Recent Highlights

• 

  Richard Lazarus: "Environmental law has fallen 'in arrears'" (video)

  Environmental lawlessness was the topic of discussion on April 10, as Richard Lazarus ’79, one of the nation’s foremost experts on environmental law, gave a lecture marking his appointment to the Howard J. and Katherine W. Aibel Professorship of Law.

• 

  The Ripple Effect: A watershed year for the Environmental Law Program (video)

  The scope of Harvard Law School's Environmental Law Program has grown significantly since Professor Jody Freeman LL.M. ’91 S.J.D. ’95 launched it six years ago “with the ambition of building the best environmental law and policy program in the world.” She served in 2009-2010 as White House counselor for energy and climate change, and brings that experience into the classroom. Richard J. Lazarus ’79, a leading expert in environmental and natural resources law and veteran Supreme Court advocate, joined the faculty last fall after serving on the president’s commission investigating the BP oil spill. The Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, directed by Wendy Jacobs ’81, has flourished since being established as a cornerstone of the program five years ago. And this August, Kate Konschnik, environmental counsel for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), will become the program’s new policy director. 

• 

  Environmental Law experts review cases before the Court (video)

  On September 28, the Harvard Law School Environmental Law Program and Environmental Law Institute hosted a Supreme Court Review and Preview to discuss the implications of recent Supreme Court decisions on the field of environmental law. Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow introduced the event, and emphasized the Supreme Court’s role in the formation of environmental policy in the United States.

• 

  Richard J. Lazarus appointed Professor of Law at Harvard

  Richard J. Lazarus ’79, one of the nation’s foremost experts on environmental law and also a leading practitioner in the U.S. Supreme Court, will join the Harvard Law School faculty this summer as a tenured Professor of Law.

• 

  Brainstorming new strategies for environmental protection (video)

  On Dec. 3, an all-day conference marking the 40th anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency's creation was held at Harvard Law School. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was the keynote speaker; also among the speakers and panelists was former Vice President Al Gore, who addressed the luncheon. The event was sponsored by the Law School, the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Harvard University Center for the Environment. 

• 

  Freeman selected as public member of the Administrative Conference of the U.S.

  Harvard Law School Professor Jody Freeman has been selected as a public member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), an independent agency of the United States government tasked with improving the efficiency and fairness of federal agencies.

• 

  Go Green: New bike shelters installed near Pound Hall

  On Earth Day, the Wasserstein Hall, Caspersen Student Center, Clinical Wing project gained a set of new bicycle shelters at the Lewis Lot, south of Pound Hall. There are 26 bicycle racks within the two enclosures. Additionally, four new bicycle racks have now been added under the Pound Hall overhang facing Lewis International Law Center, and three new bicycle racks now sit under the Holmes Hall west entrance. All the bicycle racks are ready for use.

• 

  The greening of the Law School

  Every unit, division, and School at Harvard is in a race to meet a pledge: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2016, with 2006 as the baseline year. Harvard Law School is gaining ground on its goal. Buildings on its campus now use about 22 percent less energy than four years ago. The result is a 15 percent drop in greenhouse gas emissions between fiscal year 2006 and fiscal year 2009.

• 

  Robert Verchick ’89 appointed to Environmental Protection Agency post

  Robert Verchick ’89 has been appointed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation to serve as deputy associate administrator. He currently heads the Center for Environmental Law and Land Use at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.