In the Name of Energy Sovereignty

64 Pages Posted: 28 Mar 2022 Last revised: 2 Dec 2022

Date Written: February 17, 2022

Abstract

Throughout history, the phrase “In the name of the King” justified actions that trumped the rights of citizens in order to safeguard the interests of the Crown. Today, in the name of energy sovereignty, States deploy the government apparatus to access oil and gas in other parts of the world, build pipelines on private lands, subsidize renewable energy, and nationalize their oil and power industries. States justify each of these actions by noting that they create a sense of energy independence, ensure security, or achieve other social and economic goals. Energy, however, cannot be trapped in one “realm.” Its nature is to move across hu-man-created jurisdictions and settle, at least in the cases of oil and gas, in specific geological formations where extraction is not always economically feasible. Additionally, energy evolves with technology advancements and its production must adapt to new challenges, like that posed by the global climate crisis. Thus, an efficient and reliable energy sector that “secures” the State requires engagement with other foreign powers to regulate the trade and investment of energy and its sources. States, however, have created a web of often inconsistent treaties, reflecting competing and frequently contradictory energy policy goals. When disputes inevitably arise, arbitrators or committees must balance the parties competing energy goals. This Article introduces the concept of energy sovereignty as a novel analytical framework to explain the fragmentation and inconsistencies in international energy governance. By introducing archetypical energy sovereignties, this Article provides a framework for interpreters of trade and in-vestment agreements to balance the competing energy goals that are attached to the agreements. In doing so, this Article demonstrates how ignoring the complexities in the way States exercise their energy sovereignties can undermine integrated regional efforts to deal effectively with energy challenges like reducing carbon emissions or building a cost-effective and resilient energy matrix. This Article uses the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the latest North American international trade and investment agreement, to show how the archetypical energy sovereignties conflict with each other and how its dispute resolution mechanisms may balance them.

Keywords: USCMA, energy law, international energy, international economic law, international trade, international investment law, U.S.-Mexico relations, NAFTA, environmental law, climate change

Suggested Citation

Garcia Sanchez, Guillermo J., In the Name of Energy Sovereignty (February 17, 2022). Boston College Law Review, Vol.63.1, 2475 (2022), Texas A&M University School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 22-26, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4037683 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4037683

Guillermo J. Garcia Sanchez (Contact Author)

Texas A&M University School of Law ( email )

1515 Commerce St.
Fort Worth, TX Tarrant County 76102
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://law.tamu.edu/faculty-staff/find-people/faculty-profiles/guillermo-jose-garcia-sanchez

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