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GW Law Library
Research Guides

U.S. Energy Law: An Introduction

A basic guide to U.S. energy law research.

JACOB and JACOB+

JACOB is the Law Library's catalog, which includes books and journals. Search JACOB to find books and journals -- not articles -- in the collection of the Jacob Burns Law Library.

JACOB+ includes the GW Law Library's catalog as well as other materials and selected articles to which the Library has access. Please note that JACOB+ does not include all content from every database to which the Library subscribes, nor does it include articles that law students have access through GW's Gelman or Himmelfarb libraries. We recommend that you also search directly in the relevant research databases (for example, HeinOnline, Westlaw, Lexis) and consult our research guides.

Review our Tips for Searching to efficiently locate materials, including how to use the "Advanced Search" feature.

If you cannot find what you're looking for in JACOB, you may borrow items from the WRLC (Washington Research Library Consortium), place an Interlibrary Loan request, or suggest a purchase for the Law Library.

And be sure to Ask Us or visit us at the reference desk. We're here to help you succeed!

Search by Keyword or Subject

Keywords
Terms for searching library catalogs, databases, and websites on U.S. energy law topics include:

  • "alternative energy" / "renewable energy" / "renewable portfolio standards"
  • "carbon tax" / "carbon finance"
  • "clean power" / "clean coal"
  • "climate change" / "global warming"
  • "distributed energy"
  • "electric grid" / "smart grid"
  • "electric utilities" / "public utilities"
  • "electric vehicles" / EVs / "zero emission vehicles" / ZEVs /  "charging stations"
  • "energy efficiency" / "energy conservation"
  • "energy futures"
  • "energy justice" / "climate justice"
  • "energy security" / "grid resilience"
  • "feed-in tariffs"
  • "fossil fuels" / coal / "coal ash"
  • "hydraulic fracturing" / fracking
  • hydropower / hydrokinetic
  • "liquefied natural gas" / "natural gas" / "shale gas"
  • "nuclear energy" / "atomic energy"
  • "offshore drilling"
  •  oil / gas pipelines / "oil spill"
  • petroleum / oil / gasoline / "petroleum reserve"
  • "regional greenhouse gas initiative" / RGGI
  • "renewable fuel standard" / RFS
  • solar / wind / biomass / geothermal / hydropower / biomass / bioenergy
  • wind / solar farms

Subjects
Subject links below retrieve print and online materials in the Library collection: