Curriculum Guide

Transcription

1 Curriculum Guide Who Should Take Environmental Courses at Stanford Law School? Courses in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program (ENRLP) are designed for students planning to practice environmental law and for those interested in addressing public policy issues. The courses examine issues of broad relevance to public law, including the administrative process, statutory interpretation, alternative approaches to regulating economic activities, multi-party negotiation, and legal ethics. We encourage students from related disciplines to enroll. The Law School offers several exciting joint graduate programs in connection with E-IPER, Public Policy, International Relations, and the Business School. The Law School offers an array of core, clinical, advanced, and policy courses in the environmental and energy area. We have provided the following list of our offerings this year to help you design a curriculum to fit your interests and professional goals. For more guidance on these and other courses in the environmental field, contact Molly Melius, Fellow ( ; loughney@stanford.edu). Core Courses examine key topics of environmental regulation. Students need no special background to enroll in any of the core courses. Administrative Law (autumn and winter): This course is concerned with the constitutional rules and political pressures that shape agencies; how agencies promulgate regulations and adjudicate disputes; the major statutes affecting how agencies work, particularly the Administrative Procedure Act; and how courts review agency action. Energy Law (spring): This course explores the complex patchwork of overlapping state and federal rules that is constantly evolving to meet emerging challenges to the energy system. First, the course examines the history of natural gas pipeline regulation in the United States, concluding with the introduction of market competition into US natural gas markets and the advent of shale gas. Next, the course covers the basics of the electricity system, including consumer demand, grid operations, and power plant technologies and economics. It then examines rate-based regulation reforms, focusing on various attempts to introduce market competition into aspects of the electricity industry and to strengthen incentives for utility investment in energy efficiency. Finally, students will examine various approaches to subsidization of utility scale renewable energy and the growth of distributed energy. Environmental Law Clinic (basic, full-time autumn and winter; advanced, part-time any quarter): The Clinic provides an opportunity each quarter for students to represent national, regional, and grassroots non-profit organizations on a variety of environmental issues. The clinic s primary goal is to help students develop essential lawyering skills through hands-on experience in real cases. Clinic students work on a mix of litigation and policy matters at the interface of law, science, and policy. The cases take students before administrative agencies and to all levels of state and federal court, with frequent practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Students help screen new matters and potential clients; formulate strategies; research and develop factual and legal issues; and prosecute administrative and litigation proceedings. Students may meet with clients, opposing counsel or agency officials; review administrative records and develop expert testimony; 1

2 draft comment letters, petitions, pleadings and briefs; and present argument at administrative and judicial hearings. In regular one-on-one meetings with supervising faculty, there is a heavy emphasis on learning how to write persuasively, present oral arguments, and exercise professional judgment. Students who have already successfully completed the basic Environmental Law Clinic for one quarter may continue to work with the clinic in the advanced section, participating in a more intensive and senior capacity on clinic matters. Environmental Law and Policy (spring): This course provides an introduction to federal environmental law, regulation, and policy in the United States. The course emphasizes the cooperative and competing roles that the federal and state governments play in implementing environmental law in the United States. The course encourages students to adopt a comparative and dynamic view of environmental protection under U.S. law. This course covers the property law roots of environmental law; U.S. administrative law; risk assessment; U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act; the EU REACH directive; the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act; and the National Environmental Policy Act. International Environmental Law (autumn): This course examines the legal, scientific, political, economic, and organizational issues associated with the creation of international environmental regimes. The principal emphasis will be on the issue of climate change, with a focus on the current regime(s) and the lead-up to the Paris Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention. The course will also address the Montreal Protocol for Ozone Depleting Substances, the International Convention for Regulation of Whaling, and other multilateral agreements. The course examines the choice of legal instrument, as well as the implementation, evolution, and ultimate effectiveness of environmental regimes. Finally, close attention is paid to equity and development issues that are critical in bridging north-south divides on international environmental issues. Water Law and Policy (autumn): This course will focus on two major aspects of natural-resource management: biodiversity protection (including the Endangered Species Act, ocean fisheries management, and global protection of marine mammals) and public lands in the United States such as national parks and wilderness areas. The course also will examine the National Environmental Protection Act and the effectiveness of environmental impact assessments. Advanced Seminars provide an in-depth examination of environmental issues. Students generally get more out of the advanced seminars if they already have taken one or more core courses or have some experience in the field, but none require prerequisites. Animal Law (spring): Animal law encompasses all areas of the law in which the nature legal, social or biological of nonhuman animals is an important factor. It has significantly different historical, legal and philosophical foundations than most other courses. Topics covered include animal cruelty, animals as property, tort claims regarding animals, farm animals, animals in entertainment, and federal issues regarding animals. California Coast: Science, Policy & Law (spring): This interdisciplinary course integrates the legal, scientific, and policy dimensions of how we characterize and manage resource use and allocation along the California coast. The course will use this geographic setting as the vehicle for exploring more generally how agencies, legislatures, and courts resolve resource use conflicts and the role that scientific information and uncertainty play in the process. The focus will be on the land-sea interface as we explore contemporary coastal land use and marine resource decision-making, including coastal 2

3 pollution, public health, ecosystem management; public access; private development; local community and state infrastructure; natural systems and significant threats; resource extraction; and conservation, mitigation and restoration. Students will learn the fundamental physics, chemistry, and biology of the coastal zone, tools for exploring data collected in the coastal ocean, and the institutional framework that shapes public and private decisions affecting coastal resources. Clean Energy Project: Development & Finance (winter): This case study-oriented course will focus on the critical skills needed to evaluate, develop, finance (on a non-recourse basis), and complete standalone energy and infrastructure projects. The primary course materials will be documents from several representative projects - e.g. wind and carbon capture - covering key areas including market and feasibility studies, environmental permitting and regulatory decisions. Cross listed with the business school. Environmental Law and Policy Colloquium (autumn-spring) (LLM only): This colloquium offers LLM students the opportunity to discuss cutting-edge legal topics related to, among others, the environment, natural resources management, or energy policy. Managing Natural Resources in the Face of Climate Change (winter): This workshop seminar will provide students with the opportunity to examine and critique cutting-edge research and work in the natural resources field, with a focus on how climate change and other stressors are affecting scientific, legal and policy issues arising in a number of natural resource contexts, including water, forestry, coastal resources, conventional and renewable energy development, and the like. Although it is open to all students, the seminar is designed especially for those with an interest in the field who wish to stay abreast of current issues, work, and ideas. In each class, an academic expert, policy maker, or practitioner will present their current research or work and engage in a robust discussion. The Sea Around Us: Ethical, Physical, and Emotional Connections (winter-spring): This colloquium examines current ocean law and policy issues through readings of seminal fiction and non-fiction works about the ethical, physical, and emotional relationships of human beings to the marine world. Through the lenses offered by several classic readings, we will examine and reinterpret the challenges of fisheries collapse, climate change, shipping, marine spatial planning, biodiversity conservation, and the management of land-sea interactions. : Business Opportunities and Public Policy (autumn): This course examines trends and opportunities in the sustainable energy sector with a particular focus on low carbon energy. The course examines these trends in the context of technological change, emerging business opportunities and the parameters set by public policy. Policy Practicums provide opportunities, interdisciplinary, when possible, for students to learn by doing policy analysis or regulatory drafting for policy makers. Developing a Federal Framework for Climate Change Policy (autumn): Students in this policy lab will work with the instructor, and a sponsoring foundation, to develop strategies to guide the federal government in delivering on the nation's climate change commitments. The students will focus on two major topics: (1) constructing an inventory and road map of potential carbon emissions reductions across the federal government; and (2) evaluating governing structures available to coordinate federal emissions reductions and adaptation/resilience actions across the federal government and with states. 3

4 California Drought: Lessons Learned (winter): Students in this policy lab will work with the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) as part of a broad study of lessons learned from the current California drought. The overall goal of the study is to assess the functioning of various aspects of California's water management system during the current drought and to develop tools and policy recommendations to help the state survive future droughts with fewer economic and environmental impacts. The practicum will focus primarily on the California water rights system and its interaction with other laws related to water quality and aquatic species protection in the context of the ongoing drought Academic Year we anticipate offering: Administrative Law; Energy Law; Energy and Climate Law and Economics; Environmental Law Clinic; Environmental Law and Policy; Environmental Justice; International Environmental Law; Land Use; Natural Resources Law; Environment & Energy Law Workshop; and Toxic Harms. 4

5 Calendar AUTUMN All Day 11:10-12:40 Env Law Colloquium Casado-Perez LLM only; 11:10-1:10 International Environmental Law Water Law & Policy Thompson 5 Water Law & Policy Thompson 2:15-3:35 International Environmental Law 4:30-6:45 Clinic: Environmental Law Clinic: Full-time and Advanced (part-time) Policy Practicum: Developing a Federal Framework for Climate Change Policy Schedule: Classes: 9/21-11/20; Thanksgiving: 11/23-11/27; Exams: 12/4-12/11 Recommended Non-Law Courses: Energy in Transition (Energy 154); Energy Resources (CEE 173A, ES 103) WINTER All Day 9:00-11:00 D. Engstrom D. Engstrom Clean Energy Brown/Reicher/Rogers 8:30-11:30 2:00-4:00 4:15-6:15 Natural Resources & Climate Change Hayes Clinic: Environmental Law Clinic: Full-time and Advanced (part-time) Policy Practicum: California Drought: Lessons Learned Schedule: Classes: 1/4-3/7; MLK holiday: 1/18; Exams: 3/11-3/18; Spring Recess: 3/21-3/25 SPRING 9:00-11:00 10:00-12:00 11:10-12:40 2:15-3:45 Env Law Colloquium Casado-Perez LLM only Animal Law Wagman California Coast California Coast Boehm/Sivas Boehm/Sivas Energy Law Energy Law Env Law & Policy Env Law & Policy Clinic: Environmental Law Clinic: Advanced only (part-time) Schedule: Classes: 3/28-5/27; Exams: 5/31-6/4; SLS Graduation: 6/11