Environmental Policy & Law

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, one thing is striking: the extent to which many of the best and first responders have been local. From Brooklyn down to the Jersey Shore, Sandy has left its mark. But now, stories abound of community groups shoveling sand out of living rooms, feeding and housing the homeless, and arranging online help through listservs and crowdfunding. Somehow, communities have married the best of old-fashioned neighborliness to 21st century networking — resulting in a steady flow of local energy against a sea of devastation.

As the courts take up the issue, “at risk for people who buy shorefront property is do they have the right to tell people to get off their land?” Pinette said. At high tide, a beach in front of a private home “is private property," Pinette said. Less clear is the public's rights on low-tide beaches, she said. Pinette said she was drawn to work in the environmental arena after taking a sustainable agriculture course in college.

Thirty-five thousand Americans marched around the White House in biting winds and cold sunlight on Sunday in the largest demonstration for climate action in history.

Environmental scientist Amy Luers found the nonprofit setting more fitting than academia for her career goals. "I wanted to be at the intersection of science, policy and action," she said. That would have been hard to do as an academic scientist, she said. "It's rare that a scientist at an academic research institution gets to really see the fruits of their labor put into practice in a significant way in their lifetime," said Luers, climate change director for the Skoll Global Threats Fund, a San Francisco-based non-profit. ...

In this interview, Robert Kates discusses the challenges of sustainability science in moving from what scientists know to actions that can provide solutions to pressing environmental and development problems. Kates notes that sustainability science has the dual mission of addressing core scientific and intellectual questions, while at the same time addressing development in particular places. He suggests that one of the key questions is how to address long-term trends and transition to a “better synthesis between environment and society.”

In his experience as a firefighter, paramedic, union officer, green chemistry leader, and now Director of the UC Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program, Switzer Fellow Mike Wilson (2002) has learned that when someone is injured, sickened, or killed on the job, the immediate cause is usually obvious: an unguarded machine, a blocked exit door, a toxic chemical, exposure to silica, and so forth.

Democrats and Republicans alike hope for an energy independent future—an America freed from the whims of a temperamental global energy market. The differences arise when determining what to do today to make that future a reality.

To help utilities address the privacy issue, two research associates at the Vermont Law School’s Institute for Energy and the Environment have developed a model privacy policy. “We identified concerns about privacy as a barrier to smart grid progress,” said Colin Hagan, one of the researchers. “We’ve seen how consumer concern can delay projects or focus attention on them.”

2011 Switzer Fellow Sarah Uhl works to protect people and the environment from the harmful effects of toxic chemicals.