In this symposium, leading scholars will grapple with the complexities of attempts to use technological innovation and transfer to address climate change. Renewable energy sources reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil and nonrenewable energy sources, and in the process, our greenhouse gas emissions, but must be readily available and practical to provide the country with the energy it needs to continue to grow and prosper. Geoengineering is increasingly part of the policy discussion as concerns grow that our efforts at mitigation will be inadequate. However, this emerging field must contend with the potential for unexpected environmental impacts, as well as important legal and moral questions.
The first JECE/ELS symposium addressed climate change and greenhouse gas regulations facing the incoming Obama administration in 2009. We are in the process of finalizing the resulting publication from that symposium, which included a number of leading legal and social science thinkers, and served as the first meeting of a regional group of scholars working on climate change. The 2010 symposium expands on the work of the 2009 interdisciplinary project by exploring the legal, political, and social controversies surrounding the many policy initiatives focusing on the development of alternative energy sources while exploring other ways that science and technology may help in repairing our already-damaged climate. This intersection of law with science and technology poses critical ethical, environmental, national security perspectives.
Agenda
8:00-9:00 am
Symposium Registration
9:00 am-9:10 am
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Hari Osofsky, Associate Professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law
9:05-10:20 am
Panel One: Property, Economics and Clean Energy
Joel Eisen, Professor, University of Richmond School of Law
Alexandra Klass, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Law School
Michael Vandenbergh, Tarkington Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School, Co-Director, Regulatory Program, and Director, Climate Change Research Network, Vanderbilt University Law School
Moderator: Adam Scales, Associate Professor
10:30-11:45 am
Panel Two: Federalism, Energy, and Technology
Ann Carlson, Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law and Inaugural Faculty Director of the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment, UCLA School of Law
Hari Osofsky, Associate Professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law
Erin Ryan, Associate Professor, William & Mary Law School
Moderator: Christopher Bruner, Associate Professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law
12:00–1:00 pm
Lunchtime Keynote Address and Johnson Lecture
Acting in Uncertainty's Shadow: The Challenge of Climate Change Policy
Jonathan Cannon, Blaine T. Phillips Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law, Class of 1941 Research Professor of Law, and Director of Environmental and Land Use Law Program
1:30-2:45 pm
Panel Three: Challenges of Clean Technology Implementation
Marcilynn Burke, Deputy Director, Programs and Policy, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior
Richard Hildreth, Professor, Dean's Distinguished Faculty Fellow, and Director of the Ocean and Coastal Law Center, University of Oregon School of Law
Ashira Ostrow, Associate Professor, Hofstra University School of Law
Moderator: Laura Henry-Stone, Post-Doctoral Fellow in Environmental Studies, Washington and Lee University
3:00-4:30 pm
Panel Four: Geoengineering and Ethical Challenges of Technology
Deepa Badrinarayana, Assistant Professor, Chapman University School of Law
William C.G. Burns, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Law & Policy, Santa Clara University School of Law
Cinnamon Piñon Carlarne, Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina School of Law
Maria Savasta-Kennedy, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Externship Program, UNC School of Law
Moderator: Matt Tuchler, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Washington and Lee University
4:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Concluding Reflections
Robert Danforth, Associate Dean, Washington and Lee University School of Law
Hari Osofsky, Associate Professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law
