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October 8, 2008
STATE BAR ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES GLOBAL WARMING TASK
FORCE
Panel to Address Climate Change; Educate Citizens
and Public Officials on Ways to Reduce its Impact
The New York State Bar
Association today announced the creation of a Task Force on Global
Warming to address the profound impact climate change is having on our
natural environment and ecosystems. Created by Association President Bernice K. Leber (Arent Fox
LLP) to address one of her key presidential initiatives, the task force
will identify specific areas of legal reform needed to combat global
warming, with an eye toward educating policy-makers and the broader
public about its far-reaching effects.
“From the air we
breathe to the water we drink, climate change has had a dramatic impact
on our quality of life as well as the quality of our environment,”
said Leber. “This task force
harnesses the knowledge of climate studies and environmental science
professionals with the goal of advancing comprehensive proposals to
preserve and protect our vital natural resources in a manner that
encourages conservation while keeping New
Yorkeconomically
competitive for future generations.”
The task force will
review New
York Statestatutes and regulations, taking into account the existing and
pending federal laws and local initiatives, in order to address the
current global warming crisis. Through
its systematic analyses, the task force also will provide additional
opportunities to better inform legislators, the legal profession and
citizens about climate change issues.
After careful review, the
task force will prepare a report that covers the current state of the
law and will recommend any appropriate reforms with the aim of ensuring
that our laws, policies and practices are designed in a constructive
manner to reduce profound climate changes. The report also will address efforts to reduce the impact of
climate change at the local level.
The Task Force on Global
Warming will be chaired by Michael B. Gerrard (Arnold & Porter LLP)
and will be co-sponsored by the Association’s Environmental Law
Section, chaired by Joan Leary Matthews, Associate Commissioner of the
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
As technology has
advanced, so too has the risk that greenhouse gas emissions, associated
with industrialization and strong economic growth from a world
population that has increased six-fold in 200 years, are increasing
global warming at a rate that has become unsustainable in the
long-term. In 1994, the
Association’s Environmental Law Section reported on the steps
that New
Yorkand its citizens
should take to address climate change. In 1998, the section updated its report and again issued a call
to action.
The members of the
Association’s Task Force on Global Warming are:
- Michael B. Gerrard (Arnold
& Porter LLP), Chairman;
- David Driesen, Professor,
Syracuse
Law School;
- Veronica Eady
Famira , New
YorkLawyers for the Public
Interest;
- J. Kevin Healy
(BryanCave LLP);
- Katrina Kuh,
Professor, Hofstra Law School;
- Edward Lloyd,
Professor, Columbia Law School;
- Eileen Millett (Gibbons
P.C.);
- David Paget (Sive, Paget &
Riesel, P.C.);
- Virginia Robbins (Bond,
Schoeneck & King PLLC);
- Patricia Salkin,
Professor, Albany Law School;
- James Sevinsky, Executive
Counsel, General Electric; and
- James Van Nostrand,
Executive Director, Energy and Climate Center at Pace Law School.
The 74,000-member New York
State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in
the nation. Founded in 1876, the Association’s programs and
activities have continuously served the public and improved the justice
system for more than 130 years.
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