Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic

Great to share our work with alums today!

Duke ELPC Co-Director Ryke Longest was licensed to practice law in North Carolina 30 years ago today.

If you missed this spring's three-part Community Visions for Environmental Justice Symposium, you want to re-live the moment, or you want to share what you learned with others, you're in luck. The videos are now live on the Duke Law You Tube channel.

Navigating the Now: Resources and Strategies During the Syndemic: https://youtu.be/peFVRGHqz4s

Back to the Future: America's Youth Organizing for Environmental Justice: https://youtu.be/2N4dslFotuY

Seeking Justice Through Policy Environmental Justice Legislation and Executive Action: https://youtu.be/L1BsRvzED38

No faculty and staff retreat is complete without some time outside. We had a great time talking through how to make this fall the best it can be for our students and clients. See you soon, students!

Law Fellow Michele Okoh talks environmental justice with the de Beaumont Foundation. Okoh is pursuing her MPH at George Washington University and brings her expertise in the connections between environmental justice and public health to her practice at the Clinic.

Talking With Michele Okoh: Environmental Justice The de Beaumont Foundation Speakers Series highlights leaders in public health practice, advocacy, policymaking, and related fields. For Michele Okoh, JD, people and planet are one and the same. Now a senior lecturing fellow of law at the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, Okoh’s role encom...

Bequest from Amy Gillespie ’93 supports Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic and training of future environmental leaders. "She was ‘Forever Duke,’ gracious with her network, and an excellent ambassador wherever she went. We are humbled by her generous gift and will use it to honor her love of community and commitment to justice,” said Prof. Michelle Nowlin JD/MA '92. ➡️ https://bit.ly/2TTp6Xz

Attention Duke Law students! Are you interested in exploring the connections between our food system, agricultural production, and climate change, have we got a class for you! Lee Miller and Michelle Nowlin, along with staff from Duke’s Carbon Offsets Initiative and the Duke Campus Farm, are offering a year-long project-based class through Bass Connections: Regenerative Grazing to Mitigate Climate Change. This is a cross-disciplinary class and we’d love to have some law students participate.

In short, we’re working to develop protocols and incentives for cattle producers to adopt regenerative grazing practices as a way to reduce their carbon footprint and become more resilient to the changes brought about by global climate change. Part of that effort involves developing reliable carbon sequestration models for the region that producers can use to generate offsets that institutions (like Duke University) can purchase, developing new policies through the federal Farm Bill program and other conservation programs, and drafting healthy soils legislation. The course will involve field work at the Williamson Preserve (one of the properties run by the Triangle Land Conservancy) and farms in the region, collaboration with non-profit organizations, attendance (and possible presentations) at professional conferences, and connections with experts in the fields of agriculture and environmental policy.

Regenerative Grazing to Mitigate Climate Change (2021-2022) This project team aims to facilitate a dramatic expansion in the adoption and success of regenerative grazing systems in North Carolina and the Southeast.

We are proud to be part of a big win for North Carolina kids. Governor Roy Cooper has signed HB 272 into law. That means more than 30,000 North Carolina children are newly protected from lead in drinking water, and North Carolina has become first state in the South with a drinking water lead hazard level for children below 15 ppb.

This law is yet another a victory in primary prevention. It stops lead poisoning before children are exposed, particularly in childcare settings.

Congratulations to our client NC Child and their partners at RTI International, NC DHHS, the NC Conservation Network, and Environment NC for shepherding this legislation through. Our student teams conducted research as well as policy and legal analysis to help protect our state’s youngest children.

Read more about HB 272 on NC Child’s blog: https://ncchild.org/h272-lead-prevention/.

Read more about the Clinic’s earlier, award-winning work as part of a partnership to prevent lead exposure from drinking water in childcare centers in our post on the Duke Law blog. https://law.duke.edu/news/environmental-law-and-policy-clinic-plays-key-role-program-honored-2020-roy-award/

NC’s Lead poisoning prevention law makes drinking water safer for kids - NC Child New legislation would move NC one step closer to ending childhood lead poisoning! H272 means cleaner drinking water and safer childcare centers for 30K young children. Read more on NC Child's blog.

Our youth clients Emily, Arya and Hallie are demanding overdue action from North Carolina leaders tomorrow. They support moving SELC's petition forward to begin the rulemaking necessary for North Carolina to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The NC Environmental Management Commission’s Air Quality Committee will discuss it Tuesday morning.

A bold, science-based step towards climate change mitigation in North Carolina Emily Liu, Arya Pontula, and Hallie Turner, Youth Petitioners The petition will be considered by the North Carolina Environmental…

In Spring 2021, our students dug into energy policy, plastic pollution, lead exposure, hazardous waste, and a host of other widely varied environmental issues with curiosity, innovation, excellence and a commitment to justice. Read all about it! https://bit.ly/2S2y9o9

Congratulations to our Clinic alums who received their Public Interest and Public Service Certificates from Duke Law School!

Honoring our recent graduates who received their Public Interest and Public Service (PIPS) Law Certificates at the graduation ceremony held by the Duke Law Office of Public Interest and Pro Bono on May 13.🎓👏