SDG Detail

LAW 2504: Environmental Law and Policy

Postgraduate course

Project description

Environmental law is critically important and endlessly fascinating. In this course, we will look at the major statutes and policies used, at both the federal and state levels, to protect humans and the environment against exposure to harmful substances, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Superfund, and the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act. We also will discuss the National Environmental Policy Act, which covers and extends beyond pollution control, and several class units will discuss climate change. The class will look not only at the substance of these laws and policies, but also at enforcement challenges, alternative legal mechanisms for advancing environmental policies, the role of market mechanisms in addressing environmental problems, and constitutional restrictions on environmental regulation. As part of the class, students will engage in a series of situational case studies designed to provide a better sense of the real-world issues faced by environmental lawyers and to teach students the skills and tactics needed to solve those issues.