GW Environmental and Energy Law – Page 2

October 23, 2023December 19, 2023

The 2023 Earth Law Symposium and the Road Ahead

Participants in the 2023 Earth Law Symposium

By Johanna Adashek

At the intersection of people and the planet, Earth Law is a broad term encompassing the rights to a healthy environment, rights of nature, Indigenous rights, rights to future generations, and much more. Earth law is foundational in its emphasis on interdependency among Earth’s systems and its recognition that humans also flourish when the Earth can flourish. Earth law takes an ecocentric view, recognizing the inherent importance of protecting the Earth for the sake of the Earth itself. GW Law’s Environmental and Energy Law Program is proud to have co-hosted the 2023 Earth Law Symposium with the Earth Law Center, where experts, leaders, academics, and practitioners discussed and analyzed shortcomings and advancements in current statutes, regulations, legal systems, and governance strategies to protect our fragile planet and its vulnerable communities.

October 2, 2023October 4, 2023

Fast Fashion: Polluting our Water Millions of Clothing Items at a Time

By Vanessa Turk

What is fast fashion and why is it a problem?

“Fast fashion” refers to the business model of mass-producing replicas of the latest clothing trends and designs at a low cost and selling them rapidly in stores while the demand is at its highest. This objective of helping consumers acquire the latest in fashion trends comes at a huge environmental price, however. Overconsumption of water and water pollution are two of the most concerning forms of environmental harm that fast fashion imposes on the environment. These impacts from fast fashion need to be addressed effectively and quickly through new accountability mechanisms and possible systemic changes in the fast fashion industry.

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Overburdened and Underserved Communities in The District of Columbia

By Tim Nau

The transportation sector was responsible for the largest share of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 (28%). Promoting electric vehicles (“EV”) on the nation’s streets has been an important element of the United States’ strategy for meeting its ambitious goal of achieving a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

Taking into consideration overburdened and underserved communities creates an important yet often undervalued perspective. This post will address the benefits of promoting equitable deployment of EV charging infrastructure in these communities in the District of Columbia (“DC” or the “District”) as well as the challenges associated with it, and present what has been done so far.

September 8, 2023September 8, 2023

The St. Elizabeths Microgrid: The District’s Newest Microgrid Project Strives to Strengthen Community Resilience

By Faren Bartholomew

A new microgrid is potentially coming to Ward 8 in Washington, D.C. In April 2022, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funded the new St. Elizabeths microgrid, a project that intends to bolster community resilience by maintaining power at several critical locations in Ward 8 in the event of an outage. FEMA awarded several D.C. agencies $20 million to construct the microgrid through its new Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program (BRIC), designed to fund projects that lower the risks and mitigate the impacts of disasters on communities. The BRIC grant program outlines its guiding principles as “supporting communities through capability- and capacity-building; encouraging and enabling innovation; promoting partnerships; enabling large projects; maintaining flexibility; and providing consistency.” In fiscal year 2020, when BRIC selected St. Elizabeths to receive funding, BRIC had $500 million in available program funding. For fiscal year 2021, BRIC’s program funding doubled, with $1 billion in available funding to distribute to selected resiliency projects for states, territories, and tribes.

August 25, 2023September 25, 2023

Microgrids: Community-Based Electricity for a More Equitable Energy Future

By Meghan Briggs

In 2022, electricity costs in the United States rose by 14.3% for the average consumer compared to 2021. Power outages due to severe weather have doubled since 2002, causing extended losses of electricity and endangering lives. In the absence of affordable cooling, heatwaves threaten the lives of the most vulnerable in our society. Microgrids, among other emerging energy technologies, can help make the U.S. energy grid more resilient and reliable in the face of these challenges. If implemented in a way that centers energy equity and justice, microgrids can also help make the U.S. energy system more equitable. This article explores microgrids and discusses how they are being deployed to improve energy reliability and resilience and to support energy equity and justice for vulnerable communities.