FALL 2020 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
We hope that you and your families are well in light of the ongoing challenges of COVID-19. So many, of course, have suffered from the last six months and we hope you consider us a (virtual) place of comfort. Recent months have been particularly devastating for our black students, faculty, staff, alumni, and communities of color as we continue to see the violent and pervasive effects of systemic racism throughout our nation.
As a Program, we need to do more to advance racial equity and combat environmental racism, which is why we recently created the “PEEL Environmental Justice Community Lawyering Fellowship.” The Fellowship aims to energize the next generation of AUWCL community lawyers to identify equitable solutions to pressing environmental challenges that disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color. Next summer, up to two PEEL students will be selected as Fellows and receive a $3,000 stipend to work with a partnering environmental justice organization.
We recognize that this Fellowship is by no means a single solution to the structural racism inherent in the legal system, nor will it eliminate racism or deliver immediate equity. And our anti-racist programmatic work does not end with this Fellowship. Rather, it is our endeavor to lay a permanent programmatic foundation within PEEL that can financially support students and the environmental justice movement in perpetuity.
Since December 2018, more than 50 alumni, faculty, friends, staff, and students have generously donated over $8,500 to PEEL, which has allowed us to create this Fellowship. It is our dream and intention to grow this Fellowship either through continued annual fundraising or an endowment, so we can offer this opportunity to students each summer.In Community,
Director and Professor Bill Snape, Professors David Hunter and Amanda Leiter, and Program Coordinator Ingrid Lesemann
Upcoming Virtual Symposia & Events
Discussion w/ Dr. Marcos Orellana, UN Special Rapporteur on Hazardous Substances and Wastes
The rights of the child, people living in poverty, indigenous peoples, workers, migrants and minorities, as well as gender specific impacts, are frequently implicated by cases of exposure to toxic and otherwise hazardous substances. Indeed, a common denominator among many cases of human rights abuses involving business enterprises is the poisoning of communities, workers and consumers with toxic substances, whether from extractive industries, pesticide use in agriculture, industrial chemicals in manufacturing, emissions from power plants, factories, vehicles, and other sources—and of course the improper disposal of waste.
RSVP to Professor Bill Snape at wsnape@wcl.american.edu!
Programmatic Update Call for Alumni & Virtual Ayurveda Plant-Based Cooking Demonstration
Join Director Professor Bill Snape, Professors David Hunter and Amanda Leiter, and Program Coordinator Ingrid Lesemann for a PEEL programmatic update.
Following the call, there will be Ayurveda plant-based cooking demonstration. Ingredients and a Dosha Constitution Quiz will be circulated two weeks in advance.
RSVP to Ingrid at lesemann@wcl.american.edu!
Discussion w/ Julie Teel Simmonds, Center for Biological Diversity Senior Attorney
More than 270 community and conservation organizations filed a legal petition today that demands the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopt strict new water-pollution limits for industrial plants that create plastic.
Most groups supporting the petition have been fighting existing petrochemical plants and the nearly 300 new projects proposed around the country. Those include projects planned by Formosa Plastics, which a federal judge recently found liable for routinely polluting Texas waterways with billions of plastic pellets just as it’s proposing to build a massive new plastics plant in St. James Parish, La.
RSVP to Professor Bill Snape at wsnape@wcl.american.edu!
The Sustainable Development Law & Policy Brief's 22nd Annual Symposium
Water Infrastructure, Equity & Environmental Justice
Animal Law Society's 5th Annual Animal Law Symposium
The Unseen Impacts of Factory Farming: Racism, Pollution, Workers' Rights Violations, Animal Cruelty & Economic Inequality
Register for this Free Webinar Here!
Student Highlights
Animal Law Society
From over 200 Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) student chapters across the nation, the Animal Legal Defense Fund awarded the AUWCL Animal Law Society the “Student Chapter of the Year” Award in 2019 and 2020. The award celebrates the society’s incredible efforts in advancing the field of animal law and advocating for animals through projects and initiatives.
Environmental Law Society
Members of the AUWCL Environmental Law Society were oral round finalists in Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law’s 2020 Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition. Students competed against more than 150 law students from 54 law schools, and were awarded the 2020 David Sive Award for Overall Best Brief.
Energy Law & Policy Society
The AUWCL Energy Law Society were oral round quarter-finalists in West Virginia University College of Law’s National Energy and Sustainability Moot Court Competition. They competed against more than 70 students from 24 law schools.
WCL PEEL Community Garden
The WCL PEEL Community Garden provides a safe and inclusive space for students, faculty, and staff to garden together, work collaboratively, and promote values of unity, health, wellness, food equity, fellowship, and environmentalism.
Read more about the garden here!
PEEL Student Community
The Program supports four student-run organizations: the Animal, Energy, and Environmental Law Societies and the Sustainable Development Law and Policy Brief.
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