Can lawyers save the planet? Professor Michael B. Gerrard and leading experts go beyond the headlines and political ping-ponging to discuss combating the climate crisis using one of the most important and effective tools at our disposal: the law.
Climate change cuts across every area of law – from property rights to human rights to contracts to constitutional law, international law, administrative law, and corporate governance. In Defending the Planet, Columbia Law experts go beyond the headlines and political ping-ponging to discuss the central role that the law and lawyers can – and must – play in confronting the global climate crisis.
Defending the Planet is brought to you by Columbia Law School and is produced by the Office of Communications, Marketing, and Public Affairs. Special thanks to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.
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Defending the Planet Ep0: Introducing Defending the Planet
Michael B. Gerrard, Shannon R. Marcoux, and Andrew C. Revkin 2021
Can lawyers save the planet? To kick off the series, host Michael B. Gerrard is joined by prominent environmental journalist Andrew C. Revkin and environmental and climate justice... (Read more)
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Defending the Planet Ep1: The Biden Reset
Michael B. Gerrard, Catherine McCabe, and Jedediah S. Purdy 2021
Hours after taking the oath of office, President Joe Biden signed executive orders to return the United States to the Paris climate agreement and kill the Keystone XL pipeline. He has since revoked... (Read more)
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Defending the Planet Ep2: The Power of States
Michael B. Gerrard, Steve Bullock, and Jessica Bulman-Pozen 2021
In the absence of federal legislative action, states and even cities are moving to fight climate change – individually and in regional alliances – while other states sit out. When California announced last... (Read more)
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Defending the Planet Ep3: Back in the Paris Pact
Michael B. Gerrard, Laurence Tubiana, and Susan Biniaz 2021
With a new presidential administration in power, the United States has rejoined the 195-nation Paris climate agreement to combat global warming. But it is now clear that the emissions-reduction targets laid out in... (Read more)
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Defending the Planet Ep4: Climate Change in the Courts
Michael B. Gerrard, Michael Burger, and Peter Lehner 2021
Strategic litigation has been effective in advancing civil rights and gender equality in the United States and privacy and human rights across Europe. Can lawsuits filed by environmental groups and activists around the... (Read more)
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Defending the Planet Ep5: The Climate Refugee Crisis
Michael B. Gerrard, Michael W. Doyle, and Ama Francis 2021
The Marshall Islands sit six feet above sea level. As oceans rise, this tiny nation-state in the Pacific Ocean is at the highest risk of being wiped off the map. Literally. Is a... (Read more)
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Defending the Planet Ep6: Environmental Justice
Michael B. Gerrard, Olatunde C.A. Johnson, and Ruth Santiago 2021
Low-income communities and communities of color are more likely to live near contaminated land and to have greater exposure to air and water pollution that are harmful to health. Questions about equity and... (Read more)