PIELC 2016: A LEGACY WORTH LEAVING

For decades, the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference has cultivated a forum recognized for novel constructive debate. It is a place to address both the best and the worst moments of humanity’s relationship with nature and with itself. We have reflected on past interactions. We have fought to challenge matters of ecological, social, and cultural degradation. We have responded. Over time, PIELC has become a reliable element to the mechanism of modern environmental justice.

Now it is time to build new legacies. Now it is time to recognize that although the tools of rationality and logic have gotten us to where we are, we have so much further to go. While we live in a world that expresses diverse realities, dominant assumptions of ecology, economy, and society have left us with only one narrative. A different construction of our assumptions will lead to a more open conversation of shaping environmental justice in the 21st century.

“A Legacy Worth Leaving” is a response to the drastic need of daily, direct action of individuals in their communities. Cohesive leadership models must acknowledge that individual participation directs society’s impact on interdependent community and global systems. Diversity of cultures, talents, and specialties must converge to guide community initiatives in a balanced system. Each has a unique role that can no longer be hindered by the complacent passive-participation models of traditional leadership schemes. Building community means being community.

This year at PIELC, we will be exploring alternative methods of approaching current ecological, social, and cultural paradigms. First, by examining the past – let us not relive our mistakes. Then, by focusing on the present. Days to months, months to years, years to a lifetime; small acts compound to the life-story of a person, a place, a planet. What legacy are you leaving?

Please join us March 3rd – 6th in Eugene, Oregon, for the 34rd annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference. We are now accepting panel submissions. Please note that if your panel is expected to receive CLE credit, we ask that your panel materials be submitted by the end of January, prior to the conference.

Registration for the conference will open in January.

In Solidarity,
Your 2016 PIELC Co-Directors

PIELC 2015 Recap

Changing Currents: A Reflection on PIELC 2015

By Alexis Biddle, Anne Haugaard, Rory Isbell, Malia Losordo, and Tori Wilder

The 33rd annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) was held at the University of Oregon on March 5 – 8. All six keynote sessions were live-streamed on YouTube and may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/user/lawpielc.

This year’s conference featured over 120 panels, two workshops, and several film screenings. Despite substantial construction at the University, PIELC persevered. With limited classroom access and many panels resorting to standing room only, it was encouraging to see attendees enjoy the weekend and find their “piece of PIELC” to inspire them year-round.

As the organizers of PIELC 2015, we chose the theme Changing Currents to signify society’s need to change courses from our environmentally catastrophic business-as-usual path. As the physical, biological, and chemical currents of our world change, we too must change our own currents and work collectively to mobilize and set humanity on a path toward resiliency.

The conference opened with a blessing by Gordon Bettles, the steward of the Many Nations Longhouse and a member of the Klamath Tribes. Changing Current’s inaugural keynote featured internationally renowned journalist and activist Amy Goodman appearing by video and philosopher-writer-extraordinaire Kathleen Dean Moore. Goodman delivered a truly powerful address. She spoke of how our political system and media are systematically broken in their ability to address climate change and the need for the media to make the connection between extreme weather and the science of global climate change. She emphasized our nation’s power and responsibility to reign in global environmental devastation brought by United States-chartered companies. Kathleen Dean Moore called for us to “throw our stones” into the river of society, that we may alter its path and perhaps even change its direction.

We were fortunate enough to have Bill McKibben grace us with his wisdom and inspiration via (carbon friendly, of course) video to kick off the Friday afternoon keynote. He brought home the deep changes the Earth and climate are undergoing and how we need to continue to press forward at this critical juncture in the climate movement. Gary Nabhan followed McKibbin with an illumination of his work on collaborative conservation of food producing landscapes. In his speech, Nabhan related these new collaborative efforts to the concept of the radical center – a place where the values, cultures, ideologies and faith intersect. The afternoon keynote ended with Antonio Oposa, Jr. of the Philippines. He provided an exceptional speech focusing on the importance of reducing carbon emissions from transportation through transforming the way we share space on public streets.

Friday evening was special: two friends, and partners in saving us from ourselves, Severine Von Charner Fleming and Janelle Orsi took the stage. Fleming’s passion and creativity shined thought as she talked about the changing currents of agricultural land ownership and her efforts to pass farmland into the hands of the next generation of farmers. Orsi, who followed Fleming but invited her back on stage during her keynote, delivered a hilarious account of her work through cartoons and comedy. Orsi works to help communities become more efficient with their resources through establishing frameworks of trust and accountability among neighbors. She also works with Fleming to help secure land tenure for the next generation of farmers. Listening to both of these inspiring women was not only a treat, but also mind-opening and hilarious.

It is important to include a younger perspective as we strategize how to change our currents, as the stones we cast land in our children’s river, not our own. On Saturday, fourteen-year-old Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez used both speech and music to convey the critical role young people must play in healing our planet. Roske-Martinez has since spoken (again) before the United Nations, demanding that our governments take serious action. Wahleah Johns, of the Red Bottom People, closed the afternoon keynote with a presentation about her work to replace coal mining atop Black Mesa on Hopi and Navajo lands with renewable energy. She closed with a poignant reminder that our work as activists, students, and lawyers must be done to preserve pristine lands and leave a habitable earth to future generations.

After ENR alumni gathered for the annual Alumni Reception in Gerlinger Lounge, Saturday evening’s keynotes began with the David Brower Lifetime Achievement Award presentation. This year, we honored University of Oregon Professor and ENR Faculty Director Mary Wood for her lifelong dedication to innovative legal scholarship, restoration of the public trust, and passionate activism. The award itself was a remnant piece of the former Elwha Dam, which we hoped would remind all present and future generations to “think like a river,” as Professor Wood has taught us all to do.

Helen Slottje, winner of the 2014 Goldman Environmental Prize, followed the award ceremony. She shared her inspiring story as New York attorney turned community-organizer who rallied her neighbors to ban fracking through land use regulation. Under her innovative legal framework, the resulting ordinances withstood lawsuits and asserted communities rights over those of the fossil fuel industry. Derrick Evans then delivered a moving speech that followed his remarkable journey dedicated to protecting his home – the Turkey Creek Community – from encroaching urban development. The development has been erasing Turkey Creek’s rich history and subjecting it to increased flooding. Through the Turkey Creek Initiative, Evans is employing conservation and historical preservation laws to resist the undermining of his community.

It is always a blessing when PIELC coincides with the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) conference. This year, the ELAW conference took place the weekend before PIELC and we were honored to have many international environmentalists and attorneys join us and speak at PIELC. In his keynote address, Rugemeleza A.K. Nshala, a lawyer and activist from Tanzania, spoke of the ills that industrial mining has wrought on his nation, and the great  struggle we face in protecting the land, air, and water of East Africa from pollution and exploitation.

The final keynote also featured Malia Akutagawa, a native Hawaiian and law professor. Akutagawa reminded us of the importance of remembering our roots, our history, and the importance of searching within cultural traditions and practices to find sustainable answers.

As we write this reflection, there are activists suspended below the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon, and kayakers camped out below the bridge on the Willamette River. They do this to prevent an icebreaking vessel from reaching the Arctic Circle and enabling the extraction of fossil fuels from the formerly frozen polar ice cap. Whether we protest in the courtroom, in the community, or bravely dangling from a massive bridge, we all agree that this much is clear: we are upset by the events taking place around us and the time is now to rise up and change these currents.

We had an incredible experience planning this year’s conference. In addition to the five of us, there were dozens of law student volunteers working around the clock to make Changing Currents a reality. We hope to see you next year from March 3-6, 2016, and we wish the best of luck to the 2016 PIELC Co-Directors!

Alexis Biddle is Co-Director of Land Air Water and a Sustainable Cities Initiative Fellow for the ENR Sustainable Land Use Project.  Anne Haugaard is President of the Student Bar Association, Staff Editor of the Western Environmental Law Update, and an Oregon Child Advocacy Project fellow. Malia Losordo is Marketing Director and Western Environmental Law Update Editor-in-Chief for Land Air Water and a Bowerman Fellow for the ENR Oceans, Coasts and Watersheds Project. Rory Isbell is Co-Director of Land Air Water and a Sustainable Cities Initiative Fellow for the ENR Sustainable Land Use Project. Tori Wilder is the Articles and Source Editor for the Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, Secretary of Land Air Water, Secretary of Student Legal Advocates for Tribal Sovereignty, and a Global Environmental Democracy Project Fellow.  

PIELC YouTube Channel PIELC 2015 keynote recordings!

PIELC 2015 Brochure

“Changing Currents” expresses an awareness that the physical currents of our planet are shifting and that we must alter our human patterns to adapt for a better future. Actions of the past set in motion the drastic changes we are experiencing today. At the same time our actions today will deeply affect our world’s future. The currents that drive our climate system are changing and causing unprecedented changes to human and biotic communities across the globe. But, armed with an awareness of these changes, we can mobilize the social currency needed to change currents and set humanity on the path to resiliency. This year’s conference will provide an opportunity to challenge each other and discuss solutions and strategies for how we may move forward in confronting the world of today with an eye towards tomorrow’s reality.
PIELC 2015: Changing Currents – March 5-8, 2015 – University of Oregon School of Law, Eugene, Oregon, USA

Western Environmental Law Update Reduces Carbon Footprint

Land Air Water is reducing its carbon footprint by discontinuing the printed form of the Western Environmental Law Update (WELU) while maintaining its online presence.

WELU is an annual publication of short articles detailing recent developments in environmental and natural resource law and their effect on the West. The pieces are all student written and may be written specifically for WELU or adopted from papers used to satisfy class or graduation requirements.

Volume 1 of the 2015 WELU we be available online starting Friday, March 6, 2015. The update can be found at http://pielc.org/western-environmental-law-update/.

The update is currently accepting submissions for Volume 2 until April 3rd. Those interested in publication should write an article which focuses on pertinent, timely, legal issues affecting the environment on a local, regional, or international level.

The submission should be between 1000 and 2500 words long. Citation format should follow Blue Book or ALWD Citation Manual and should be located in endnotes.

For additional details, please contact askpielce@uoregon.edu