The 2014 Summer School Series is co-sponsored by the D.C. Bar's Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Section.
Each summer, ELI convenes a complimentary seminar series that offers an introduction to the legal and policy foundations of environmental protection in the United States.
ELI's Summer School is a series of brown-bag lunch seminars taught by experts in their fields, introducing the audience to the major environmental statutes (including NEPA, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, TSCA, RCRA, and CERCLA) and land use law. Faculty will also incorporate major regulatory and judicial updates to the laws.
This year the faculty will explore how environmental statutes apply (or fail to apply) in a recent case example: the chemical spill in West Virginia's Elk River.
Who will benefit: All are welcome. Students and emerging professionals will have unique opportunities to learn, hear updates, ask questions, and network. The series is intended for:
- undergraduates,
- law students and graduate students, and
- working professionals new to or looking for a refresher course in environmental law (such as interns, summer clerks, and associates, or second-career professionals).
Energy Law
Energy and environmental issues are increasingly intertwined as shown in just a few recent developments:
- while federal regulation of greenhouse gases initially encompassed only vehicle emissions, regulations are soon likely to encompass emissions from power plants as well;
- hydraulic fracturing is causing an energy revolution while raising myriad environmental questions; and
- the field of renewable energy has a complex relationship with environmental regulations: environmental regulations both affect and are required by efforts to expand renewable energy.
Participants gained an overview of:
- U.S. energy infrastructure,
- U.S. laws and regulatory framework relating to energy, and
- issues in domestic energy production, energy distribution, and energy consumption.
Faculty:
Lopa Parikh, Director, Federal Regulatory Affairs for Energy Supply, Edison Electric Institute