Plenary Panel on Environmental and Climate Law & Policy at AAG Meeting - March 19th
Tiffany Grobelski
Environmental and climate law and policy in 2026: Proactive responses to the current moment
Plenary panel co-sponsored and organized by Legal Geography Specialty Group (LGSG) and Energy and Environment Specialty Group (EESG)
https://aag-meetings.secure-platform.com/aag2026/solicitations/93/sessiongallery/25581
Date: 3/19/2026
Time: 2:30 PM - 3:50 PM
Room: Imperial A, Ballroom Level, Hilton, Tower 1,2,3
Hybrid/streamed, not recorded.
We are pleased to welcome researchers from the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE), a research center at UC Berkeley Law, to AAG. CLEE uses actionable research and engagement to solve pressing environmental challenges at multiple scales, focusing on development and implementation of equitable and effective legal and policy solutions.
The last year has seen a stark swing in US environmental law and policy, with the Biden Administration's unprecedented investments in clean energy and emphasis on environmental justice giving way to an agenda that favors fossil fuels and revolves around a massive federal deregulatory push. These developments are accompanied by damaging walk backs of existing federal grant funding commitments and slashes to agency staffing, both couched as efforts to address "waste, fraud, and abuse,” and by rapid changes in court-made law that build on longer-term judicial trends toward skepticism of environmental protection. This panel will explore the implications of the shifting legal and policy landscape, focusing on the urgent questions: How can climate and environmental policymakers deliver rapid, scalable investment in clean energy, water, and resilience that ensures community benefits, environmental protection, and adequate review? How can experts and advocates craft legal (and other) tools that address the challenges posed by emerging technologies and jurisprudence?
The panel will begin with an overview of the current moment and contemporary issues in climate and environmental law. We will then learn from CLEE researchers about policy and legal approaches for supporting needed climate, energy, and water infrastructure, with a focus on permitting, siting, and community benefits. The panel will bridge academic and applied issues in contemporary environmental law and policy.
Speakers:
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Louise Bedsworth, Executive Director, Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, UC Berkeley Law
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Nell Green Nylen, Senior Research Fellow, Wheeler Water Institute at Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, UC Berkeley Law
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Craig Segall, Senior Advisor at Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, past deputy executive officer at the California Air Resources Board and senior VP of Evergreen Action