Climate Law and Policy

Catalog description

Climate change presents an enormous challenge for the environment, our economy, and U.S. legal and policy norms. This course, open to law school students and graduate students from other schools, surveys the legal, socio-economic, and political implications of climate change. The course kicks off with a brief introduction to climate science and then dives into the wide range of legal and policy approaches for addressing climate change, including existing and potential decarbonization incentives and mandates, carbon accounting and disclosure obligations and practices, energy infrastructure needs, and climate adaptation and resilience strategies. Differing stakeholder perspectives will provide a focal point for analyzing rising tensions between federal and state climate-related laws and policies; corporate legal responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions; barriers of entry for clean energy and clean tech companies (including financing, infrastructure permitting, NIMBY-based restrictions, etc.); and the interests of communities that have borne the brunt of legacy pollution. The class will focus primarily on U.S. law and policy as influenced by international climate frameworks and emerging procurement and trade-based practices. We will have guest appearances by national climate law and policy leaders and practitioners. Grades will reflect class participation, a short paper, and an exam.