservation, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Nathanael Greene, Director, Renewable Energy Policy, NRDC
Frank Hebbert, Associate Planner GIS, Regional Plan Association
Janet Keating, Executive Director, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
Gil Livingston, President, Vermont Land Trust
Andy Loza, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Land Trust Association
Nancy McLaughlin, Professor of Law, University of Utah
Chris Miller, President, Piedmont Environmental Council
Casey Pickett, Masters Student, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
David Higby, Director Federal Government Relations, The Nature Conservancy of NY
Christopher Recchia, Executive Director, Biomass Energy Resource Center
Dan Reicher, Director, Climate and Energy Initiatives, Google.org
Paul Risser, Chair, National Research Council Committee on the Environmental
Impacts of Wind Energy Projects, CEO, University of Oklahoma Research
Cabinet
Marc Smiley, Partner, Decisions Decisions
Peter Stein, General Partner, The Lyme Timber Company
Randy Swisher, Former Executive Director, American Wind Energy Association
Buzz Thompson, Professor of Law and Co-Director Woods Institute for the
Environment, Stanford University
Laurie Wayburn, President, Pacific Forest Trust
Rand Wentworth, President, Land Trust Alliance
This is the fourth in a series of workshops providing convening and research
support for efforts to expand and apply most effectively the resources (financial,
political, personnel) available for land conservation in the US. It is made possible by
gifts from Forrest Berkley and Marcie Tyre to the Yale School of Forestry &
Environmental Studies, as well as additional support from the Overhills and Pequot
Capital Foundations. The structure and background papers for the workshop also
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build from the clean energy and land use dialogue during the REIL Network meeting
in 2008 sponsored by the Blue Moon Fund and the UN Foundation. Marc Smiley, our
facilitator, once again did a wonderful job making sure that the conversation was
lively and productive, while offering everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts.
Many thanks as well to Amy Badner for all of her help organizing the administrative
aspects of the gathering. Our deepest appreciation also goes to Judy Clark, Regina
Creegan and their colleagues at the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation for allowing us
to use the magnificent facilities at the Pocantico Conference Center. Finally, it is
important to note that the views expressed in this publication are solely those of the
editors and individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Yale
University, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund or any of the other participants. Lastly, our
gratitude is extended to the F&ES Publication Series for making this publication
possible.
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