In this podcast episode, Jeffrey Peterson interviews Susan Crawford and Robert Verchick, two noted lawyers who have new books on climate adaptation and coastal resilience published in April 2023. The interview covers a wide range of topics, including the challenges posed by sea-level rise, the importance of social justice in climate adaptation, and the role of law in addressing climate change.
People Places Planet
Welcome to People Places Planet, ELI's leading environmental podcast. We talk to leading experts across sectors who share their solutions to the world's most pressing environmental problems. Tune in for the latest environmental law, policy, and governance developments.
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Drinking water in the United States is among the world’s cleanest and most heavily regulated, yet entire grocery store aisles are dedicated to bottled water. Why is this? In this episode, ELI’s Georgia Ray speaks with Cindy Donis, a community organizer for East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, and Gregory Pierce, director of the Human Right to Water Solutions Lab within UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation. Cindy and Gregory offer background on drinking water contamination in LA County, California, and share what needs to happen at the local, state, and federal level to combat negative perceptions about tap water while ensuring it is indeed safe to drink.
As sovereign nations, a unique relationship exists between Tribal Nations and the U.S. federal government, which is grounded in the U.S. Constitution. An integral component of this relationship is a process known as “government-to-government consultation,” or, colloquially, a “G2G.” In this episode, ELI’s Georgia Ray speaks with Meghan Gavin, a lawyer and partner at Cascadia Law Group, to learn about G2G consultation with Tribes in Washington state, the power dynamic surrounding government relations with Tribal Nations, and how changing environmental conditions impact future consultations. She will also weigh in on how the Biden-Harris Administration’s new policies on consultation impact her work. The episode is part of The Youth Review podcast series.
Increasingly, independent third parties—better known as “corporate compliance monitors”--are appointed to oversee a company’s compliance following the settlement of a criminal or, sometimes, civil enforcement case. Justin Savage of Sidley Austin LLP, speaks with Ike Adams, a Partner at Sidley Austin, and Michele Edwards and Brad Wilson, both with StoneTurn, a global advisory firm. The trio discuss corporate compliance monitorships, which has been a perennial hot topic in DOJ enforcement, particularly in the environmental space over the last 5 years. The episode is part of The Enforcement Angle series, featuring conversations about state and federal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations with senior enforcement officials and thought leaders on environmental enforcement in the United States and globally.
Global sustainable development requires attention to environmental, developmental, and social priorities. ELI’s Georgia Ray speaks with ELI Visiting Attorney Tomkeen Mobegi, an international law expert whose past work has focused on climate change, environmental governance, and human rights and development in the Global South. Tomkeen shares his perspective on intersectional and international legal education, the importance of international treaties, and the unique approach of the United States in the international legal space.
International Women’s Day is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 to bring attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. One women’s issue that is often overlooked is access to clean water. In this episode, ELI’s Georgia Ray speaks with Elizabeth Koch, ELI’s Senior Manager of International Programs, and Jessica Troell, Director of ELI’s International Water Program, about two ELI initiatives pertaining to women and water: strengthening the recognition and protection of water tenure of the world’s most vulnerable populations; and the importance of inclusive decisionmaking in water diplomacy processes and the resultant positive implications for regional peace and human security.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment & Natural Resources Division is tasked with enforcing the United States’ civil and criminal environmental laws. In this episode, Justin Savage and Nicole Noelliste of Sidley Austin LLP talk with Todd Kim, the Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ ENRD, and Kate Konschnik, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of ENRD. The episode is part of The Enforcement Angle series, featuring conversations about state and federal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations with senior enforcement officials and thought leaders on environmental enforcement in the United States and globally.
Many view the early 1970s as the dawn of environmental law here in the United States. President Nixon signed NEPA into law on January 1, 1970. By December of that same year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was formed. Across the Atlantic, France was similarly focused on the environment, and created the Ministry of the Environment in 1971. Was this pure serendipity or were there cultural and historical factors at play that contributed to that almost concurrent establishment? And what other parallels existed between France and the United States in their environmental regulatory journeys? In this episode, ELI Visiting Attorney Aïcha Ghmouch discusses her work examining these two frameworks.
With its deeply forested mountains, unique rock formations, vast plains, and moonlike deserts, New Mexico—the fifth largest state of the nation—boasts a unique landscape. Tasked with protecting and restoring the environment while fostering a healthy and prosperous New Mexico for present and future generations, the New Mexico Environment Department covers a lot of ground. In this episode, Justin Savage, a Partner and the Global Co-Leader of the Environmental practice at Sidley Austin LLP, speaks with New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney and the former Director of EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, Doug Parker.
February 2 is World Wetlands Day! Wetlands are critically important ecosystems contributing to biodiversity, climate mitigation and adaptation, freshwater availability, and world economies. Sadly, nearly 90% of the world’s wetlands have been degraded since the 1700s, and we are losing wetlands three times faster than forests. Urgent action is therefore needed to reverse wetland loss and protect existing wetlands. In this episode, we speak with Ross Weaver, the Program Assistant Director for Wetlands Watch. This podcast is the first in a series of episodes dedicated to highlighting the incredible work done by wetland heroes throughout the country. Some of the project discussed in this podcast include the Community Rating System Workgroup, the Design Collaboratory, the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional Program, and the Fight the Flood Program.