This ambitious conference is a contribution to the worldwide sustainability movement—a movement whose influence continues to expand throughout legal academia. As we’re all aware, technological advancements over the past century have dramatically improved daily life for countless people across the world. Unfortunately, many of these modern conveniences also deplete or alter the planet’s natural resources in ways that could significantly harm future generations. Transitioning cities, nations, and the world toward more environmentally sustainable living has thus emerged as one of humankind’s greatest twenty-first century challenges. Billions of dollars are invested annually into scientific and engineering research aimed at improving the environmental sustainability of modern economies. In contrast, far fewer resources are devoted to the development of creative policy strategies and legal structures tailored to support the valuable sustainability innovations emerging from this global research effort. This conference seeks to help address that imbalance by annually bringing together many of the nation’s foremost legal scholars researching in sustainability-related areas. By providing a forum for legal academics to develop new collaborations and share ideas face-to-face, the conference aims to engender greater scholarly discourse on these imperative issues and to ultimately move the needle in humankind’s relentless pursuit of a more ecologically sustainable society.
For more information please visit the conference website here.
May 12, 2017
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.: Check-in and Light Breakfast (Beus Center for Law & Society)
8:30 a.m.: Introductions and Welcome (Beus Center for Law & Society)
9:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.: Break-out Session #1
Room 1
Panel: “Sustainability, the Energy Transition, and Land Use Planning”
Hari M. Osofsky, University of Minnesota Law SchoolShelby D. Green, Pace University Elisabeth Haub School of LawUma Outka, University of Kansas School of Law
Room 2
Panel: “Food Law and Policy and Sustainability”
Andrea Freeman, University of Hawaii – Richardson School of LawStephanie Tai, University of Wisconsin School of LawErnesto Hernandez-Lopez, Chapman University – Fowler School of Law
Room 3
Panel: “Deep Decarbonization Pathways for the United States”
John C. Dernbach, Widener University Commonwealth Law SchoolK. DuVivier, University of Denver Sturm College of LawMichael B. Gerrard, Columbia Law SchoolSteve, Ferrey, Suffolk University Law School
10:30 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.: Break-out Session #2
Room 1
Panel: “Energy and Sustainability”
Alexandra B. Klass, University of Minnesota Law School,Troy Rule, ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of LawSteven Weissman, UC-Berkeley Goldman School of Public PolicyShelly Welton, University of South Carolina School of Law
Room 2
Panel: “Economic Aspects of Sustainability”
Jonathan R. Nash, Emory University School of LawShi-Ling Hsu, Florida State University College of LawTracey M. Roberts, Cumberland School of LawPeter Appel, University of Georgia Law School
Room 3
Freestanding Presentations: “Sustainability and Humanity”
Alex Lemann, Georgetown University Law School, “Stronger than the Storm: Disaster Law in a Defiant Age”Edward Richards, LSU Law School, “From Eternal to Ephemeral Property: Rethinking Legal Rights for Coastal Communities”Sharmila Murthy, Suffolk University Law School, “Technocratic Approaches to Sustainable Development: A New Way to Realize the Human Right to Water?”Erin Scharff, ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, “Green Fees: State Law Limitations on Pricing Environmental Externalities”
12:00 p.m. – 1:20 p.m.: Lunch, Keynote Address, and Morrison Laureate Address
Morrison Laureates Michael P. Vandenbergh & Jonathan Gilligan, Beyond Gridlock, 40 Columbia Environmental Law Journal 217 (2015)
Keynote Speaker: Carol Rose, Gordon Bradford Tweedy Professor Emeritus of Law and Organization and Professorial Lecturer in Law, Yale Law School & Lohse Chair in Water and Natural Resources, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law
1:30 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.: Break-out Session #3
Room 1
Panel: “Food, Energy and Sustainability: Competing Demands on Land Use and Natural Resources”
Melissa Mortazavi, Oklahoma University College of LawGregg Macey, Brooklyn Law SchoolKristen Van De Biezenbos, Oklahoma University College of LawAlexia Brunet Marks, University of Colorado School of Law
Room 2
Panel: “Legal Reforms for Drought Resilience”
Buzz Thompson, Stanford University Law SchoolVanessa Casado Perez, Texas A&M University School of LawBret Birdsong, UNLV William S. Boyd School of LawRhett Larson, ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Room 3
Freestanding Presentations: “Sustainability, Politics, and Society”
Sarah Bronin, University of Connecticut Law School, “Climate Action Planning in Hartford: A Case Study”John Nolon, Pace University Elisabeth Haub School of Law, “Bottom-up Sustainability Strategies: What to do While Top-Down is on Hold”Michael Wolf, University of Florida Levin College of Law, “Putting the Shoe on the Other Foot: Conservative Jurisprudence and the Preservation of Sustainability Law”Paolo D. Farah, University of West Virginia, “Competition Law in Energy vs. Sustainable Development: A Clash of Individualism and Cooperative Partnerships?”
3:00 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.: Break-out Session #4
Room 1
Panel: “The Social Pillars of Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals”
Sumudu Atapatu, University of Wisconsin School of LawLakshman Guruswamy, University of Colorado School of LawSara Seck, Western University (Canada)Ann Eisenberg, University of South Carolina School of Law
Room 2
Panel: “Sustainable Housing”
Kristen Barnes, University of Akron School of LawAndrea Boyack, Washburn University School of LawJudith Fox, Notre Dame Law SchoolDavid Reissl, Brooklyn Law School
Room 3
Freestanding Presentations: “Sustainability and Technology”
David Dana, Northwestern University Law School, “Climate Change in Three Frames”Albert Lin, UC-Davis School of Law, “Carbon Dioxide Removal After Paris”Lee Breckenridge, Northeastern University School of Law, “Renewable Energy, Distributed Generation and Storage, and a ‘Sharing Economy’”Erin Ryan, Florida State University College of Law, “Negotiating Environmental Federalism”
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Reception (Great Hall)
Stay tuned for news on sustainable development, environment and climate change, international trade and human rights, Chinese issues and much more!
