Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources

Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems Committee

2008-2009 Committee Co-Chairs:
William R. Blackburn
[WRB@wblackburnconsulting.com]

Committee Awards

This Committee was recognized with the following awards within the Environmental Committees. (more)

• 2007-2008 Best Overall Section Committee
• 2007-2008 Best Overall Award
• 2007-2008 Best Public Service Award

Section Sponsored Resolutions

Urges U.S. Government to Take an Active Role in Addressing Climate Change
Urges the United States government to take a leadership role in addressing the issue of climate change through legal, policy, financial and educational mechanisms and to engage in active international discussions to address climate change, and urges Congress to enact and the President to sign appropriate climate change legislation.

Ecosystems
Urges federal, state, territorial and tribal governments, when considering and approving legislation, regulations and policies, to preserve and enhance the benefits that people derive from ecosystems, with due regard for economic, human and social impacts.

About the Committee

The unique scope of the Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems Committee focuses on three interrelated topics of increasing importance at the international and domestic levels. The Committee is long-established as the leading forum for those engaged in the regulatory and legal aspects of climate change. The Committee is also leading the Section-wide effort to raise awareness of sustainability concepts and to integrate sustainability thinking across all environmental practice areas. Finally, the Committee works with other Section Committees to explore ecosystem-based approaches to environmental protection and regulation.

Our members represent a cross-section of stakeholders involved in the fields of climate change, sustainability, and ecosystems and many are leaders in their field. As a result, we have a very dynamic Committee with a great deal of activity. We welcome the participation of new members and collaboration with other Committees and organizations. Our membership has continued to quickly grow over the past few years, reflecting the increasing public recognition of the importance of these issues.

Message from the Chairs

Welcome to the homepage of the Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems Committee. As Co-Chairs of the Committee, our goal is to make the Committee a premier source of information and forum for discussion on the law and policy of climate change, sustainable development, and ecosystems. The coming year will be a very exciting one in these fields and our Committee will continue to be on the forefront of new developments. Here are some of the projects we will be working on this year:

1. E-mail Updates – The Committee will continue sending “Climate News” updates to our members via our list-serve as well as periodic e-mails on sustainable development and ecosystems news items. We hope this will keep our members abreast of recent developments in the field. If you have an update you would like to share with Committee members, or if you have any comments on the e-mail updates, please e-mail our Technology Vice Chair, Adam Orford.

2. Programs and Public Service

a. Climate Change – The Committee will build on the success of last year’s national Quick Teleconference series on climate change with eight new Quick Teleconferences during the 2008-2009 ABA year. Topics will include the Presidential candidate’s positions on climate change, NEPA and climate change, the changing landscape of environmental practice in light of climate change, update on state and regional climate action, the developing structure of a post-Kyoto agreement and the Poland Conference of the Parties, legislative developments in the new Congress, land use and transportation initiatives on climate change, and the new Administration’s approach to climate change under the Clean Air Act. We are also planning a western states climate change event, a spring conference on climate change, and will collaborate with AIChE on a climate change conference. We will continue to develop an ABA program to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through voluntary offsets. We will also collaborate with other Committees on a variety of projects involving, among other things, U.S./Canada carbon trading, and local government climate action plans. We will continue to encourage law offices to participate in the ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Challenge. This Law Office Climate Challenge helps law offices reduce their greenhouse gas footprint through paper waste minimization, green power purchasing, and EPA’s Energy Star program. For more information on these programs or if you have suggestions for other climate change programs and public service activities, contact our Climate Vice Chairs, Christopher Carr, Kyle L. Davis, and Ross A. Macfarlane, or our Programs and Public Service Vice Chairs, John Clancy, Frank B. Friedman, Martin A. Spitzer, and Mary Ellen Ternes. For international climate change inquiries, contact Donald A. Brown and Jeffrey B. Gracer.

b. Sustainable Development – The Committee will expand the adoption of the Model Sustainable Law Policy and Guidelines, piloted last year at several firms, by actively promoting it with law offices during the ‘08/’09 ABA year and developing best practices. If your office would like to consider adopting the Policy and Guidelines, explore the links on this web page and/or contact Thomas C. Jensen or Bill Blackburn. We will also adapt the policy this year for law schools and encourage them to engage in sustainable practices. We will develop a legal/policy paper on national sustainability policies and guidelines for the U.S. In addition, we are planning a Quick Teleconference on sustainable cities, will explore partnering with professional architecture organizations on a green building initiative, and plan to participate in a broad multi-disciplinary event on national sustainability policy. For more information on these programs or if you have suggestions for other programs and public service activities, contact our Sustainable Development Vice Chairs, John Dernbach, Thomas P. Redick, and Saulius K Mikalonis , or our Programs and Public Service Vice Chairs, John Clancy, Frank B. Friedman, Martin A. Spitzer, and Mary Ellen Ternes.

c. Ecosystems – The Committee plans to organize an event or work product around the forthcoming EPA ecosystems valuation report, hold a Quick Teleconference or other program on ecosystems payments for reducing deforestation, and cosponsor a conference on ecosystems services. We also plan to host a Quick Teleconference or brown bag on climate change impacts on ecosystems and associated adaptation mechanisms. We will also undertake projects to implement the ABA resolution on ecosystems. For more information on these programs or if you have suggestions for other programs and public service activities, contact our Ecosystems Vice Chairs, Ira Feldman and Robert B. McKinstry, Jr. or our Programs and Public Service Vice Chairs, John Clancy, Frank B. Friedman, Martin A. Spitzer, and Mary Ellen Ternes..

3. Committee Newsletter – The Committee plans to publish four quarterly newsletters during the coming year. We will collaborate with other Committees on two of the newsletters. Our first issue will be a joint publication, with the ADR Committee, on climate change and environmental conflict resolution. Our other newsletters will contain articles covering all three subject areas of the Committee. The newsletter is an excellent opportunity to remain informed on legal and policy developments on climate change, sustainability, and ecosystems. If you are interested in submitting an article or have an idea you would like to discuss, please contact our Newsletter Vice Chairs, Gabriel Calvo and Alan S. Miller.

4. The Year In Review - Each year, the Committee contributes a section on climate change, sustainable development, and ecosystems to the ABA SEER The Year in Review. This publication provides an excellent summary of the most significant events in the field. If you are interested in working on The Year in Review for our Committee, please contact our The Year in Review Vice Chair, Marianne Tyrrell.

5. Web Page – Please take some time to explore the links listed in the right navigation of this page, which will take you to our latest newsletters, information about our Sustainable Law Office Policy, an events archive page with materials from our conferences and teleconferences, and links to other helpful Web sites. The Committee will continue to enhance this Web site to give our members access to the most current and emerging issues, to communicate to our members about Committee activities, and to host dialogue discussion. To contribute to the Web page or if you have ideas for improving its content, please contact our Technology Vice Chair, Adam Orford.

6. Membership – The Committee is always looking for new ways to serve its existing members, ensure that both new and long-term members have an opportunity to become involved in Committee activities, and attract new members and ensure diversity in our Committee. We welcome new members and will continue our efforts to recruit interested attorneys, policy-makers, consultants and engineers to our Committee. In recognition of the importance that climate change, sustainable development, and ecosystems will have for future generations, we will continue our outreach to law students, National Association of Environmental Law Societies organizations, and young lawyers. If you have ideas about how we can best serve our current members or how to recruit new members, contact our Membership Vice Chairs, Dan Worth and Norman A. Dupont.

Interested in joining? If you are already a member of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Ecosystems, you may select the Committee on Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems, as one of your five committee memberships and join without any increase in your ABA dues. If you are not a member of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, and you are interested in joining, read about the benefits of membership. You can become a member of the ABA Section electronically at this link and select the Committee on Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems as one of your committees.

We encourage you to become actively involved in the Committee and welcome you to enjoy the benefits of Committee membership outlined above. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions about the activities of the Committee, would like to become more involved with the projects we plan to undertake this year, or if you are interested in initiating a project not listed above.

Bill Blackburn and Joe Siegel