The Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law School (VLS) will kick off its annual Hot Topics in Environmental Law summer lecture series on June 3 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., the lectures are hosted by VLS faculty and invited experts and cover topics ranging from renewable energy and how recent changes in the presidency and Supreme Court have impacted environmental law, to the need for a national food strategy and the legal status of chickens. Free and open to the public, the lectures will be streamed virtually at vermontlaw.edu/live and on Facebook Live. Vermont Bar Association Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit is available.

“Environmental law and policy touches peoples’ lives in innumerable ways, and the diversity of topics highlighted in the Hot Topics series really reflects that,” said Jenny Rushlow, director of the Environmental Law Center. “These informative lectures, led by experts in their fields, offer something to anyone who is interested in the environment around them.”  

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

  • June 3 – Christopher Root, Vermont Electric Power Company, “The Status of Renewables in Vermont and the Vermont Long-Range Transmission Plan”
  • June 8 – Jim Murphy and Mason Overstreet, Vermont Law School, “The Forest for the Trees: Short-Circuiting Environmental Review for National Forest Cuts”
  • June 10 – Cydnee Bence, Vermont Law School, “Intimidation & Bearing Witness: ‘Ag-Gag’ Laws Criminalizing Animal Interactions”
  • June 15 – Laurie Beyranevand, Vermont Law School, “Why the U.S. Needs a National Food Strategy”
  • June 17 – Stephen Dycus, Vermont Law School, \”Nuclear War: Still the Gravest Threat to the Environment\”  
  • June 22 – Pamela Vesilind, Vermont Law School, “The CAFO Version 2.0: Alternate Realities in Administrative Law”
  • June 24 – Pat Parenteau, Vermont Law School, “Baltimore vs Big Oil: Cities Sue to Recover Damages for Climate Disruption”
  • June 29 – Anna Marhold, Leiden University, Netherlands, “What’s the Actual Deal with the EU Green Deal?”
  • July 1 – Pamela King, E&E News, “From Ginsburg to Barrett: How 2020 Transformed Environmental Battles at the Supreme Court”
  • July 13 – David Wirth, Boston College Law School, \”The Biden Administration and the International Environment\”
  • July 15 – Jessica Scott-Reid, Freelance Journalist, title TBD
  • July 20 – David Takacs, UC Hastings Law, “Rivers with Rights”
  • July 22 – Claire Brown, The Counter, “Algal Blooms and Animal Ag”
  • July 27 – Robert Percival, University of Maryland Carey School of Law, “How Will A Decidedly More Conservative Judiciary Affect the Future Of U.S. Environmental Law?”
  • July 29 – Delcianna Winders, Lewis & Clark Law School, “Bird Brains? Our Evolving Understanding of Chickens—and Their Lagging Legal Status”
  • August 3 – Geoffrey Garver, McGill University, Canada, “Ecological Law Case Studies: Bringing the Theory Down to Earth”
  • August 5 – Lisa Held, Civil Eats, “The Corporate Capture of Agricultural Climate ‘Solutions’”