Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources

Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems Committee

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

Joseph A. Siegel
[siegel.joseph@epamail.epa.gov]

Section Sponsored Resolutions

February 11, 2008, Los Angeles
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.

EPA Releases Federal Register Notice Denying California Waiver Petition

On February 29, 2008, EPA released its official notice denying California's petition for a waiver under section 209 of the Clean Air Act to allow California to have greenhouse gas emission standards for new motor vehicles. EPA had previously announced in December its intention to deny the petition. Today's notice is the official denial and sets forth EPA's rationale. The Federal Register notice, as well as other documents relating to California's waiver petition, can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/ca-waiver.htm.

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 approximately bi-weekly. We will also begin sending periodic e-mails on sustainable development 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 one of our Technology Vice Chairs, Mary Ellen Ternes and Toni Flora Mihalic.

2. Programs and Public Service

a. Climate Change – The Committee will host eight national Quick Teleconferences on climate change throughout the 2007-2008 year. Topics will include climate science and technology, issues in federal climate change legislation, state and local climate change developments, carbon sequestration, climate change ethics and justice, and carbon finance. We will also hold our 3rd Annual Legal Dimensions of Climate Change conference in Washington D.C. and will be working on a program to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through voluntary offsets. We also plan to launch a law firm greenhouse gas reduction contest and 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, Kyle Davis, Kristin Grenfell, and Chris Carr, or our Programs and Public Service Vice Chairs, Frank B. Friedman, Kyle Danish, John Clancy, and Adam Orford.

b. Sustainable Development – The Committee has drafted a Sustainable Law Policy and Guidelines that is currently being piloted by several law offices. If your office would like to participate in the pilot, contact Bill Blackburn. We also plan to participate in planning a broad multi-disciplinary event on national sustainability policy and explore partnerships with other organizations on sustainability-oriented collaborative governance models. In addition, we will also compile and communicate a list of sustainability-oriented certifications that may be relevant to law firms. 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 and Ira Feldman, or our Programs and Public Service Vice Chairs, Frank B. Friedman, Kyle Danish, John Clancy, and Adam Orford.

c. Ecosystems – The Committee plans to organize brown bag conferences on ecosystem services. One such conference will be on international policy and ecosystem services. The other will be on state, local and private mechanisms for biodiversity conservation, focusing in particular on monetizing and recognizing ecosystems services. For more information on these programs or if you have suggestions for other programs and public service activities, contact our Ecosystems Vice Chairs, Robert McKinstry and Richard J. Blaustein or our Programs and Public Service Vice Chairs, Frank B. Friedman, Kyle Danish, John Clancy, and Adam Orford.

3. Committee Newsletter – The Committee plans to publish four quarterly newsletters during the coming year. Each newsletter will contain articles covering all three subject areas of the Committee and will provide updates on each area. 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, Seema Kakade and Gabriel Calvo.

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, a "highlights" page with materials from our conferences and teleconferences, and links to other helpful Web sites. This year we will be adding, under “links,” important legal documents in the field of climate change as well as links for significant developments in sustainability and ecosystems law and policy. 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 questions regarding its content, please contact our Technology Vice Chairs, Mary Ellen Ternes and Toni Flora Mihalic.

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. This year, in recognition of the importance that climate change, sustainable development, and ecosystems will have for future generations, we will also be conducting additional outreach to law students and National Association of Environmental Law Societies organizations. If you have ideas about how we can best serve our current members or how to recruit new members, contact our Membership Vice Chair, Dan Worth.

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