40th Annual Conference on Environmental Law! Conference scholarship opportunity for law students! Application deadline Feb.8th!

The ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resource conferences are always a great place for law students to meet and network with today's environmental practitioners and policy leaders.

Law students interested in a conference scholarship for the upcoming 40th Annual Conference on Environmental Law (Salt Lake City, UT) please read below. You may be eligible to attend the conference for FREE!




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Student Membership to the Environmental Law Institute are now FREE!

Law students now have FREE ACCESS to FULL student membership benefits with the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). 

ELI benefits include:

• An online subscription to our award-winning policy magazine The Environmental Forum, a unique magazine offering cutting edge analysis by expert authors drawn from all sectors of the environmental debate
• Career opportunities through access to new job postings on our bulletin board and in our weekly email newsletter.
• Networking and educational opportunitiesthrough the online ELI Associates Directory and our seminars and policy forums that are FREE for members.
• Exclusive and instantaneous access to a members-only library of MP3 files of ELI seminars and educational programs, in addition to current and archived editions of The Environmental Forum.

To learn more about membership, visit www.elistore.org/member.asp

Criminal Charges for Brooklyn Businesses, Dumping Raw Sewage

Four individuals and four businesses at a Brooklyn shopping center face criminal charges over dumping raw sewage and restaurant grease into Sheepshead Bay. The charges are punishable with charges of $75k per day and up to three years imprisonment.

Groups Applaud NY State Assembly for Passing a "Timeout" on Fracking for Natural Gas

Yesterday, the New York State Assembly voted to protect NY's watershed by passing legislation that puts a timeout on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. By passing this bill, A.11443, the Assembly has taken a stand, and recognizes the potential hazards of fracking activities.


The bill suspends the issuance of permits to hydraulically fracture natural gas wells in New York State until May 15, 2011. 


For more info, check out this EarthJustice Press Release.

Norfolk, VA Prepares for Rising Sea Levels

The city of Norfolk (Virginia) will not sit around and just wait for sea-levels to rise. Situated just west of the mouth of Cheasapeake Bay, it is bordered on 3 sides by water, and has, thus far, experienced the highest relative increase in sea level on the East Coast (14.5" since 1930).

I sure hope other coastal cities (ahem...NYC...) follow suit. This is not a drill, people!

NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection: We need Spring and Summer Interns!

The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is seeking law students interested in environmental and administrative law for legal intern positions (spring & summer). Only currently enrolled law students are eligible to apply for an internship. DEP is particularly interested in students planning careers in the public sector or seeking experience in environmental and administrative law.

DEP legal interns will have the opportunity to work on a number of legal and administrative issues, including: statutory research, conducting administrative hearings before the Environmental Control Board (ECB), drafting appeals against adverse ECB decisions, and assisting DEP attorneys on any matters that may arise.

Spring Internships are unpaid, part-time positions (no more than 20-hours per week based on your schedule). Summer Internships are 10-to-12 week full-time positions. Funding may be available for the summer positions, either through DEP directly or your school's financial aid office.

For more information, please contact Jose Almanzar (jose.almanzar@law.nyls.edu).





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EPA Releases the 2010 Fuel Economy Trends Report

Carbon dioxide decreases as fuel economy increases

WASHINGTON - For the sixth consecutive year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reporting a decrease in average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and a slight increase in the average fuel efficiency for new cars and light duty trucks, according to EPA’s annual report “Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975 through 2010”.

EPA projects a small improvement in 2010, based on pre-model year sales estimates provided by automakers, to 395 grams of CO2 per mile and 22.5 miles per gallon (mpg), though there is uncertainty in these projections as they were made during the atypical automotive market in 2009. The 2010 final data will be available in next year’s report.

For 2009, the last year EPA has final data from automakers, the average CO2 emissions from new vehicles were 397 grams per mile and the average fuel economy value was 22.4 mpg.

See below for more on this report...




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2010 Green Scissors Report

This annual report identifies existing federal subsidies and programs that harm our environment and economy. For the 2010 fiscal year, the Friends of Earth have found "more than $200 billion in wasteful government subsidies that are damaging to the environment and harmful to consumers."


This in-depth and comprehensive report explores four sectors that, for a long time, have received billions upon billions in tax subsidies that eventually harm our environment and consumers.
-Energy (oil & gas, coal, nuclear)
-Agriculture & Biofuels (commodity crops, market access program, ethanol and other biofuels)
-Infrastructure (Army Corp of Engineers, transportation)
-Public Lands (hardrock mining, timber subsidies, grazing)


Republican and Democrats alike must come together and stop these wasteful programs and subsidies, for the sake of our pockets and our environment.

Halliburton Subpoenaed After Failing to Meet EPA’s Voluntary Requests for Information

The EPA announced yesterday that eight of nine U.S. companies that deal in hydraulic fracturing (aka "fracking") for natural gas extraction will work with the agency in studies on fracking. Who was the ninth? Of course, our old friends, Halliburton.

Halliburton has failed to provide EPA the information necessary to move forward with this important study. As a result, and as part of the Agency's effort to move forward as quickly as possible, today EPA issued a subpoena to the company requiring submission of the information that has yet to be provided.

What a shady bunch of characters, that Halliburton. Then again, the company is a perfect fit for someone like Mr. Dick Cheney. I guess shady companies invite shady individuals.

Next Week's Breakfast Forum - Building for New York's Future with Joseph B. Rose‏

Professors Andrew R. Berman and Ross Sandler cordially invite you to a Breakfast Forum on

Building for New York's Future

Co-sponsored by the Center for Real Estate Studies and the Center for New York City Law

Keynote Speaker: Joseph B. Rose, Partner, The Georgetown Company and Former Chairman, NYC Planning Commission

Date/Time: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 from 8:15-9:30 a.m.
Location: New York Law School, 185 West Broadway, between Leonard and Worth Streets

Registration: Online by clicking the invitation image below OR calling 212-431-2135

Work for Earthjustice Northeast! Summer 2011 Interns Wanted!

Earthjustice’s Northeast regional office (in New York City) is hiring full-time legal interns for the summer of 2011. Students who have completed at least two years of law school are preferred.

Legal interns work under the direct supervision of attorneys in the development and prosecution of environmental litigation and other advocacy. In general, the intern becomes a participant in the process of researching, investigating, preparing, and prosecuting environmental lawsuits. Virtually all interns undertake legal research, write memoranda, and help evaluate factual issues. Depending upon the needs of the case and the experience of the intern, attendance at client meetings, court appearances, meetings with public agency representatives, and drafting of pleadings, briefs, and discovery documents may be part of the internship experience. Interns are included in staff meetings and are invited to attend informal topical discussions and social events.

See below for Qualifications and Application Procedure.





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New Speaker, Old Mentality

"I voted in the 2010 mid-term elections, and all I got was this lousy Boehner."  I want this on a t-shirt.  Someone please mass produce. I will pay you $25.

It's true.  Nancy Pelosi will be out and it's reported that John Boehner (should be pronounced "boner"), will be knighted as the new Speaker of the House.  No surprise that the republican from Ohio "fought bitterly" against the cap-and-trade bill that was passed by the House last year. 

"The idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical," Mr. Boehner told ABC News in an April 2009 interview. "Every time we exhale, we exhale carbon dioxide. Every cow in the world, you know, when they do what they do, you've got more carbon dioxide."

No, Mr. Boehner.  That's not comical.  What's comical is that you think CO2 emissions and a cap-and-trade regulatory scheme have to do with cancer.  That, along with the pronunciation of your last name.

November 4th: NYLS Center for Real Estate Studies Master Class on Preservation (12:50pm-2pm)

You preservation junkies should enjoy this one. And there's free pizza lunch involved! Win-win!

The New York Law School Center for Real Estate Studies (CRES) will be hosting another one of its Master Class Series this Thursday, November 4th from 12:50pm-2pm in W320.

See full details below.





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Research and Environmental Policy Opportunity!

There are 3 things you should know about New York City over the next 25 years: (1) We will be getting BIGGER; (2) our infrastructure will be getting OLDER; and (3) our environment will be AT RISK. PlaNYC 2030 is a comprehensive sustainability plan for New York that addresses each of these challenges.

The Mayor's Long Term Planning and Sustainability Office wants to update PlaNYC 2030 and has reached out to us, the ELS of NYLS, for help.

We are looking for INTERESTED STUDENTS to work with us on this project.

We are still in the planning stage, but anticipate beginning on this project in early January 2011 (with a chance of starting even earlier). Before proceeding we need to gauge student interest, so...

If you ARE INTERESTED in tackling this research project with us and want more information, please contact Dorian Iafeliece (dorian.iafeliece@law.nyls.edu) by Monday, Nov. 8th, 2010. Students interested in sustainable development, green infrastructure and environmental law are encouraged to join us.

You will get an opportunity to work with top New York City Officials on how to make NYC are greener and better city to live in!