Environmental Law & Justice Clinic

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News

ELJC Produces White Paper on Cumulative Air Pollution in the Bay Area

The Clinic recently carried out a critical review of air pollution control programs in the Bay Area and agency efforts to address cumulative air pollution issues in more highly polluted parts of the region. Our review and findings are presented in a white paper entitled, Zones of Inequity, Cumulative Air Pollution and Hot Spots in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Download Zones of Inequity.pdf

US EPA Presents 2009 Environmental Award to Environmental Law and Justice Clinic

On April 16, the US Environmental Protection Agency's Pacific Southwest Region (Region 9) presented the 2009 Environmental Award for Outstanding Achievement to the ELJC. Read the press release. or visit the EPA website.

ELJC Works to Fight Climate Change

Global warming is an environmental problem that will give rise to significant environmental injustices, both in the US and around the world. As part of our work to prevent climate change, the Clinic is representing prominent climate scientists who are amici curiae (friends of the court) in California v. US Environmental Protection Agency, a case before the federal appellate court for the District of Columbia. In this case, California has challenged EPA's decision to bar the state from regulating motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. (Read the Amici Brief.pdf)

The Clinic also recently submitted a comment letter on behalf of several Bay Area clients which calls on the US EPA to look more closely at environmental justice impacts when it regulates greenhouse gases. The letter advocates against trading greenhouse gases. (Read ELJC's Greenhouse Gas Letter.pdf)

US Department of Justice Honors Visiting Professor Deborah Behles for Environmental Litigation Work

Deborah Behles, a former trial attorney at the US Department of Justice who is now a visiting assistant professor with the Golden Gate Environmental Law & Justice Clinic, has received the Department of Justice's John Marshall Award for her team work on a case against a coal-fired power plant that resulted in the largest single environmental settlement in US history. The award will be presented at a Department of Justice Awards Ceremony in October. Behles earned a Gold Medal from the US Environmental Protection Agency for the same work earlier this year.

Helen Kang Discusses Environmental Law and Justice Clinic on NBC

View an interview with Clinic Director Helen Kang on the NBC 11 TV program Bay Area Vista at http://www.nbc11.com/video/15939955/index.html.

Clinic Achieves Victory for Residents in Hinkley, California

Student clinicians and attorneys with the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic (ELJC) won a major victory on behalf of residents in rural Hinkley, California, the town depicted in the film Erin Brockovich. In a case before San Bernardino Superior Court, the ELJC and co-counsel Caroline Farrell (JD 76) and Ingrid Brostrom with the Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment successfully argued that the county should have analyzed the option of an enclosed composting facility for fermenting waste, including human waste, before approving an open-air facility with potentially harmful impacts to air quality and wildlife. Read clients' press release.pdf

Clinic Scientist Appointed to Cal EPA Environmental Advisory Committee

ELJC's environmental scientist, Ken Kloc, was appointed to the California Environmental Protection Agency's Cumulative Impacts and Precautionary Approaches Work Group. The work group will assist Cal EPA in developing policies to address the health risks of multi-media exposures to chemical and other environmental hazards.

Read Environmental Law Programs Brochure.pdf

Read spring 2008 edition of GGU Environmental Law News

IN MEMORIAM

Luke Cole died in a car accident on June 6, 2009, while in Uganda on a sabbatical. The Environmental Law and Justice Clinic lost a friend, supporter, colleague, scholar, and mentor. We deeply mourn with his family and friends this incalculable loss. Luke's connection to the Clinic and to the Environmental Law Program was special. On the 20th anniversary of the Warren County protests, Luke co-authored with Dollie Burwell an article on the subject, "Environmental Justice Comes Full Circle," 1 Golden Gate Env'tl Law J. (Summer 2007). The article was a centerpiece of the inaugural edition of the Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal. Luke was also co-counsel to the Clinic, and our students studied his scholarship advocating for "lawyers on tap," not lawyers on top. The Center on Race Poverty & the Environment, which Luke founded, has more information about memorial services.