Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review
The Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review (ELPAR) is published annually in the August issue of the Environmental Law Reporter (ELR) in collaboration with the Vanderbilt University Law School (VULS) and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in Washington, DC. Each year, Vanderbilt Law students work with an expert advisory committee and senior staff from ELI to identify the year’s best academic articles that present legal and policy solutions to pressing environmental problems (see 2020-2021 methodology here).
The result is a one issue, student-edited volume that includes condensed versions of the selected articles, along with commentaries from leading experts from the academy, law firms, business, government and non-governmental organizations.
In conjunction with the publication, ELI and Vanderbilt co-sponsor an annual conference at which the authors of the articles and article commenters present their ideas and views to an audience that includes business, government (federal, state, and local), think tank, and non-profit representatives. More information about the 2021 ELPAR conference is available here.
To listen to ELPAR podcasts please visit: https://www.eli.org/podcasts/elpar-podcasts
Vanderbilt University Law Students ELPAR 2020-2021 with ELI Senior Attorney Linda Breggin (third row, fourth from left) and Professor Michael Vandenbergh (fifth row, second from left).
The 2021 Edition of ELPAR has been published! The condensed articles and comments are available here:
Article: Michael Burger, Jessica Wentz, and Radley Horton, The Law and Science of Climate Change Attribution
- Comment: Joanne Spalding and Daniel Hayes, The Uses of Climate Change Attribution Science: The NGO Practicioner's View
Article: Madison Condon, Externalities and the Common Owner
- Comment: Frederick Alexander, A Welfare Function for Shareholder Engagement: Recognizing Profit for What It Is
- Comment: James Andrus and Anne Simpson, Externalities and the Common Owner: View From a Shareholder
- Comment: Natasha Lamb, Can't We All Just Get Along?: How Diversified Investors and Their Companies Can Maintain Their Fiduciary Duty in a Climate Crisis
Article: Charles Lee, A Game Changer in the Making? Lessons from States Advancing Environmental Justice through Mapping and Cumulative Impact Strategies
- Comment: John Faust et al., California's Environmental Justice Mapping Tool: Lessons and Insights from CalEnviroScreen
- Comment: Hilary T. Jacobs and Benjamin Wilson, Mapping the Movement: The Future of Identifying and Addressing Cumulative Impacts
Article: Joshua C. Macey, Zombie Energy Laws
- Comment: Jessica R. Bell and Hampden T. Macbeth, Climate Stumbling Blocks: Zombie Energy Laws, States, and the Path to Paris
- Comment: Margaret Claybour, You Can't Take Them Like That, It's Against Regulation
In addition to the four articles and their comments, two honorable mention articles were selected:
- Alexandra B. Klass, Eminent Domain Law as Climate Policy
- Rory Van Loo, The New Gatekeepers: Private Firms as Public Enforcers
If you would like to see the full issue of ELPAR, please subscribe to ELR here.
Click here to download the top 20 articles from the 2019-2020 academic calendar year.
The top four and two honorable mentions articles were selected from these 20 articles.
Click here to view the |
The Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review (ELPAR) is a special issue of the Environmental Law Reporter (ELR), published in collaboration with the Vanderbilt University Law School (VULS) and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in Washington, DC. Each year, Vanderbilt Law students work with an expert advisory committee and senior staff from ELI to identify the year’s best academic articles that present legal and policy solutions to pressing environmental problems (see methodology here). The result is a one issue, student-edited volume that includes condensed versions of the selected articles, along with commentaries from leading experts from the academy, law firms, business, government and non-governmental organizations.
In conjunction with the publication, ELI and Vanderbilt co-sponsor an annual conference at which the authors of the articles and article commenters present their ideas and views to an audience that includes business, government (federal, state, and local), think tank, and non-profit representatives. More information about the 2020 ELPAR conference is available here.
ELPAR is published annually in the August issue of ELR’s News & Analysis. For subscription information, visit: https://elr.info/subscription-information.
In 2019, ELPAR began publishing podcasts where ELI staff and VULS students interview some of the country’s leading law professors about their creative legal and policy proposals for addressing a range of cutting edge environmental issues. To listen to ELPAR podcasts please visit: https://www.eli.org/podcasts/elpar-podcasts.
Vanderbilt University Law Students ELPAR 2019-2020 with ELI Senior Attorney Linda Breggin (front row second from right) and Professor Michael Vandenbergh (front row left)
2020 featured articles include:
- Bethany Davis Noll & Burcin Unel, Markets, Externalities, and the Federal Power Act: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Authority to Price Carbon Dioxide Emissions*
- Jill E. Fisch, Making Sustainability Disclosure Sustainable*
- Jim Rossi & Christopher Serkin, Energy Exactions*
- Shana Campbell Jones; Ruppert, Thomas; Deady, Erin L.; Payne, Heather; Pippin, J. Scott; Huang, Ling-Yee; Evans, Jason M., Roads to Nowhere in Four States: State and Local Governments in the Atlantic Southeast Facing Sea-Level Rise**
* Presented at a conference at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C., on April 3, 2020.
** Presented at a conference at Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, TN, on February 20, 2020.
Additionally, we selected three articles to receive honorable mentions, and will republish their abstracts:
- Thomas O. McGarity & Wendy E. Wagner, Deregulation Using Stealth "Science" Strategies
- Richard L. Revesz, Regulation and Distribution
- George Wyeth; Paddock, Lee C.; Parker, Alison; Glicksman, Robert L.; Williams, Jecoliah, The Impact of Citizen Environmental Science in the United States
ELPAR 2020 Top 20 article list is available here.
2020 Washington DC Conference
The 2020 ELPAR DC conference took place on Friday, April 3, from 9:30am to 3:00 pm EST, via webinar. The webinar was free and open to the public. Please find more information about the webinar and materials here.
This conference is organized in partnership by the Environmental Law Institute and Vanderbilt University Law School. Co-sponsored by DC Bar Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Community, Women in Government Relations Taskforce on Energy, Environment and Agriculture, and Women’s Bar Association of District of Columbia.
Topics of the conference include include:
- Addressing the cost of carbon dioxide emissions via FERC’s authority to ensure just and reasonable interstate wholesale electricity rates
- Improving SEC sustainability disclosure requirements
- Imposing exactions on developers to incentivize investment in low-carbon energy supply and energy efficient buildings
Nashville Symposium at Vanderbilt University Law School
This year's Nashville Symposium took place on Thursday, February 20, from 12:00pm to 1:30pm CST, at Vanderbilt University Law School. The event hosted Shana Jones, Thomas Ruppert and Jason Evans to discuss their recent article “Roads to Nowhere in Four States: State and Local Governments in the Atlantic Southeast Facing Sea-Level Rise.” Through their analysis of localities’ efforts to protect property and infrastructure as sea-levels rise and flooding increases, the authors discussed whether climate adaptation challenges faced by localities merit the reconsideration of the duties, immunities, and authorities of state and local governments. For more information about this conference, please click here.
ELPAR also co-sponsored an event with Urban Green Lab, EELU & Climate Change Research Network at Vanderbilt Law on Febuary 19, 2020 from 12:00pm - 1:00pm at the Law School. The event featured a talk by Tatiana Schlossberg on her recent book, Inconspicuous Consumption. The event was free and open to the public, please find more information here.