Hydrogen holds great promise as an energy medium and a fuel, but its fundamental properties - - the lightest of all chemical molecules, it is colorless, odorless, combustible, and necessarily maintained under significant pressure for most of its anticipated applications - - raise critical questions about how a new "hydrogen economy" may be regulated from a safety and environmental protection perspective, how receptive the public and regulators may be with respect to the siting and permitting of hydrogen facilities, and what forms of risk and liability exposure may exist for different players (e.g., producers, transporters, retailers, and end users) that will handle hydrogen. Tim Wilkins is a partner in Bracewell & Giuliani, LLP practicing environmental law in Austin and Houston, Texas, a graduate of the Harvard Law School where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review, and a frequent speaker on environmental and safety regulatory and liability issues relating to hydrogen.