SOUTH ROYALTON, Vt. (May 31, 2022) – The Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law School (VLS) will kick off its annual Hot Topics in Environmental Law summer lecture series on June 2 with the first of 17 lectures discussing current issues in environmental law and policy.

Taking place select Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 noon to 1p.m. through Aug. 4, the lectures are hosted by VLS faculty and invited experts and cover how today’s most pressing topics—from the war in Ukraine, to avian flu, to the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket”—bear upon environmental law and policy. Free and open to the public, the lectures will take place in VLS’s Oakes Hall, Room 012, and be streamed virtually at vermontlaw.edu/live and on Facebook Live. Each lecture is worth one VBA CLE credit. 

Due to current COVID policies, in-person attendees will be required to wear masks and food will not be permitted during the lectures.

The complete Hot Topics in Environmental Law lecture series schedule (all lectures begin at 12 noon):

  • June 2 – Christopher Root, Vermont Electric Power Company, “What Changes the Electric Grid Needs to Meet Our Clean Energy Goals”
  • June 7 – Marina Bolotnikova, independent journalist and VLS Summer Media Fellow in Environmental Law, “Bird Flu and the Normalization of Ventilation Shutdown”
  • June 9 – David Wirth, Boston College Law School, “International Environmental Law and the War in Ukraine”
  • June 14 – Jennifer Byrne, manager, White River Natural Resources Conservation District, “Payment for Ecosystem Services in Vermont: A Farmer-Led Approach to Conservation Funding”
  • June 16 – Madhavi Venkatesan, Vermont Law School, “Economics and Climate Change: The Significance of Context and Interpretation”
  • June 21 – Delcianna Winders, Vermont Law School, and Heather Rally, PETA Foundation, “Happy Cows? Misunderstood, Under-protected, and Destroying the Environment—A Scientific and Legal Perspective” 
  • June 23 – Leah Douglas, Agriculture and Energy Reporter, Reuters, “From RFS to CCS: Can ethanol become more climate-friendly?”
  • June 28 – Melanie Kaplan, VLS Animal Law Media Fellow and independent journalist, “About a Beagle: How my hound bred for science led me to the world of animal research, testing, and education”
  • June 30 – Lesley Clark, Vermont Law School Media Fellow and Climate Law Reporter, E&E News, “West Virginia v EPA (and the Biden Administration’s Climate Ambitions?)”
  • July 12 – Maya Earls, legal reporter, Bloomberg Law, “Lithium vs. Buckwheat: When renewable energy goals run up against species protection laws”
  • July 14 – Sean Donahue, partner, Donahue, Goldberg, & Littleton, “The Clean Power Plan Litigation and the Path Ahead for Power Plant GHG Regulation”
  • July 19 – Cinnamon Carlarne, associate dean for faculty and intellectual life, Alumni Society Designated Professor of Law, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, “Climate Belonging”
  • July 21 – Natacha Mesa Tejeda, lecturer in business law, University of La Habana, “Economic Actors in Cuba and Environmental Impact: A Pending Subject?”
  • July 26 – Robert Percival, director, Environmental Law Program, Robert F. Stanton Professor of Law, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, “What Environmental Lawyers Should Know About the Supreme Court’s ‘Shadow Docket'”
  • July 28 – Blake Hudson, Vermont Law School Summer 2022 Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Law, “The Righteous Divide in American Policymaking”
  • August 2 – Michael Harris, visiting professor and staff attorney, Vermont Law School Environmental Justice Clinic, “A Right of Ethical Consideration for All Non-Human Animals: The Capabilities Approach and Beyond”
  • August 4 – Emily Broad Leib, Vermont Law School Summer 2022 Distinguished Scholar in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, “A Recipe for Sustainability: Global Best Practices to Combat Food Waste and Food Insecurity”

Visit vermontlaw.edu/hot-topics for more information about the full line-up and schedule.