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Visit the Program in Environmental and Energy Law
(PEEL) Web pages for additional information!
Welcome to the Web page for Chicago-Kent's Program in
Environmental and Energy Law (PEEL). PEEL offers you an opportunity to enhance
your legal education and pursue a challenging and rewarding career with
multiple, long-term options. Environmental
and energy problems permeate many areas of law because in the past 50 years
there has been a profound transformation in the way in which people throughout
the world view the planet's basic life support systems. Air and watersheds
along with soil systems have long been seen simply as commodities to be
exploited or sinks for the disposal of wastes, but we now appreciate the public
health and economic risks that this legacy has created. If properly managed, our air, soil and water
resources can also provide us with important environmental services, such as
pollution control and biodiversity conservation. Likewise, flora and fauna are now seen as the
foundation of our biodiversity heritage that should be conserved for future
generations. Finally, we realize that we must plan now for the transition from
the hydrocarbon era to more renewable forms of energy.
Chicago-Kent has been in the forefront of training lawyers
to deal with these critical, emerging problems. In the mid-1980s, the law
school established one of the first specialty programs in energy and
environmental law, and has long been recognized as a leader in environmental
and energy law. The current program continues this distinguished tradition.
PEEL is anchored by two fundamental ideas. First, students
must have a firm grounding in the core principles that constitute environmental
and energy law along with the scientific, economic and ethical concepts that
have informed environmental law and policy. This is accomplished by a sequence
of required courses capped by a seminar. Second, this theoretical grounding
should be complemented by the ability to apply and expand it in supervised
clinical and externship programs. The law school has a cooperative agreement
with the Chicago Legal Clinic, which offers students the opportunity to
work in one of the nation's finest urban environmental justice clinics. Through
the law school's externship program, students may work on environmental issues
in federal, state and local agencies, non-profit organizations, as well as law
firms and corporations.
PEEL offers students interested in this area the ability
to focus their general legal education by obtaining in-depth knowledge of an
important area of the law, to work closely with the PEEL faculty, and to learn
from other students with a wide range of backgrounds in environmental and
energy policy. Our many alumnae/i practicing in a variety of legal fields
throughout the country can testify to the professional benefits of PEEL.
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