Conferences & Roundtables

PLEE Conference: Can Government be Green?
A Panel Discussion: Hosted by the Program on Law, Environment and Economy (PLEE)
University of Pennsylvania Law School
3400 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Date: September 25, 2009
Time: 8:45 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Location: Morning sessions Gittis 2; Lunch and afternoon sessions Gittis 213

Conference Video

The recent multibillion dollar stimulus package proposed by the Administration, passed by Congress and signed by the President (the “American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009”) has been widely promoted as simultaneously accomplishing both economic recovery and environmental progress and protection. The vast expansion in the federal state brought about by the stimulus package and other recent federal regulatory proposals, however, seems at first thought to be inconsistent with environmental protection. After all, what was in some sense the first federal environmental law of the Environmentalist era of the 1970’s – the National Environmental Policy Act – was designed to control the massively harmful consequences of the post World War II expansion in federally funded infrastructure development. Justified primarily by the theory that government spending can enable the U.S. to recover from the Depression of 2008, the recent increase and redirection in federal infrastructure – to the tune of $100 billion -- has also been justified on the ground that it is time for the federal government to intervene to fundamentally change the environmental impact of the American economy.

This new era of an activist federal state raises a host of interesting and novel issues that may well come to comprise the forefront of environmental and natural resource policy and scholarship. By stimulating lively and informed debate among participants with contrasting backgrounds and perspectives from both academia and government, the proposed Panel Discussion program is intended to begin the discussion of these issues, to identify core areas for future research, and thus to set the stage for future conferences and scholarship.

Program Details:

8:45-10:15 a.m.	Gittis 2 Historical Context: Government and the Environment Panelists: Martin Doyle, University of North Carolina Robert Fishman, University of Michigan Michael Grunwald, Time Magazine
10:15-10:30 a.m.	Break
10:30-12:30 p.m.	Gittis 2 Green Energy and Alternatives: Environmental and Economic Impacts Panelists: Tom Bogart, York College Mary Hutzler, Institute for Energy Research Helen McDade, John Muir Trust, Scotland • Overview of the Scottish System of Natural Resource Conservation and Use Richard Schuler, Cornell Sabrina Spatari, Drexel
12:30-12:45 p.m.	Break Room change: Gittis 213 is on the 2nd floor of Gittis hall, you can use the elevator or the stairs
12:45-1:30 p.m.	Gittis 213 Working Lunch: NGO Perspectives Brent Blackwelder, former President, Friends of the Earth Helen McDade, Director of Policy, John Muir Trust, Scotland
1:30-1:40 p.m.	Break
1:40 – 3:30 p.m.	Today's Environmental Law Meets (Tomorrow's) Industrial Scale Renewables Panelists: Maureen Brennan, Baker Hostetler David Buente, Sidley Austin Donald Carr, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman Alexandra Kass, University of Minnesota
3:30 – 3:45 p.m.	Break
3:45 – 5:30 p.m.	Gittis 213 Envisioning the Future: Does Expanded Government Involvement in Markets Require a New Model for Environmental and Natural Resource Law? Panelists: Jamison Colburn, Penn State University Frances Dubrowski, Law Office of Frances Dubrowski David Schoenbrod, New York Law School Katrina Wyman, New York University School of Law

This program has been approved for 7 substantive CLE credits for Pennsylvania lawyers. Credit is available in other jurisdictions upon request. If you are interested in CLE credit for this event, you must bring a separate check in the amount of $70 to the event. The check should be payable to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.