Tribal Sovereignty and Environmental Protection Litigation
EPC is partnering with Kanji & Katzen P.L.L.C., one of the premier firms protecting the sovereignty and vitality of Indian nations and their members, to advocate for Indigenous rights and environmental protection. EPC students are working with attorneys at Kanji & Katzen on litigation preventing pipeline development on Tribal lands, upholding Tribal treaty fishing and water rights, and defending the authority of Tribal governments to regulate environmental matters on their lands.
Advancing a Forest Equity Accountability Framework
Deforestation and forest degradation are significant drivers of the climate and biodiversity crises. Although the international community has largely focused on deforestation in the tropics, countries in the Global North have historically sidestepped scrutiny for industrial logging of boreal and temperate forests. To promote global action on forest protection — including from the Global North — EPC is working with NRDC to advance a campaign for countries to adopt a forest equity accountability framework.
Defending State Climate Superfund Laws
In 2024, Vermont became the first governmental entity in the United States to pass a law requiring major fossil fuel companies to shoulder the loss and damage costs of climate change. A similar “climate superfund” bill has recently been passed in New York, and additional bills have been contemplated in California, Massachusetts, and Maryland. The fate of Vermont’s law will influence whether these legislative efforts spread. EPC is working as part of a coalition of NGOs and other environmental law clinics to defend Vermont’s law from legal challenges.
Addressing the Climate Impact of Industrial Animal Agriculture
For the 2024–2025 academic year, EPC includes projects from the Climate, Animals, Food, and Environmental Law & Policy (CAFE) Lab. Greenhouse gas emissions from animal agriculture make up more than 11 percent of global emissions. Furthermore, livestock and their manure are the top source of methane, a climate super-pollutant, in the United States. Despite these harms, animal agriculture has received little public or legislative scrutiny for its contributions to climate change. EPC and CAFE Lab are collaborating with NGOs to develop novel litigation and legislative models to hold industrial food producers accountable for the currently uncounted, externalized costs of industrial agriculture on animals, workers, communities, and the environment.
Enforcing Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure Decommissioning
Offshore oil and gas activities inflict a variety of harms on the marine and human environment. For decades, however, the oil and gas industry has routinely failed to plug wells and decommission platforms once drilling is finished — even though they are legally and contractually obligated to do so. What’s more, federal agencies have failed to enforce companies’ obligations, even though they likely have the tools and power to do so. EPC is working with NRDC to assess legal and policy strategies to compel the fossil fuel industry to properly decommission idle and abandoned offshore infrastructure.