Your friendly blog-master, Kym Hunter, writes from Washington DC:
Working at the Environmental Law Institute this summer has been a wonderfully validating experience, showing me that I made the right decision in coming to law school. I loved my 1L year at Georgetown, but nonetheless there were times when I would sit in class and wonder how it was that this British, environmental scientist came to be sitting in class discussing search and seizure rights in the United States. This summer has allayed any former doubts I may have had and shown me just how enabling and empowering a legal education can be.
ELI is an independent, non-partisan education and policy research center located in Washington DC. A host of attorneys focus on a wide range of domestic and international environmental issues, resulting in a wonderfully varied work environment. During my time here I have co-authored a study on marine spatial management in Alaska, assisted in the development of new biodiversity laws for Grenada and St. Vincent, researched a range of issues and laws pertaining to offshore wind energy within the United States, written a memo on nanotechnology and much more besides. Not only have I had the opportunity to research and write about subjects I love this summer, but I have been able to see first hand how my legal education will help me better contribute to the environmental community. The summer has also been a tremendous education. A combination of ELI's summer seminar series and my own research activities have brought me into contact with most of the major environmental statutes and a number of interesting international and state approaches to environmental regulation.
As I plan to work in public interest for my foreseeable career Equal Justice Foundation assistance has been incredibly important this summer, allowing me to pursue my chosen path without being saddled by additional debt. The stipend also sends a clear signal that Georgetown values its public interest students - which is greatly appreciated.
Showing posts with label Environmental. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Environmental. Show all posts
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Southern Environmental Law Center
Sarah Nealen shares her experiences:
Greetings from Charlottesville, VA! I have been working with the Air and Energy group at the Southern Environmental Law Center, almost exclusively on an effort to halt the construction of new coal-fired power plant in southwest Virginia. The plant, which is currently being built by Dominion Virginia Power, will emit a variety of pollutants into the environment around southwest Virginia, including the Clinch River and several federal wilderness areas. It will also lead to an increase in mountaintop removal mining, a form of strip mining in which the forest is cleared from a mountain and the top of the mountain is blown off with explosives. The resulting debris is dumped into a nearby stream, a practice known as “valley fill.” In Wise County, where the new plant will be located, 25% of the county has already succumbed to MTR, and another 8% is slated for destruction.
I began my summer a few weeks before a public hearing to finalize and vote on air permits for the facility, so there was plenty to do right out the gate. I was able to accompany my attorneys to the hearing and meet our clients, who have formed a grassroots coalition fighting to save their community and their way of life. We were able to get much stricter air permits than had been proposed, but they were still issued and the company was able to begin construction. SELC has now appealed both the State Corporation Commission’s decision to allow Dominion to recover the costs of the $1.8 billion plant through its ratepayers and the Air Pollution Control Board’s decision to issue air permits not in compliance with the Clean Air Act. The last few weeks of my internship have focused on writing initial drafts of the petitions for appeal of the air permits. This has been a fantastic learning experience, and I am grateful to the Equal Justice Foundation and its donors for making this summer possible.
Greetings from Charlottesville, VA! I have been working with the Air and Energy group at the Southern Environmental Law Center, almost exclusively on an effort to halt the construction of new coal-fired power plant in southwest Virginia. The plant, which is currently being built by Dominion Virginia Power, will emit a variety of pollutants into the environment around southwest Virginia, including the Clinch River and several federal wilderness areas. It will also lead to an increase in mountaintop removal mining, a form of strip mining in which the forest is cleared from a mountain and the top of the mountain is blown off with explosives. The resulting debris is dumped into a nearby stream, a practice known as “valley fill.” In Wise County, where the new plant will be located, 25% of the county has already succumbed to MTR, and another 8% is slated for destruction.
I began my summer a few weeks before a public hearing to finalize and vote on air permits for the facility, so there was plenty to do right out the gate. I was able to accompany my attorneys to the hearing and meet our clients, who have formed a grassroots coalition fighting to save their community and their way of life. We were able to get much stricter air permits than had been proposed, but they were still issued and the company was able to begin construction. SELC has now appealed both the State Corporation Commission’s decision to allow Dominion to recover the costs of the $1.8 billion plant through its ratepayers and the Air Pollution Control Board’s decision to issue air permits not in compliance with the Clean Air Act. The last few weeks of my internship have focused on writing initial drafts of the petitions for appeal of the air permits. This has been a fantastic learning experience, and I am grateful to the Equal Justice Foundation and its donors for making this summer possible.
Monday, August 4, 2008
San Diego Coastkeeper
Pete Amaro shares his experiences:
Hello from California! I have been working for the summer as a legal intern at San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental nonprofit working to protect San Diego’s beaches and watersheds through water-quality monitoring programs, public outreach, and legal advocacy. Coastkeeper is a part of Waterkeeper Alliance, an umbrella group with 179 member organizations worldwide.
Most of my tasks as a legal intern have involved stormwater and wastewater issues. I began my summer by creating a database of stormwater-related ordinances for all the municipalities and public agencies in San Diego County. Coastkeeper hopes that a centralized collection of various municipal codes will simplify its monitoring and enforcement work, as well as encourage updating stormwater codes throughout the county (they range from detailed and stringent in larger coastal cities to skeletal in smaller inland suburbs.) I have also had the opportunity to do field investigations: along with another legal intern, I surveyed targeted businesses in the city of Chula Vista to look for violations of both stormwater codes and industrial NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits. We reported potential violations to the city’s stormwater hotlines, allowing Coastkeeper to also ensure proper compliance and follow-through by city officials.
I have also been working on Coastkeeper’s campaign on IPR (indirect potable reuse), a water recycling method popularly referred to as “toilet-to-tap.” The mayor of San Diego has resisted efforts by the City Council to implement a pilot project, and as a result, Coastkeeper has mounted an aggressive campaign to both sway the mayor and shift public opinion, which currently discounts water recycling in favor of desalination projects. I have done research to counter the city’s claims regarding the technical and financial infeasibility of an IPR project, and in June toured a facility in Orange County that recently began converting treated wastewater into drinking water. I was able to sample the finished product, and am happy to report that I am still alive and well.
This week brings an exciting opportunity to testify before the California Coastal Commission during their three days of meetings in Oceanside. I will speak in support of a staff report recommending denial of a proposed bayfront development in Monterey. This testimony, in addition to my other projects, has allowed me to become quite familiar with California’s complex environmental regulatory system; as I plan on returning home to California after graduation, I am especially grateful for the opportunity to begin refining my knowledge of California’s environmental legal framework.
Hello from California! I have been working for the summer as a legal intern at San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental nonprofit working to protect San Diego’s beaches and watersheds through water-quality monitoring programs, public outreach, and legal advocacy. Coastkeeper is a part of Waterkeeper Alliance, an umbrella group with 179 member organizations worldwide.
Most of my tasks as a legal intern have involved stormwater and wastewater issues. I began my summer by creating a database of stormwater-related ordinances for all the municipalities and public agencies in San Diego County. Coastkeeper hopes that a centralized collection of various municipal codes will simplify its monitoring and enforcement work, as well as encourage updating stormwater codes throughout the county (they range from detailed and stringent in larger coastal cities to skeletal in smaller inland suburbs.) I have also had the opportunity to do field investigations: along with another legal intern, I surveyed targeted businesses in the city of Chula Vista to look for violations of both stormwater codes and industrial NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits. We reported potential violations to the city’s stormwater hotlines, allowing Coastkeeper to also ensure proper compliance and follow-through by city officials.
I have also been working on Coastkeeper’s campaign on IPR (indirect potable reuse), a water recycling method popularly referred to as “toilet-to-tap.” The mayor of San Diego has resisted efforts by the City Council to implement a pilot project, and as a result, Coastkeeper has mounted an aggressive campaign to both sway the mayor and shift public opinion, which currently discounts water recycling in favor of desalination projects. I have done research to counter the city’s claims regarding the technical and financial infeasibility of an IPR project, and in June toured a facility in Orange County that recently began converting treated wastewater into drinking water. I was able to sample the finished product, and am happy to report that I am still alive and well.
This week brings an exciting opportunity to testify before the California Coastal Commission during their three days of meetings in Oceanside. I will speak in support of a staff report recommending denial of a proposed bayfront development in Monterey. This testimony, in addition to my other projects, has allowed me to become quite familiar with California’s complex environmental regulatory system; as I plan on returning home to California after graduation, I am especially grateful for the opportunity to begin refining my knowledge of California’s environmental legal framework.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Earthjustice International
Rania Rampersad writes from California:
After interning in a United Nations refugee camp in Kenya last summer (an internship that was also funded by EJF), I realized how difficult it is to help refugees once they have experiences the violence and trauma of war and displacement. I decided I wanted to do something to prevent people from becoming refugees in the first place. Many experts believe that climate change could cause as many as 200 million refugees by the year 2050, so I decided that focusing on prevention of climate change would be a great way to make a long term difference for a lot of people.
Working at Earthjustice International in Oakland, CA has turned out to be a fantastic summer experience! This organization is well known for their groundbreaking work on human rights and climate change. For example, they helped bring a petition on behalf of the Inuit people to an international commission regarding human rights violations caused by climate change. It was wonderful to spend the summer working on such cutting-edge legal issues. It was also a great learning experience to be able to work on a large variety of writing tasks, including a brief for litigation with the EPA, a policy paper for a United Nations Committee, and a memo evaluating potential international environmental claims.
The best part was being able to utilize the insights I acquired last summer working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Because of this past experience, I was able to share my knowledge of the international refugee assistance process to inform our policy report’s discussion of climate change refugees here at Earthjustice International. My supervisors’ willingness to solicit my opinions and include me in discussions was a welcome surprise and reminded me why I love working for non-profit organizations.
The Equal Justice Foundation has given me two invaluable experiences that will help me to start my career in public service with direction, commitment, and the knowledge that it is possible to make a difference, even before you graduate!
After interning in a United Nations refugee camp in Kenya last summer (an internship that was also funded by EJF), I realized how difficult it is to help refugees once they have experiences the violence and trauma of war and displacement. I decided I wanted to do something to prevent people from becoming refugees in the first place. Many experts believe that climate change could cause as many as 200 million refugees by the year 2050, so I decided that focusing on prevention of climate change would be a great way to make a long term difference for a lot of people.
Working at Earthjustice International in Oakland, CA has turned out to be a fantastic summer experience! This organization is well known for their groundbreaking work on human rights and climate change. For example, they helped bring a petition on behalf of the Inuit people to an international commission regarding human rights violations caused by climate change. It was wonderful to spend the summer working on such cutting-edge legal issues. It was also a great learning experience to be able to work on a large variety of writing tasks, including a brief for litigation with the EPA, a policy paper for a United Nations Committee, and a memo evaluating potential international environmental claims.
The best part was being able to utilize the insights I acquired last summer working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Because of this past experience, I was able to share my knowledge of the international refugee assistance process to inform our policy report’s discussion of climate change refugees here at Earthjustice International. My supervisors’ willingness to solicit my opinions and include me in discussions was a welcome surprise and reminded me why I love working for non-profit organizations.
The Equal Justice Foundation has given me two invaluable experiences that will help me to start my career in public service with direction, commitment, and the knowledge that it is possible to make a difference, even before you graduate!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Government Accountability Project
Bryan Boroughs writes from DC
This summer I'm working at a non-profit whistleblower-protection firm called the Government Accountability Project (GAP). GAP represents clients who have “blown the whistle” on illegal government activity. Usually, these clients were government employees who saw a hidden and illegal danger to the public (faulty aircraft maintenance, poorly constructed levies, etc.). Whistleblowers regularly face harsh retaliation, ranging from termination to decades-long harassment, after bringing a danger to light. GAP helps these clients by helping them with the disclosure process, representing them during litigation, and lobbying for better whistleblower protection laws.
My work as a legal intern is split between litigation and legislative efforts. On the litigation side, I help with intake interviews and legal research. One of my assignments is to work with a client who blew the whistle on unsafe maintenance protocol at a nuclear site. Our client is a terrifically qualified nuclear mechanic who reported his employer for violating maintenance standards at a nuclear reactor. As you can imagine, violating nuclear maintenance standards could have caused catastrophic problems. Unfortunately, rather than being commended for making the plant safer, our client has been fired and blacklisted. He has over 25 years of outstanding work experience and glowing recommendations, but now he cannot find a job in the nuclear industry. So, GAP is helping him with legal action to stop the blacklisting.
On the legislative side, I’ve been helping with GAP’s efforts to get new whistle blower protection laws passed. There are several exciting bills right now in congress. One provides protection for federal employees, and others provide protection for certain industry employees (like food and drug safety or child product safety employees). At different points during the process, congressional staffers come to GAP with questions about the current needs for whistleblowers or the impact certain provisions would have. Helping respond to those questions has been one of my favorite parts of the internship.
This summer I'm working at a non-profit whistleblower-protection firm called the Government Accountability Project (GAP). GAP represents clients who have “blown the whistle” on illegal government activity. Usually, these clients were government employees who saw a hidden and illegal danger to the public (faulty aircraft maintenance, poorly constructed levies, etc.). Whistleblowers regularly face harsh retaliation, ranging from termination to decades-long harassment, after bringing a danger to light. GAP helps these clients by helping them with the disclosure process, representing them during litigation, and lobbying for better whistleblower protection laws.
My work as a legal intern is split between litigation and legislative efforts. On the litigation side, I help with intake interviews and legal research. One of my assignments is to work with a client who blew the whistle on unsafe maintenance protocol at a nuclear site. Our client is a terrifically qualified nuclear mechanic who reported his employer for violating maintenance standards at a nuclear reactor. As you can imagine, violating nuclear maintenance standards could have caused catastrophic problems. Unfortunately, rather than being commended for making the plant safer, our client has been fired and blacklisted. He has over 25 years of outstanding work experience and glowing recommendations, but now he cannot find a job in the nuclear industry. So, GAP is helping him with legal action to stop the blacklisting.
On the legislative side, I’ve been helping with GAP’s efforts to get new whistle blower protection laws passed. There are several exciting bills right now in congress. One provides protection for federal employees, and others provide protection for certain industry employees (like food and drug safety or child product safety employees). At different points during the process, congressional staffers come to GAP with questions about the current needs for whistleblowers or the impact certain provisions would have. Helping respond to those questions has been one of my favorite parts of the internship.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Environmental Protection Agency - Seattle Office
Jennifer Lee headed west this summer to extern in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region X office in Seattle after clerking in the spring for EPA's Office of Administration and Policy in DC.
There are only two summer law clerks so we receive assignments from many attorneys in the office. Most of the assignments consist of legal research and writing. Some assignments include updating case law on environmental statutes, deciphering what constitutional issues may arise in new cases, and developing a record to support case referrals to the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division. My favorite assignments so far have considered protection of polar bears, the constitutional implications of recent Supreme Court decisions on protection of endangered species, and the development of Alaska's permitting program with its implications for drilling in Alaska.
Beyond the office, there is opportunity for field trips and chances to observe other aspects of the legal profession. With many environmental cases proceeding to settlement, I also have the chance to observe negotiations with opposing counsel. Last week I toured an oil refinery after a meeting with their attorneys to discuss a recent Notice of Violation. With the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals courtroom just upstairs from the Office of Regional Counsel, I will also be able to observe hearings in current Ninth Circuit cases as well.
EJF funding made it possible for me to leave DC and gain a perspective on how the regional branches of federal agencies operate. The experience has greatly helped me understand how the policies promulgated at Headquarters play out in the field through the individual cases brought by EPA and will help me formulate more effective environmental policies in the future.
There are only two summer law clerks so we receive assignments from many attorneys in the office. Most of the assignments consist of legal research and writing. Some assignments include updating case law on environmental statutes, deciphering what constitutional issues may arise in new cases, and developing a record to support case referrals to the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division. My favorite assignments so far have considered protection of polar bears, the constitutional implications of recent Supreme Court decisions on protection of endangered species, and the development of Alaska's permitting program with its implications for drilling in Alaska.
Beyond the office, there is opportunity for field trips and chances to observe other aspects of the legal profession. With many environmental cases proceeding to settlement, I also have the chance to observe negotiations with opposing counsel. Last week I toured an oil refinery after a meeting with their attorneys to discuss a recent Notice of Violation. With the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals courtroom just upstairs from the Office of Regional Counsel, I will also be able to observe hearings in current Ninth Circuit cases as well.
EJF funding made it possible for me to leave DC and gain a perspective on how the regional branches of federal agencies operate. The experience has greatly helped me understand how the policies promulgated at Headquarters play out in the field through the individual cases brought by EPA and will help me formulate more effective environmental policies in the future.
Friday, June 13, 2008
National Whistleblower Center
Greetings from Steve Giballa in the basement of a public interest law office! This is a brief description of what my Equal Justice Foundation summer grant has allowed me to work on this summer. I have accepted a legal internship with the Whistleblowers serve as a vital source of information for all manner of public interest matter and my involvement here stems ultimately from my interest in environmental conservation. But I’m excited to be a part of a legal team that works for transparency and accountability on behalf of the public. Thanks to EJF funds I get to be part of something really exciting thing summer.
I am currently working with two other interns on a reply brief on behalf of a former FBI agent. Our client retired involuntarily after making protected allegations that FBI agents in her office had removed personal property from Ground Zero. Within months of this allegation, the FBI began termination proceedings after 25 years of service. We hope to further the precedent that whistleblowers are safe from retribution when they voice their observations of corruption and other skullduggery.
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