Environmental Law and Justice: From Redlines to Pipelines

Catalog description

This course will explore the intersection of environmental law, justice, and power in the United States, tracing how legal frameworks have shaped the distribution of environmental harms and protections across different communities. Focusing on both historical patterns and contemporary challenges, students will examine how environmental law functions as both a tool of justice and a mechanism of exclusion. In the first third of the course, we will focus on urban environmental justice, exploring how redlining, housing policy, and infrastructure planning have contributed to environmental inequality in cities. Topics will include access to clean air and water, waste siting, heat vulnerability, and disparities in exposure to pollution and green space. The second third will introduce key environmental statutes and legal principles, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, Superfund). Students will analyze how these laws govern pollution, land use, and environmental review while critically assessing their ability to address structural injustice and unequal enforcement. The final third of the course will turn to energy systems, climate policy, and the emerging challenges of the energy transition. We will examine legal 57 Environmental Studies and environmental conflicts surrounding fossil-fuel infrastructure, lithium and mineral extraction, and renewable energy siting. Special attention will be paid to the legal and sovereignty struggles of Native American communities impacted by mining, pipelines, and nuclear waste. Students will engage with case law, policy analysis, and community-based struggles and will conduct a semester-long project focused on an environmental justice site or legal case.…