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Boalt Hall Environmental Law Students: Activists On Campus and Beyond

published April 13, 2023

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( 13 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Summary

Boalt Hall, the distinguished law school of the University of California, Berkeley, is renowned for its excellent Environmental Law program. Boalt Hall's Environmental Law students are known for their commitment to sustainability, activism and environmental justice, which they demonstrate on campus and in the local community.


As part of the Environmental Law Program, students are required to take three core classes: Environmental Law and Policy, Climate Law, and Science for Environmental Lawyers. In addition, the program offers elective courses in relevant topics such as Environmental Justice, Environmental Law and Social Justice, Energy and Climate Law, and Water Law. Students also benefit from a series of seminars, workshops, and events related to environmental topics.

In addition to participating in a diverse range of coursework, Boalt Hall Environmental Law students are deeply involved in environmental activism both on and off campus. On-campus, the students are members of the Environmental Law Society, an organization focused on environmental policy and legislation. Additionally, they lead campus environmental initiatives, such as Earth Day events, fossil fuel divestment campaigns, and green transport initiatives.

Off campus, Boalt Hall Environmental Law students are involved in local organizations that represent the marginalized and underserved communities most impacted by environmental issues and pollution. For example, students have participated in the Women in Water Justice Coalition, and the Berkeley Climate Action Coalition. They also serve as legal interns and volunteers with organizations such as EarthJustice, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

In addition to their involvement in the local community, Environmental Law students at Boalt Hall have an extensive international presence. For example, students have attended the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, the World Parks Congress, the Global Dialogue on Nuclear Security, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Copenhagen Climate Summit, and other events.

Boalt Hall's Environmental Law program is renowned for its commitment to environmental justice and sustainability. The Environmental Law students at Boalt Hall are active on campus, in the local community, and internationally. On campus, they are members of the Environmental Law Society, and lead campus initiatives focusing on environmental topics. Off campus, they work with NGOs and other organizations dedicated to protecting the marginalized and underserved communities most affected by environmental issues. Additionally, they participate in a variety of international conferences and events related to environmental justice.
 

What is Environmental Law?

Environmental law is a branch of law that focuses on the protection of the environment and all that it encompasses. Such laws regulate, limit, and restrict the activities of individuals and companies in order to conserve the environment for all species. Environmental law is an interdisciplinary practice and deals with issues such as land use, air and water quality, natural resource protection, and climate change.
 

Boalt Hall's Environmental Law Program

Boalt Hall, the renowned UC Berkeley School of Law, offers an Environmental Law Program to its students. The program provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental law, and offers courses that explore various aspects of the field, from air and water quality to land use and climate change.
 

Environmental Activism at Boalt Hall

The environmental law students at Boalt Hall are passionate and dedicated activists. They are active on campus, where they work together on initiatives such as renewable energy and sustainable transportation, and off campus, where they advocate for clean energy, climate justice, and environmental justice. The students are also active in organizing events and campaigns related to environmental issues.
 

Boalt Hall Student Organizations

The Boalt Hall environmental law students also belong to various student organizations, including the Boalt Hall Environmental Law Society, the Environmental Law Alliance, and the Environmental Law and Policy Forum. These organizations provide a platform for students to get involved in environmental advocacy, promote awareness of environmental issues, and create opportunities for the students to network and learn about the field.
 

Boalt Hall's Commitment to Environmental Protection

Boalt Hall is committed to protecting the environment and has put in place numerous initiatives to support this goal. Through its curriculum and student organizations, it is providing the tools and resources to empower the next generation of environmental activists. By fostering a space for collaboration, research, and advocacy, Boalt Hall is working to ensure that its students have the opportunity to make a lasting impact on the fight to preserve our planet.

Third-year Boalt student Sky Stanfield chose the school expressly for the environmental law program and the certificate of specialization. Boalt's environmental program is distinguished by its location in the San Francisco Bay area, says Stanfield. It's a community with a high number of practicing environmental attorneys and environmental activism.

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Boalt's program has good classes in the field, says Stanfield, and only lacks a legal clinic focusing on environmental law. That could soon change, however, with an effort underway to introduce a clinic to an already-strong environmental law program. Getting a clinic going is "one of the primary goals of the program," says Stanfield.

Students are contributing to the clinic's development by researching other law schools' public interest clinics and comparing various models against Boalt's needs. Meanwhile, faculty members are handling the funding and logistics side of the planning. Current first-year law students may be able to take advantage of an environmental law clinic, says Stanfield.

There is a new Dean at Boalt—Christopher Edley, Jr.—and a very active student body, says second-year law student Melissa Thrailkill. In addition to advocating for the development of the law clinic, members of the Environmental Law Society urged the school to bring in a lecturer on agriculture and environmental law. This past fall, Barclay Rogers, with the Sierra Club, San Francisco, offered the course, said Thrailkill. "There was a lot of student interest in that."

Dean Edley, formerly a Harvard Law professor who is known for his civil rights and public policy work, has pinpointed environmental law as being a big issue in the future, says Thrailkill, who sees an overall commitment at Boalt to strengthen the environmental law program. The upcoming changes are "exciting," even though she too will graduate before being able to take advantage of them.

Despite the lack of a clinic, Stanfield feels extremely well prepared by Boalt's program, with a good foundation to go out and practice environmental law. In addition to following the specific certificate curriculum, Stanfield is an articles editor at Boalt's Ecology Law Quarterly, a highly regarded publication. Also, the school helped her to connect with summer jobs, giving her a wide range of experience in the environmental law specialty.

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For the summer after her first year, Stanfield went to Thailand, working for EarthRights International and doing research on the environmental legal aspects of the Alien Tort Claims Act. The organization has a project in nearby Burma (Myanmar) focusing on factory pollution and its effects on local people.

Last summer, Stanfield worked at the law firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, San Francisco. The firm represents nonprofit environmental organizations, such as the Sierra Club, as well as public agencies, such as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The firm has its summer clerks work for a short time in several areas of the firm, says Stanfield, who did some work on cases involving takings litigation and work on the California Environmental Quality Act.

One legal issue in the Lake Tahoe region illustrates the environmental law specialty well, Stanfield explains. A temporary moratorium was put on development on Lake Tahoe to give the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency time to decide on a land-use plan for the area. Real estate owners sued, saying that they should be able to build or be compensated by the government. The United States Supreme Court Ruled on April 23, 2002 (Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council, Inc., et al. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency et al), that no compensation was necessary. Because the moratorium was temporary, it was not "takings of property" under the Takings Clause. Americans have "a rich sense of their property rights," notes Stanfield.

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After graduation, Stanfield hopes to work with an environmental nonprofit or a law firm that works with them. With a particular interest in air pollution and climate change issues, Stanfield hopes to one day do international law. It will be "good to build up some expertise," she says, before setting out for other shores.

published April 13, 2023

( 13 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.