The Sabin Center seeks a Postdoctoral or Associate Research Scholar to work on the Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative (RELDI). The position will work with the Center’s Faculty Director and Executive Director, and with current RELDI staff, to provide thought leadership, applied research, peer learning, and other outputs that will assist advocates and researchers seeking to strategically engage with the planning for and siting of utility- and community scale renewable energy facilities and related infrastructure.

Successful performance will require generating original research and communicating research findings clearly and through a variety of media and formats to a range of audiences in a manner that maximizes impact. In particular, the incumbent will:

• Conduct independent research and write about issues related to siting utility- and community-scale renewable energy projects, including those in communities that may not have equal access to clean energy;
• Contribute to the conceptualization, management, and implementation of online resources for researchers, advocates, and others working to advance renewable energy projects; and Work with the Sabin Center’s Faculty Director, Executive Director, RELDI staff, and others inside and outside the Columbia community to convene, coordinate, and synthesize a diverse range of research and communications activities related to siting battles and the energy transition.

This is a one-year position, with the possibility of renewal contingent on funding.

Additional Information: About the Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative:

Launched in 2019, RELDI adds legal firepower to the advocacy strategies employed by renewable energy advocates, and aids individuals, community groups, and advocacy organizations by providing them pro bono representation in courtrooms, before state utility commissions, in local zoning boards, and in other administrative contexts, to press for the rapid development of utility- and community-scale renewable energy. The goal of RELDI is twofold:

First, to use strategic litigation and administrative advocacy to establish factual and legal precedent that can be employed and replicated in the many similar siting battles taking place across the country. Second, to empower individuals and organizations to defend utility- and community-scale renewable energy projects against siting challenges, support progressive energy policies in court and administrative settings,and fight undue restrictions on renewable energy development. These twinned goals serve the purpose of increasing the quantity of clean energy being generated and used to power our electric grids; light, heat and cool our homes; move people from place to place; and manufacture our goods and services.