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A DIVERSE CURRICULUM
Students may join the Program in Environmental and Energy Law after their
first year at Chicago-Kent.
Approximately 35 students from diverse educational and career backgrounds
currently participate in the program. Enrolled in any single class might
be a nuclear reactor operator, a waste industry project manager, an outdoor
journalist, a corporate environmental manager, a fisheries biologist,
an energy industry magazine editor, a Sierra Club activist, a microbiologist,
an architect, and environmental engineers.
Many students in the program, however, are not already environmental
and energy professionals. The varied perspectives provided by fellow classmates
is an important part of the Chicago-Kent educational experience.
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
Program students take a series of five or six coordinated courses and
seminars after the completion of their first year courses. The following
varied offerings give them the opportunity to carefully focus their couse
of study.
The following courses are required to receive the Certificate in Environmental
and Energy Law:
- Environmental Law and Policy I
- Environmental Law and Policy II
- Advanced Research in Environmental Law
- Energy Law
Additionally, students must take at least four more credits, which may
be earned by taking any combination of the following courses:
- Environmental
Law Clinic (1 credit, 3 credit, or 4 credit options)
- Administrative Law (3 credits)
- Land Use (3 credits)
- Environmental Seminar (2 credits)
- Advanced Externship (with an energy or
environmental-related institution) (4 credits)
SELECT COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Environmental Law and Policy I This course examines
scientific, economic, and ethical foundations of environmental law and
policy and introduces the student to many of the major biodiversity conservation
and pollution control regulatory programs. The course covers the common
law origins of environmental protection, as well as federal environmental
statutes dealing with endangered species, water pollution and land pollution.
(3 hours)
Environmental Law and Policy II This course emphasizes
the Clean Air Act as a vehicle for exploring complex statutory schemes,
administrative policy-making, market environmental controls, the interplay
of federal and state environmental programs, cost-benefit analysis, risk
analysis and environmental litigation. The course also examines global
warming and the broader concept of climate change. (2 hours)
Advanced Research in Environmental Law This course teaches
students how to use legislative histories and other legislative materials,
legal and non-legal computer databases, and methods of empirical research.
The course builds writing skills while giving the student experience in
applying environmental law concepts. (2 hours)
Seminar in Environmental Law Area The student may take one seminar
on a topic in the environmental law area. Seminars offered vary each semester.
Recent offerings include: Air Pollution Law and Policy, Electricity and
Public Utilities, Government Enforcement of Environmental Laws, and Current
Issues in Environmental Law. (2 hours)
Land Use This course explores the land use control system which
regulates land development in the United States. Zoning, growth controls,
subdivision regulations, and other techniques are discussed, as is the
organization of the regulatory bodies and the growing constitutional law
limiting government actions as improper takings of property rights. (3
hours)
Energy Law This course explores the regulation of the production,
sale, transportation, and distribution of energy supplies in the United
States. Legal issues are analyzed in the context of energy law and policy
as it has developed and as it influences the amount and types of energy
in use. This class examines national energy policy, natural gas, oil,
coal, hydroelectricity, nuclear power, and alternative energy sources.
(3 hours)
PEEL
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