SACKETT V. EPA AND CLIMATE WHISPERERS

Listen to Jenny Rushlow, dean of the Maverick Lloyd School for the Environment, professor of law, and faculty director of the Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law and Graduate School talk about the Montana Court's ruling on Held v. State of Montana, how it relates to other cases such as the landmark climate law case she argued and won before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Kain v. Department of Environmental Protection, and how these cases advance environmental advocacy and justice.

In this episode, Pat Parenteau, Professor of Law Emeritus and Senior Fellow for Climate Policy at Vermont Law and Graduate School, chats about his career and how environmental law and policy has evolved, with podcast host, Jeannie Oliver, professor of law and staff attorney at VLGS’s Energy Clinic.

Thank you to the Vermont School for the Environment at Vermont Law and Graduate School, Jenifer Rushlow, Anne Linehan, and Donna Kowalewski at Environmental Law Center.

Guests

• David Deen, President, Connecticut River Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Trout Unlimited Vermont Council, former VT state legislator for 30 years
• Kathy Urffer, River Steward, Connecticut River Conservancy
• Julia MacDonald JD'21, Vermont Law School 
• Peter Malicky MELP'21, Vermont Law School

Recommended Resources

• To get an update on the latest in surface water legislation in VT, visit the Act 173 Committee webpage.
• For more background on the issues, read the Environmental Advocacy Clinic's report on Vermont surface waters.

Patents on living things threaten biodiversity and our resilience against climate change. In this episode, we examine how a VLS professor is helping plant breeders use “defensive publication” to keep innovations open-source and promote biodiversity.

Guests

• Jim Myers, Professor, Vegetable Breeding and Genetics, Oregon State University
• Emily Spiegel, Center for Agriculture and Food Systems, Vermont Law School

Recommended Resources

• A Breed Apart: The Plant Breeder’s Guide to Defensive Publication
• “Could a simple database prevent massive ag companies from patenting and guarding seed varieties?” The Counter, May 13, 2021.

The second episode in the Hothouse Earth Podcast’s “Elevate” miniseries features Brandi Colander JD’06. One of the first students to complete VLS’s dual degree with the Yale School of the Environment, Colander has a career that spans sectors and disciplines. Her work shows that environmental law can expand well beyond the scope of traditional environmentalism, intersecting with social justice and corporate governance. Listen as she shares inspiring career advice for women on support systems, inclusivity, disruption, confidence, and growth.

Guest:
Brandi Colander, Chief Sustainability Officer at WestRock Company

Hosts:
Jeannie Oliver, Assistant Professor and Staff Attorney
Veronica Ung-Kono, JD/MERL'21 and IEE Research Associate

Recommended Resources:

Operating with the Full Life Cycle in Mind  - A Q&A with WestRock Chief Sustainability Officer Brandi Colander
Vermont Law School Dual Degree Programs

Guest
Karin Sheldon, President of Four Echoes Strategies and Adjunct Professor at Colorado Law University of Colorado Boulder

Hosts
Jeannie Oliver, Assistant Professor and Staff Attorney, Energy Clinic
Veronica Ung-Kono JD/MERL 2021

Recommended Resources

Bowman, Cynthia Grant, Women in the Legal Profession from the 1920s to the 1970s: What Can We Learn from Their Experience about Law and Social Change? (2009) Cornell Law Faculty Publications. Paper 12.

 Green 2.0, exploring diversity in environmental organizations. https://www.diversegreen.org/

• See in particular, Taylor, Dorceta E., The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations, July 2014.
• 2019 report card with a summary here

Halton, Mary, Climate change ‘impacts women more than men’, 8 March 2018, BBC News. 

McCarthy, Joe, Why Climate Change Disproportionately Affects Women, 5 March, 2020, Global Citizen. 

Over the next few months, Hothouse Earth will be sharing  conversations with women about their experiences in shaping environmental and social change through the power of the law and some of the challenges that they've faced along the way.