Image: kbhenergycenter.utexas.edu
From his office in Oklahoma City, Duke Ligon oversees all aspects of Mekusukey Oil Company, which maintains a portfolio of mineral interests throughout the United States. In tandem with his work as owner and manager of Mekusukey Oil, Duke Ligon guides the mission of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law and Business as co-chair of the executive council.
In addition to promoting energy leaders of the future, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center, commonly known as KBH Energy Center, produces original research on issues of interest to the energy sector. For example, in response to the complaints of many industry groups that the Endangered Species Act requires a lengthy consultation process prior to starting energy projects, the center recently published research exploring the impact of the Endangered Species Act on such projects.
The research found that only a small number of energy projects on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management were subject to a consultation between 2010 and 2014. Of those energy projects, consultations on oil and gas projects took relatively little time, while consultations on renewable energy projects took substantially longer. None of these projects were stopped due to the Endangered Species Act. While industry representatives complained that the consultations delayed projects significantly, the paper concluded that measures were being taken to make the consultation process more streamlined and standardized.
Duke Ligon (Oklahoma City) 