About Top 10
Each year, VJEL publishes 10 articles that are considered the “Top 10” most pressing environmental law issues of the year. These articles are co-authored by 10 of our Staff Editors and their selected faculty member or co-author. Staff Editors typically select a faculty member that has extensive knowledge or experience in the field they are looking to write about. Over the course of the fall semester, Staff Editors and their faculty member or co-author will meet and draft an article incorporating the anticipated effects of a particular environmental issue as well as providing creative solutions to that issue. Through this collaborative writing assignment, students have the opportunity to further refine their writing and researching skills.
Tracking the Biden Administration's whole-of-Government Approach to Equity and Environmental Justice
VJEL Staff Editor: Zachary Handelman
Faculty Member: Amy Laura Cahn
In early January 2021, President Biden issued two executive orders which aim to radically address racial equity and climate change at the federal level. These orders apply to all federal agencies and departments, and leave many questions unanswered. It will be important to track how agencies plan to undertake these historic mandates.
State by State: Setting Farmed Animal Welfare Standards
VJEL Staff Editor: Bailey Soderberg
Faculty Member: Pamela Vesilind
The National Flood Insurance Program and the Growing Cost of Natural Disasters in the Era of Climate Change
VJEL Staff Editor: Cameron Briggs Ramos
Faculty Member: John Echeverria
Environmental and Economic Equity in the Electric Vehicle Revolution
VJEL Staff Editor: Apryl Larkin
Faculty Member: Jenny Carter
Ecocide: Can the International Criminal Court Hold Polluters Accountable for Mass Environmental Destruction?
VJEL Staff Editor: Rajeev Venkat
Faculty Member: Emily Spiegel
Biden's 30x30 Executive Order: Challenges and Prospects for Natural Resource Conservation
VJEL Staff Editor: Daniel Lee
Faculty Member: Hillary Hoffman
The United Nations Food System Summit: the Milestone, the Fallout, and Looking Ahead
VJEL Staff Editor: Mackenzie Bindas
Faculty Member: Laurie Beyranevand
Beyond the Fence-line: SCOTUS Grants Petition Challenging the EPA's Authority to Regulate Coal-fired Emissions
VJEL Staff Editor: Kevin McElfresh
Faculty Member: Pat Parenteau
Running Dry: An Emptying Hourglass on Biden's Climate Goals
VJEL Staff Editor: Adam Washburne
Faculty Member: Kevin Jones
Up Next for Infrastructure: All Eyes on Federal Agencies
VJEL Staff Editor: Sandra Santiago
Faculty Member: Jennifer Rushlow
Message from the Director
Jennifer Rushlow, Director of the Environmental Law Center
As I reflect on where we are today, as compared to the release of last year’s Top 10 Watch List, the trope “the more things change, they more they stay the same” comes to mind. A year ago we were in peak crisis mode. Life had ground to a halt as the Covid vaccine was not yet available to the general public, and we had fallen even farther behind on tamping down the worst effects of climate change during the Trump presidency.
We hoped that the Biden presidency would bring change, and certainly we’ve seen some progress. This fall saw the passage of ambitious legislation, much of which seeks to address climate change and environmental inequity. And yet, we left COP26 underwhelmed. The climate summit’s president, Alok Sharma, summed it up: “I think today we can say with credibility that we’ve kept 1.5 within reach. But its pulse is weak, and we will only survive if we keep our promises.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
We are making progress, but not fast enough. We continue to be in a watch and wait mode as we see what the Biden administration will do with its executive powers now that its legislative agenda has advanced. With even higher stakes, we brace ourselves for what the newly stacked U.S. Supreme Court will do with the environmental and myriad social issues before the justices this term.
Less present on this list are the private actions—sometimes out of view for us litigation and policy hawks—that many companies are taking to address climate change even as our national political and legal system seems to swing wildly back and forth between administrations. It’s an apt reminder that politics is a lot, but it’s not everything, as we keep our eye on the big picture in 2022.