Summary/Abstract
This article considers the legal and commercial models for securing the rights to use geologic pore space in an effort to sequester billions of metric tons of CO2 deep underground to mitigate climate change. The article recommends that the federal and state governments should codify a formal process for permitting the access and use of pore space for GCS on federal and privately-owned lands, whereby the holder of a valid permit is exposed to compensable trespass and nuisance liability only when actual and substantial damages are caused by the injection and migration of CO2. Furthermore, the article suggests that the permitting framework should include a backstop such as eminent domain legislation similar to the laws that facilitate the underground storage of natural gas. Such a framework would facilitate the rapid development of commercial-scale sequestration projects by both standardizing procedures for acquiring the authorization to use pore space as well as constraining acquisition costs.