Today, the most important environmental law and policy disputes are shaped in the crucible of constitutional law. This symposium, anchored by three keynote speakers, will convene leading scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to explore the confluence of constitutional and environmental law.

Over one-and-one-half days, expert panels will analyze and discuss current trends in the federal courts that affect the future of environmental protection, including:

• Citizen standing to bring environmental lawsuits, and other procedural issues that affect public interest litigation and access to courts;
• The constitutional status of state and regional initiatives to regulate greenhouse gases;
• The scope of Congressional authority to enact comprehensive environmental laws;
• The impact of preemption and related “federalism” arguments on environmental protection; and
• New and emerging constitutional theories that bear on the future of environmental protection.

Co-sponsored by U.C. Berkeley’s California Center for Environmental Law & Policy and the Environmental Law Institute, the symposium will be held at the University of California’s Washington Center in downtown Washington, DC. The event is open to policymakers, academics and law students, and practicing lawyers, as well as the general public.