CSTPR/IBS-ESP Noontime seminar
"The Role of the Judiciary in U.S. Climate Policy"
by Marilyn Averill
Center for Science & Technology Policy Research

November 16, 2009
12:00 pm
CIRES Auditorium
click here for directions

Marilyn Averill, Environmental Studies graduate student at the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, will give a talk on "The Role of the Judiciary in U.S. Climate Policy" on Monday, November 16, 2009. The talk will be from 12:00 - 1:00 pm in the CIRES Auditorium.

The talk is free and open to the public and will be held at the CIRES Auditorium. Click here for directions.

This will be a "brown bag seminar". Feel free to bring your lunches if you wish. This series is being co-sponsored by the CIRES Center for Science and Technology Policy Research and the Institute of Behavioral Science, Environment and Society Program.

Abstract: Over the last ten years plaintiffs have filed more than 100 lawsuits relating to climate change in U.S. courts.  Climate litigation presents new challenges to the courts, as these cases rely heavily on science that is rife with uncertainties and involve causes that are spatially and temporally removed from their impacts.  Impacts are incremental and develop gradually, with most effects projected well into the future.  Responsibility is diffused and costs and benefits are unevenly distributed.  Everyone is responsible for and everyone will be affected by climate change, but in varying degrees.  Congress has not yet provided clear direction on climate change, and many states are taking on regulatory roles that usually are played by the federal government.

Climate litigation showcases judicial views about the role of the courts in a democratic society.  Federal judges vary in their opinions about the role of the courts in setting or clarifying climate policy, and some decisions have focused more on who should decide these cases than on climate change itself.  Judges are considering the roles that the executive, legislative and judicial branches should play in resolving climate disputes, and how conflicts between state and federal policies and interests should be resolved.  Decisions in these cases control access to the federal courts on climate-related issues and can affect climate policy from the local to the international level.

This talk will analyze the opinions of six judges writing about a single case, Massachusetts v. EPA, the Supreme Court case involving climate change and the Clean Air Act.  The six opinions demonstrate the variability among judges about the role of the judiciary in contributing to national policy on climate change and, by extension, the role of the judiciary in addressing other complex polycentric issues.

Biography: Marilyn Averill is a doctoral student in Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado.  Her research interests focus on international environmental governance, the politics of science, and science and technology policy, particularly in the context of global climate change.  Her most recent work involves the use of science and the treatment of uncertainty in litigation relating to climate change, and the effects these cases may have on law, science, and policy. Before returning to graduate school, Marilyn was an attorney with the Office of the Solicitor, United States Department of the Interior, where she provided legal advice to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service.  She holds Master’s degrees in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government and in Educational Research and Evaluation Methodology from the University of Colorado, and a law degree from the University of Colorado.