Climate change and environmental justice law
(Keynote speaker Yana Garcia, deputy secretary for Environmental Justice, Tribal Affairs and Border Relations)
It is that time of year again: Symposium and events season at UC Davis School of Law. The Environmental Law Society just held its conference on “It's elemental how climate change is shaping environmental justice law.”
The symposium encouraged critical thinking about environmental justice issues and brought together law and activism to address the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on historically disempowered communities. Specifically focusing on low-income communities of color, experts in law and policy as well as community advocates and organizers spoke candidly about environmental justice challenges California faces today, the breadth and impact of these challenges on historically disempowered communities, and how we can work toward a healthy environment for all.
I had the honor of welcoming the group, which had close to 100 participants during the opening keynote. UC Davis School of Law has a long history of excellence in environmental law. Professor Hap Dunning founded the program and established the law school’s first environmental law course. In 1979, students founded the Environs Environmental Law & Policy Journal. In 1980, Professor Dunning organized a path-breaking UC Davis Law Review Symposium on the public trust doctrine. Over the years, he was joined by colleagues Professors Al Lin, Chris Elmendorf, Karrigan Bork and the late Lesley McAllister, and others in teaching environmental law. Scores of King Hall alumni have practiced environmental law with the government, nonprofits, law firms, and in other capacities.
This symposium features leading attorneys, lawmakers, and policy experts in a discussion of environmental justice law. Law students Kathrine Schulze '22, Lauren Murvihill '22, Vrunda Shah '23, Emma Yip '23, and Chloe Lew '23 organized the event.
Thanks to Professors Bork, Rick Frank '74 and Mary Louise Frampton for their assistance with securing the symposium participants, and to the Aoki Center for Race and Nation Studies, the UC Davis Center for Regional Change, Environs, and the California Environmental Law and Policy Center for their support of the symposium.
Yana Garcia, deputy secretary for Environmental Justice, Tribal Affairs and Border Relations, was the opening keynote speaker. Coincidentally, she is the daughter of a friend, Sergio Garcia, whom I practiced law with in San Francisco in the 1980s.
The panel on "Unequal Polluters" included moderator Helen Kang, director of the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic, Golden Gate University; Byron Chan, senior associate attorney, Community Partnerships Program, Earthjustice; Margaret Gordon, co-director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project; Dr. Tania Pacheco-Werner, co-assistant director at the Central Valley Health Policy Institute at Fresno State and appointee to California Air Resources Board; and Andrés Soto, Richmond community organizer, Communities for a Better Environment,
Speaking on the "Don't Drink the Water" panel were moderator Robert Mullaney, director of the UC Davis Aoki Water Justice Clinic; Chief Caleen Sisk, Spiritual Leader and Tribal Chief of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe; Laurel Firestone, State Water Resources Control Board member and co-founder of Community Water Center; and Camille Pannu, Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor of Law at UC Irvine and former director of the UC Davis Aoki Water Justice Clinic.
The "California Burning" panel featured moderator Tracy Winsor, UC Davis Environmental Science and Policy lecturer and supervising deputy for the California Attorney General’s Office, Natural Resources Section ; Peter Broderick, staff attorney, Center for Biological Diversity; Christopher C. French, Professor of Practice, Penn State Law; and Nathan Trauernicht, Fire Chief of UC Davis Fire Department.
The final panel, "Centering Indigenous Voices," was moderated by Professor Frampton, director of the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies; and featured Shannon Dilley, senior attorney and Tribal Liaison, California Air Resources Board; Angela Mooney D'Arcy, founder and executive director of the Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples; Commissioner Darcie Houck '98, California Public Utilities Commission and King Hall alumna; and Peter Ortego, general counsel for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.