Vermont Law School Professor Patrick Parenteau, nationally recognized for his expertise in climate change and natural resources law, will discuss the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan during a panel discussion on climate change, Tuesday, April 14, at the 40th annual conference of the National Association of Environmental Professionals.
The conference, April 13-16 in Honolulu, Hawaii, provides environmental professionals from across the country with educational sessions and workshops on issues ranging from next steps in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to environmental protection for water resources.
Parenteau plans to present "The Clean Power Plan: Legal and Moral Imperative for Action" during an NAEP session on climate change. The EPA proposed the Clean Power Plan in June 2014 with an aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2035.
"The Clean Power Plan is the most important rule EPA will ever issue," said Parenteau. "It would significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants from power plants and move the nation toward cleaner, more efficient energy systems. Opponents have questioned EPA's authority to issue the plan and the feasibility of achieving its goals. I will explain why these objections are not well grounded and why the plan provides the states with the flexibility and time needed to achieve the goals."
Parenteau has a national reputation for his expertise and clinical work on issues related to climate change, water quality and wetlands, environmental policy and litigation, and endangered species and biological diversity. He is a former director of the nationally ranked Environmental Law Center at VLS, and helped found and is a former director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, where he now serves as senior counsel. ENRLC staff attorneys and student clinicians have worked on several high-profile environmental cases, including their current years-long case against a new railroad and coal mine proposed for Montana's Powder River Basin, and on behalf of the Vermont Right to Know Coalition in its fight for a labeling law for genetically engineered (GE) foods, making national headlines. For more information about environmental programs at Vermont Law School, including clinical opportunities, visit www.vermontlaw.edu/elc.
For more information about the National Association of Environmental Professionals, visit www.naep.org.