This program was co-presented by A Call to the Bar, the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, the Environmental Law Institute, et al.
With the evidence now overwhelming that carbon pollution is driving climate change, leading experts came together with the area legal community to focus on this important question:
How can the legal community serve as a catalyst for action to address climate change?
Kicking off the discussion was Jeffrey D. Sachs, the world-renowned economist, leader in sustainable development, and UN advisor, who speak remotely from the UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech, where global leaders and experts will be discussing the next steps in implementing the Paris Climate Change Agreement adopted last year. The bestselling author and syndicated columnist Sachs has been called “probably the most important economist in the world,” by the New York Times.
Participants heard from leading attorneys, state and federal government officials, and experts on energy and the environment on topics such as: the legal framework for addressing the challenge, the need for much stronger and quicker action, the economic case for action, legal and economic issues specific to Pennsylvania, and the ethical and philosophical argument for action by lawyers and others. Megan Ceronsky, Special Assistant and Associate Counsel to the President, spoke on a panel discussing the the Clean Power Plan. John Quigley, Senior Fellow at Penn’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and former PA Secretary of Environmental Protection, shared unique insights over lunch into the challenge here in Pennsylvania. The day closed with a hands-on discussion of what lawyers can do to spur action toward climate solutions.
“Attorneys have a vital role in responding to the threat of climate change,” said Steve Harvey, an attorney who founded A Call to the Bar: Lawyers for Common Sense on Climate Change. “We need to get beyond the politics and find sensible, decisive solutions so we can preserve the planet for ourselves and our children.”
Panels:
- Introductions and Setting the Tone
- The International Framework: UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement
- Local Government Efforts to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change
- Legal and Regulatory Framework at the Federal and State Level: Implementing the Paris Agreement and the Clean Power Plan
- Lunch Speaker: Pennsylvania's Climate Future: Perils and Possibilities
- Deep De-carbonization: The Economic Implications of the Future Legal and Regulatory Framework
- Deep De-carbonization: The Technical and Policy Challenge
- Ethical Framework: Achieving Environmental and Intergenerational Justice
- Conclusion: What Can Lawyers Do?
Speakers:
Gaetan J. Alfano, Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association
Lindsay Baxter, Program Manager of Energy & Climate, Pennsylvania Environmental Counsel
C. Baird Brown, Attorney, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
David C. Brown, Senior Vice President, Federal Government Affairs and Public Policy for Exelon Corporation
John Byrne, Chairman and President of the Foundation for Renewable Energy and Environment
Megan Ceronsky, Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel to the President, the White House
John C. Dernbach, Commonwealth Professor of Environmental Law and Sustainability and Director, Environmental Law and Sustainability Center, at Widener University Commonwealth School of Law
Wendi Goldsmith, Director, Center for Urban Watershed Renewal, Center for Urban Watershed Renewal
Steve Harvey, Director, A Call to the Bar: Lawyers for Common Sense on Climate Change
Kenneth T. Kristl, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, Widener University Delaware Law School
Michael G. Mahoney, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Chief Environmental Counsel, Pfizer, Inc., and Chair, Environmental Committee, New York City Bar
Robert B. McKinstry, Jr., Attorney, Ballard Spahr LLP
Yolanda Pagano, Director, A Call to the Bar: Lawyers for Common Sense on Climate Change
Margaret Peloso, Attorney, Vinson & Elkins
John Quigley, Senior Fellow, Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, former Secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Robert “Bo” Reiley, Assistant Director, Bureau of Regulatory Counsel, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Jeffrey D. Sachs, University Professor at Columbia University and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Sustainable Development Goals
Amy Sinden, James E. Beasley Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law
Nicholas Steckler, Analyst, US Power Markets, Bloomberg New Energy Finance
Sarah Wu, Deputy Director for Planning, Mayor's Office of Sustainability, City of Philadelphia