On The Environment

Climate change is fundamentally about people. In California, environmental justice activists have galvanized around human impacts of climate action—such as air pollution, poverty alleviation, and green jobs—to build a policy response that focuses on local communities and public health. Dr. Michael Méndez, assistant professor of environmental planning and policy at the University of California, Irvine, … Continue reading Michael Méndez: Climate Policy and the Environmental Justice Movement →

U.S. financial regulators lag behind other countries in requiring corporations to disclose their financial risks from climate change. Hana Vizcarra, staff attorney at Harvard Law School's Environmental & Energy Law Program, joins Charles Harper (YSE '22) to discuss the financial sector, climate risk disclosure, and how courts and President Biden's SEC can improve climate reporting. … Continue reading Hana Vizcarra: Climate Risk and Wall Street →

Aisha Saad, a Fellow of the Program on Corporate Governance at Harvard Law School, joins Jhena Vigrass (YSE '22) to discuss the current challenges of corporate sustainability reporting and investing in ESG funds. Aisha contributed to the recently released book, Values at Work: Sustainable Investing and ESG Reporting, which explores how companies and investors can … Continue reading Aisha Saad: Improving Corporate Sustainability Reporting →

Sue Biniaz, a lecturer at Yale Law School and former lead climate lawyer for the U.S. State Department, joins Jhena Vigrass (YSE '22) and Charles Harper (YSE '22) to discuss what might lie in store for the Paris Agreement and international climate cooperation after the U.S. election in November.

Tatiana Schlossberg, an award-winning journalist and author of Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have, joins Jhena Vigrass (YSE '22) and Charles Harper (YSE '22) to talk about individual consumption and action on climate change.

Amanda Maxwell, Director of the Latin America Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, recently spoke with Alix Kashdan (FES '20). Amanda discussed sustainable capital for Latin America, climate change challenges in the region, and challenges and opportunities in North American trade.

Kelly Levin, senior associate with World Resources Institute's global climate program, spoke with Alix Kashdan (FES '20) and Liz Bourguet (FES '20) during the Yale Carbon Removal Symposium about carbon removal, global climate policy, and her work at World Resources Institute.

Barry Hill, a visiting scholar at the Environmental Law Institute and an adjunct professor of law at Vermont Law School – as well as the former Director of the Office of Environmental Justice at the EPA – joins Alix Kashdan (FES ‘20) and Liz Bourguet (FES ‘20) to talk about the constitutional right to a … Continue reading Barry Hill: The Constitutional Right to a Healthy Environment →

Thomas Lovejoy, university professor in the Environmental Science and Policy department at George Mason University and dedicated conservation biologist, joins Alix Kashdan (FES '20) and Liz Bourguet (FES '20) to talk about the importance of biodiversity in the face of climate change.

Katie Dykes, the Commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, joins Alix Kashdan (FES '20) and Liz Bourguet (FES '20) during the Yale Environmental Dialogue to talk about her new role as Commissioner, including her energy goals for the state and what she is most excited to work on.

William K Reilly, former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, joins Liz Bourguet (FES '20) and Alix Kashdan (FES '20) to speak about the federal government and why he's hopeful about climate change.

Paul Rink, a joint degree student at Yale Law School and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and former summer law clerk at Our Children's Trust, joins Liz Bourguet (FES '20) and Alix Kashdan (FES '20) to speak about Juliana v United States, the landmark youth climate lawsuit organized by Our Children's Trust.

Bridget Burns, Director of the Women's Environment and Development Organization, and Emilia Reyes, Coordinator of Gender Policies and Budgets at Equidad de Género, speak about the intersection of gender and climate change, their roles in international climate change negotiations, and what they expect at this year's U.N. Conference of Parties in Katowice, Poland. They were … Continue reading Bridget Burns and Emilia Reyes: The Intersection of Gender and International Climate Policy →

James Cameron, former climate change negotiator and advisor to the Presidencies of two UN climate conferences, spoke with Alix Kashdan (FES ‘20) and Liz Bourguet (FES ‘20) about his history working on climate negotiations and what he anticipates for the future of climate policy.

Laurent Fabius, President of the French Constitutional Council, visited Yale in September 2018. Alix Kashdan (FES ‘20) spoke with President Fabius about several issues facing global environmental law today, including his vision to strengthen the legal links between national climate pledges and climate action.

Diane Strauss, Program Director of the Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance, joins Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy Research Assistant Laura Brush to discuss the Initiative's work to further research on collaborative approaches to innovation in sustainable finance. Diane describes the challenges companies face related to sustainability demands of investors, environment, social, and governance … Continue reading A Conversation with Diane Strauss from the Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance →

The 2018 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks 180 countries on 24 performance indicators across ten issue categories covering environmental health and ecosystem vitality. These metrics provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy goals. The EPI thus offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental … Continue reading 20th Anniversary of the Environmental Performance Index →

YCELP Communications Research Assistant Lucy Kessler sits down with Rod Richardson, President of the Grace Richardson Fund, to discuss Clean Energy Tax Cuts and other market-driven solutions to pressing public policy challenges.

Professor Daniel C. Esty sits down with YCELP Research Assistant Lucy Kessler to discuss his new law review article and his argument for a 21st century approach to environmental law that builds on the successes of the 20th century command-and-control approach but integrates advances in data and information and incorporates lessons learned from the private … Continue reading Red Lights to Green Lights: From 20th Century Environmental Regulation to 21st Century Sustainability →

Attorney Arden Shenker joins Yale Law School student Conor Dwyer Reynolds in the studio to discuss the power of private lawsuits in public environmental policy, with a specific focus on the 1963 case Renken v. Harvey Aluminum.

James Cameron, Executive Fellow with the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and partner at Systemiq, joins Lucy Kessler, a student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, for a conversation about clean energy finance, the private sector's role in addressing climate change, and why he is optimistic about the 2015 Paris … Continue reading Conversation with James Cameron →

Former EPA deputy administrator and guest lecturer in the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Bob Sussman joins Emma Crow-Willard to discuss the Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan is the first federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generating power plants. The plan will help the United States meet its Paris … Continue reading A Conversation with Robert Sussman →

Whether locating wire snares in Africa or dyer's woad in the western United States, dogs are helping conservationists monitor wildlife and eradicate invasive species. In this podcast, Megan Parker, executive director and co-founder of Working Dogs for Conservation, visits with invasion biologist and Yale postdoc Sara Kuebbing about the organization, the dogs, and the dog/handler … Continue reading Fighting Invasives: Working Dogs for Conservation →

Former New Jersey Governor and US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman joins Stephanie Ratte, a student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, for a conversation about the role of nuclear energy after the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Liz Barratt-Brown, Senior Advisor to NRDC & Executive Committee member of the Yale Law School, and Advisory Board Member of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy joins Catherine Martini for a conversation about Barratt-Brown's career working on the Toxic Release Inventory, the Keystone XL Pipeline, international climate negotiations, and organic olive oil farming … Continue reading The Keystone XL Pipeline in a Post-COP21 World: A Conversation with Liz Barratt-Brown →

Deborah Goldberg, the managing attorney for the Northeast office of Earthjustice sits down with Melissa Legge to discuss environmental litigation, climate change, environmental justice, and the unusual twists and turns of her own career from academic to litigator.

Dr. Patty Limerick, Faculty Director and Chair of the Board of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado Boulder and professor of environmental studies and history, joins Stephanie Ratte, a student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, for a conversation about the importance of history for understanding environmental … Continue reading The Significance of the Bureaucrat in Western American History: Hair-Raising Tales from the Department of the Interior →

Eugene Rusyn, YLS '17, sits down in the studio with Professor Jim Grijalva to discuss environmental law on Indian lands. Professor Grijalva is an expert in federal Indian law, environmental law, and environmental justice and is the director of the Tribal Environmental Law Project at the University of North Dakota School of Law.

Jennifer McIvor, Vice President of Environmental at MidAmerican Energy speaks with Becky Gallagher about the various environmental issues that energy companies face. While climate change dominates the conversation, companies like MidAmerican are also working to clean up water, protect endangered species, and otherwise coordinate energy production with environmental protection.

Edan Rotenberg, a partner at the Super Law Group, joins Joya Sonnenfeldt a dual degree student at Yale Law School and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies for a conversation about protecting the environment through private environmental law practice. Edan tells Joya about the type of work he does, what drives him, and … Continue reading Public Environmental Law in Private Practice: A Conversation with Edan Rotenberg →

Abbie Dillen, Vice President of Litigation for Climate and Energy at Earthjustice joins Melissa Legge in the studio to discuss public interest environmental litigation as a tool to make broader changes in environmental governance in the public and private sectors.

Frances Beinecke joins Melissa Legge of Yale Law School and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies for a conversation about the past, present, and future of the environmental movement. Frances has been involved in environmentalism for 40 years, all of that with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). This past year she retired from … Continue reading 40 Years of Environmental Leadership: An Interview with Frances Beinecke →

Francesca Koe, a communications specialist, joins Josh Galperin in the studio to talk about strategic environmental communications. Francesca is the former Director of Campaigns and Strategic Initiatives at the Natural Resources Defense Council where she continues to consult for NRDC's Climate Center and Center for Policy Advocacy. Francesca is also on the steering committee and … Continue reading Strategic Environmental Communications: A Conversation with Francesca Koe →

Hans Bruyninckx, the Executive Director of the European Environment Agency, discusses his work toward a low carbon economy in Europe. He explores the upcoming UNFCCC meeting in Paris, and considers the role of Europe in climate change policy.

Lisa Dale, the new associate director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy talks to Josh Galperin, the outgoing associate director, about her new role, experience, and vision for the Center.

Dr. Per Espen Stoknes discusses the misunderstood science of climate psychology and overcoming psychological barriers so we can act meaningfully together to build bottom-up support for climate policy. His new book is What We Think About When We Try Not to Think About Global Warming: Toward a New Psychology of Climate Action. Dr. Stoknes is … Continue reading Toward a New Pyschology of Climate Action: A Conversation with Per Espen Stoknes →

Christine Klein, the Chesterfield Smith Professor of at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Sandra Zellmer, the Robert Daugherty Professor at the University of Nebraska Law College, discuss the environmental and social implications of decades of American engineering along the Mississippi River. In 2014, they wrote the book Mississippi River Tragedies: A … Continue reading Finding Agency Through Humility: Authors Zellmer and Klein Discuss Unnatural Disasters and American Law →

Kate Gordon leads the Energy & Climate team at Next Generation. In this episode, she talks about the promising signs of change in US climate and energy policy, with a special focus on the innovations emerging from California. There's increasing public and private investment in transforming California's economy, which is now the world's eighth largest, … Continue reading Opportunity in Risk: Kate Gordon on California's Environmental Policy Innovation →

In this episode, Matt Hoffman, a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, talks about potential routes toward decarbonization, the process of weaning societies from fossil fuels. His work suggests that the role of international climate negotiations in the future may be different than what we've come to expect—they may … Continue reading A Way to the Good Life: Political Scientist Matt Hoffman Discusses Decarbonization and Climate Negotiation →

In this episode Glenn Hurowitz speaks on his pathbreaking work in eliminating both environmental and social injustices that pervade the world's biggest, most entrenched agricultural supply chains. Glenn is the managing director of Climate Advisors where he has taken the international lead on ending deforestation for commodity agriculture. In the last year, Glenn has played … Continue reading Bringing the Giants to the Table: Glenn Hurowitz Speaks on Deforestation and Agricultural Supply Chains →

In this episode Oriana Persico and Salvatore Iaconesi, both teachers of digital design at La Sapienza University of Rome, discuss what the near future is, how they study it, and what implications of designing the near future has for natural resource companies such as Shell. They help listeners envision the possibilities of a collaborative and … Continue reading “The Future is Performance”: A Conversation with Artist, Engineer, Writing Duo Salvatore Iaconesi and Oriana Persico →

In this podcast Mathias Risse, professor of philosophy and public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, discusses his recent paper, “The Human Right to Water and Common Ownership of the Earth” which posits that humanity's shared possession of our planet provides a philosophical foundation for a right to water and sanitation.

In this podcast, Christopher Sawyer — a partner with Alston & Bird, a law firm specializing in corporate governance, real estate and conservation law — discusses the body of skills necessary to transform ideas into a lasting positive community reality.

In this episode, Rafay Alam, an environmental lawyer and activist in Lahore, Pakistan, speaks about the social and economic challenges the government faces in addressing endemic environmental issues. Much of the conversation revolves around problems with poverty and access to natural resources, and how Pakistan's national identity is defined by the Indus River. Rafay also … Continue reading Protecting Pakistan: A Conversation with Environmental Lawyer and Activist Rafay Alam →

In this podcast Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), discusses agriculture — both NRDC's work on the issue and his own experiences as a coffee and sugar cane grower in Costa Rica — high-impact climate litigation, and career planning.

The start date for what scientists call the Anthropocene – the era in which human activities begin to have a significant global impact on Earth's ecosystems – varies widely. Some researchers point to the industrial revolution, others look much further back. In this podcast Jed Kaplan, of the Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of … Continue reading From Forest to Farmland and Moraine to Meadow: When did the Anthropocene Begin? →

In this podcast WWF's Dekila Chungyalpa, discusses the organization's Sacred Earth program, which engages religious leaders and faith communities as stakeholders in the organization's work. Religious leaders, Chungyalpa says, have long been the missing piece of conservation. Scientists often want to distance themselves from religion, or from addressing the moral and ethical questions inherent in … Continue reading Sacred Earth: a Conversation with Dekila Chungyalpa →

In this podcast, Whendee Silver, Yale F&ES '97 (PhD) and professor of ecosystem ecology at U.C. Berkeley, outlines how the use of composted organic material (agricultural and green waste) on rangeland soils can increase carbon storage and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

In this podcast Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies and founding president of the Central Park Conservancy, discusses her work as a landscape design historian and a writer examining the cultural meaning of place.

In this podcast Yale World Fellow Alexander Verbeek, strategic policy advisory on global issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, discusses how to build an robust social network — and how to use it effectively to communicate key issues and build a global community.

In this podcast Yale World Fellow Alexander Verbeek, strategic policy advisory on global issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, discusses how we might address some of the most critical environmental issues with an integrated approach that has governments working together with industry, civil society, and think tanks.