The Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review (ELPAR) is published annually in the August issue of the Environmental Law Reporter (ELR) in collaboration with the Vanderbilt University Law School (VULS) and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in Washington, DC. Each year, Vanderbilt Law students work with an expert advisory committee, senior staff from ELI, and Vanderbilt law professors to identify the year’s best academic articles that present legal and policy solutions to pressing environmental problems.
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The result is a one issue, student-edited volume that includes condensed versions of the selected articles, along with commentaries from leading experts from the academy, law firms, business, government and non-governmental organizations. Visit the Publications page to read the latest ELPAR publication.
In conjunction with the publication, ELI and Vanderbilt co-sponsor an annual conference at which the authors of the articles and article commenters present their ideas and views to an audience that includes business, government (federal, state, and local), think tank, and non-profit representatives.
ELPAR is designed to bring ideas from the academy to policymakers and practitioners, as well as recognize and incentivize scholars to write articles that include creative and feasible law and policy proposals. This is made possible through the support of an expert advisory committee.
ELPAR 2023-2024
Read condensed versions of selected articles in ELR
- Felix Mormann, Climate Choice Architecture;
- Christiana Ochoa, Kacey Cook, and Hanna Weil, Deals in the Heartland: Renewable Energy Projects, Local Resistance, and How Law Can Help;
- Dave Owen, The Negotiable Implementation of Environmental Law; and
- Goran Dominioni and Daniel C. Esty, Designing Effective Border Carbon Adjustment Mechanisms: Aligning the Global Trade and Climate Change Regimes.
Read Honorable Mention article abstracts in ELR
- Caroline Cecot, Efficiency and Equity in Regulation;
- Alexander Gouzoules, Going Concerns and Environmental Concerns: Mitigating Climate Change Through Bankruptcy Reform; and
- Michele Okoh, Forgotten Waters.
During the course of the year, we identified Environmental Justice and Private Governance articles in the environmental law and policy literature. The resulting articles were compiled into Article Overview Charts for the busy practitioner. To view the charts, please click the links below.
Past Events
2024 Washington, D.C. Conference
Watch the Conference recording.
Environmental Law Institute
Friday, April 5, 2024
Each year, Vanderbilt Law School and the Environmental Law Institute invite leading professors, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss the proposals selected from the environmental law and policy academic literature.
Articles for Discussion
- Felix Mormann, Climate Choice Architecture, 64 B.C. L. REV. 1;
- Christiana Ochoa, Kacey Cook, and Hanna Weil, Deals in the Heartland: Renewable Energy Projects, Local Resistance, and How Law Can Help, 107 MINN. L. REV. 1055; and
- Dave Owen, The Negotiable Implementation of Environmental Law, 75 STAN. L. REV. 13
2024 Vanderbilt Law School Panel Discussion
Vanderbilt University Law School
Monday, March 4, 2024
The 2024 ELPAR Local Conference in Nashville invited a panel of leading policymakers, practitioners, and professors to discuss Going Concerns and Environmental Concerns: Mitigating Climate Change Through Bankruptcy Reform by Alexander Gouzoules. The article was selected for an honorable mention in this year's ELPAR.
Speakers
- Alexander Gouzoules (author), Associate Professor of Law, University of Missouri School of Law
- William L. Norton III, Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings & Adjunct Professor, Vanderbilt University Law School.
- George Nolan, Director, Tennessee Office, Southern Environmental Law Center
Watch the Local Conference Recording.
2024 Webinar
Watch the event recording.
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Professorrs Goran Dominioni and Daniel C. Esty discuss their article, Designing Effective Border Carbon Adjustment Mechanisms: Aligning the Global Trade and Climate Change Regimes.