For law school students worried about their futures in a tough job market, the Center for Climate Change Law at the Columbia University School of Law may be a ray of hope.
The program, which works in collaboration with Columbia’s Earth Institute, was launched in January 2009 with the goal of developing and circulating legal techniques to address climate change.
Since then, the CCCL has sparked great interest among students as the demand for lawyers who specialize in environmental issues increases.
According to professor Michael Gerrard, director of the CCCL, “Climate change has emerged as the most important environmental issue of the decade and the next several decades. Young people understand that the quality of the planet on which they will spend the rest of their lives will be heavily affected by what happens now.”
In addition to serving as director of the program, Gerrard teaches four courses related to environmental law, which have been met with enthusiastic interest. “When I first signed on to teach, the registrar wanted to give me a classroom that would accommodate 25 people. We might have more people than that sign-up. We ended up with 60 people showing up,” he said.
And regardless of specialization, students are realizing that environmental law would be applicable in whatever field they choose to study.
“I think this is a great place for future lawyers to go because environmental issues are so pressing and important,” Steven Wu, Law ’10, said. “Based on my experience, students who are interested in environmental law tend to approach it from a corporate perspective. I think it’s great that that center provides a public service perspective.”
The CCCL reaches out to the public by hosting a variety of debates, panel discussions, and conferences regarding current environmental issues. The most recent event, a three-way debate featuring professional lawyers discussing the American Clean Energy and Security Act, proved to be immensely popular—with 300 people filling a room meant for only 160. Next up will be a panel discussion on Oct. 3 about the conflicts between India and the United States regarding the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Gerrard believes that multidisciplinary offerings in conjunction with the Columbia Business School, the School of International and Public Affairs, and science departments throughout Columbia are the keys to future growth of the CCCL.
With rising demands for energy and the decreasing availability of resources, the need for renewable energy will rise over the next few decades—which, Gerrard said, “will lead to a great deal of work for lawyers in areas such as finance, contracting, permitting, intellectual property, real estate, and other areas.”
COMMENTS
Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comment policy