2024 Shapiro Distinguished Lecture

November 4, 2024February 11, 2025

2024 Shapiro Distinguished Lecture

On October 29, 2024, GW’s Environmental and Energy Law program proudly hosted the Third Annual J.B. & Maurice C. Shapiro Distinguished Lecture on Global Climate Change and Energy Law, featuring Dr. Beatriz Martinez Romera, a leading authority in Environmental and Climate Change Law from the University of Copenhagen and Director of the Centre for Climate Change Law and Governance (CLIMA). This year’s lecture examined the integration of international environmental law obligations into the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime shipping. Assistant Dean Randall Abate opened the event with a call for innovative legal frameworks to combat climate change, underscoring the necessity of equipping future leaders with the essential tools to address environmental challenges. Dean Dayna Matthew followed with a powerful declaration of commitment, stating, “We think we are creating a small army of world savers,” while expressing heartfelt gratitude to Professor Arnold Reitze, whom this lecture series honors, for his nearly four decades of leadership of GW’s Environmental and Energy Law program.

October 28, 2024February 11, 2025

Health Equity Policy & Advocacy Clinic – Environmental Justice Division Students Address Lead Poisoning Threats to Children

The Health Equity Policy & Advocacy Clinic – Environmental Justice (EJ) Division’s students Anna Aguilar, Sidney Lee, Jaylah Richie, and Emma Stinson successfully drafted and submitted comments to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on behalf of 20 organizations, associations, and individuals. The comments respond to the lowering of the definition of elevated blood lead level (EBLL) in the Lead Safe Housing Rule (LSHR) to match the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) blood lead reference value. The Clinic’s submission combines environmental justice, housing justice, and health equity principles and standards to argue for the protection of children from lead hazards. Specifically, the Clinic pointed out HUD’s significant delay in adopting the CDC reference value and urged HUD to engage in primary prevention to protect vulnerable children from lead poisoning and its permanent harm.

The students conducted legal and public health research and analysis, and stakeholder outreach activities. To prepare the comments, they answered administrative law questions, analyzed statutory language, reviewed scientific data, reached out to experts, created fact sheets, and collaborated with the Clinic’s partner organizations to review their findings and receive feedback. The students also alerted nonprofits and encouraged submissions that urged HUD to follow health-based and environmental justice best practices. The students’ outreach prompted many organizations to join their comment or send in their own comment that incorporated the Clinic comment by reference. In addition, GW Law and Medical School student groups joined the comment.

September 25, 2024October 1, 2024

GW Environmental Law Fellows Share Global Environmental Governance Insights

On September 19, 2024, the GW Law Environmental & Energy Law Program hosted its Environmental Law Fellows Panel, spotlighting prominent environmental law leaders who previously served or currently serve as Environmental Law Fellows in our program. Moderated by Assistant Dean Randall Abate, the hybrid event featured Achinthi Vithanage (Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), Nick Bryner (LSU Law),Caitlin McCoy (Commission for Environmental Cooperation), and Giovanna Gismondi (The George Washington University Law School). Dayna Matthew, Dean of GW Law, delivered introductory remarks that drew attention to the pressing need for innovative legal strategies to promote effective climate change and biodiversity governance and environmental justice protections, while highlighting the vital role of legal education in shaping future leaders in this critical field.

September 10, 2024February 11, 2025

Hydrogen Buses Charged by a Solar-Powered Microgrid: Linking Clean Energy and Clean Transit in Montgomery County, Maryland

By Patrick Seroogy

Photo credit: AlphaStruxure

Just north of Washington, D.C., Montgomery County in Maryland is implementing a plan to have a transit depot that will eventually host buses fueled by hydrogen cells. An on-site electrolyzer will produce the hydrogen used as fuel, and a microgrid will use solar generation to power the depot and the electrolyzer. The EMTOC project, which broke ground in June 2024, will host:

September 2, 2024February 11, 2025

Reflections on GW’s Environmental and Energy Law LL.M Program: An Interview with Tim Nau (LL.M. ’23)

Q: What is your current position?

A: Currently, I am pursuing a legal clerkship in Frankfurt, Germany, preparing for the Second State Exam – the bar exam.

Q: What did you study in your Energy and Environmental Law LL.M. and what made this program so special to you?

A: At GW, I was able to delve deep into the intricacies of regulated industries, energy markets, and different fields of U.S. environmental and energy law. Working with professors in and out of class was always enriching. While GW has an impressive faculty of highly qualified law professors and staff, there are also many highly qualified environmental and energy law practitioners in the program’s part-time faculty who add further value by providing first-hand insights into the “real world”. They work for the most prestigious environmental and energy law employers in the government, the private sector, and the public interest community in Washington, D.C. This is a clear advantage that GW has over other law schools in the US and a reason why I chose to come to GW in the first place.

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