Protecting the future: Environmental Law

This piece is part of a series on how universities and colleges around the world are integrating theories of sustainability into traditional majors to give students the skills they need to build a more sustainable future for all.

Where to Study: The Vermont Law School

Established in 1978, the Vermont Law School’s Environmental Law Center offers an LLM in Environmental Law, a Master of Environmental Law and Policy (MELP), a joint JD/MELP, and dual degrees with institutions such as Yale, Cambridge, Thunderbird, and the University of Vermont.

The private, independent law school offers the largest number of environmental law courses in the country (more than 50), and has been top-ranked in the U.S. News & World Report for the past 18 years. The program gives students the opportunity to focus on a core legal curriculum while specializing in issues such as climate change, sustainable development, environmental and energy law and policy, and environmental taxation.

Lawyers who practice with environmental law firms, such as Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council, work to uphold and defend some of the most important U.S. environmental laws, like the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act.

As the human population soars and resources like land and water become scarcer, policy and law professionals will be needed to mitigate the conflicts surrounding environmental rights for Native peoples, environmental refugees, farmers and anglers. We will need lawyers and policy professionals who understand these complex issues to craft and defend laws that ensure justice and fairness.

More Places to Study

The following universities offer an LLM in Environmental Law:

Lewis and Clark Law School

University of Maryland School of Law, Environmental Law Program

University of Hawaii Manoa Environmental Law Program

Resources

Environmental Law Institute
The Center for International Environmental Law
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide

Images by Morgan Greenseth