Throughout the summer, Vermont Law School faculty, distinguished scholars, media fellows and others will deliver one-hour "Hot Topics" lectures on a wide range of current issues in environmental law and policy. Free and open to the public, the lectures will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, May 28 – July 30, in Oakes Hall Room 007 on the VLS campus. Vermont Bar Association Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit is available.
The 2015 Hot Topics are:
Thursday, May 28 "Innovative Strategies and Long Overdue Victories in CAFO Litigation"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with Pamela Vesilind '08, University of Arkansas School of Law. One VBA CLE.
Tuesday, June 2 "Bridging the Gap Between Vermonters' Alarm and Action in Response to Climate Change"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with Kathryn Doherty, Social and Environmental Research Institute. One VBA CLE.
Thursday, June 4 "Legal Signal Processing"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with James Chen, Michigan State University. One VBA CLE.
Tuesday, June 9 "Dishonest Congress, Dirty Air"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with David Schoenbrod, New York Law School and American Enterprise Institute. One VBA CLE.
Thursday, June 11 "Sanitation Law and Policy in India: Multiple Challenges"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with Philippe Cullet, University of London; Centre for Policy Research; International Environmental Law Research Centre. One VBA CLE.
Tuesday, June 16 "The Past, Present, and Future of Drinking Water"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with James Salzman, Duke University. One VBA CLE.
Thursday, June 18 "Living Next to a Wind Turbine: Local Vs Global Interests"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with Birgitte Egelund Olsen, Aarhus University, Denmark. One VBA CLE.
Tuesday, June 23 "Environmental Protection in Indian Country" —Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with Randolph L. Hill, Environmental Protection Agency. One VBA CLE.
Thursday, June 25 "Solar Wars"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental lecture with Timothy McDonnell, Mother Jones and Climate Desk. One VBA CLE.
Tuesday, July 7 "On the Road to the Paris Agreement: COP21 and Its Impact on Climate Change"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with Tracy Bach, Vermont Law School. One VBA CLE.
Thursday, July 9 "Should We Pay More for Water? Untangling California's Drought-Ridden Future"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental lecture with Zoë Schlanger, Newsweek. One VBA CLE.
Tuesday, July 14 "Will the U.S. Constitution Inhibit the Transition to Sustainable Energy that Many States Are Implementing?" —Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with Steven Ferrey, Suffolk University Law School. One VBA CLE.
Thursday, July 16 "The Next Legal Profession: Lawyers Creating Sustainable Local Economies" —Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with Janelle Orsi, Sustainable Economics Law Center. One VBA CLE.
Tuesday, July 21 "Silo-Busting for Sustainable Communities" —Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with George Hamilton, Institute for Sustainable Communities. One VBA CLE.
Thursday, July 23 "Missed Message: How the Media Failed on Climate Change"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental lecture with Natalie Allen, CNN International. One VBA CLE.
Tuesday, July 28 "Environmental Law in 'The Last Place on Earth'"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with Robert Percival, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. One VBA CLE.
Thursday, July 30 "Still a Paper Tiger? China's Environmental Courts in the Wake of the 2014 Amendments to China's Basic Environmental Law"—Free, noon to 1 p.m., Room 007 Oakes Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton. Environmental law lecture with Huiyu Zhao, Shanghai Jiaotong University. One VBA CLE.
For more information about the Hot Topics series, including detailed descriptions of upcoming lectures, visit www.vermontlaw.edu/summer, call Courtney Collins at 802-831-1371, or email ccollins@vermontlaw.edu.