CLE Lecture Series with Professor David Uhlmann
September 20, 2017
"The Fate of Environmental Law during the Trump Administration"
Professor David Uhlmann, Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Program at the University of Michigan Law School presented a Continuing Legal Education lecture titled “The Fate of Environmental Law during the Trump Administration,” on September 20th at the University of New Mexico School of Law.
Professor Uhlmann’s lecture analyzed the historical trends in prosecutorial discretion and environmental crime over the past two decades, and discussed the possible effects of President Trump’s proposed policies that vow to undo many of the environmental regulations implemented during the past administration. However, the environmental challenges we face predate the current administration: for more than 25 years, the United States has retreated from the bipartisan support that created the modern environmental law system and allowed the fate of the environment to become yet another topic of partisan discord. There are practical impediments to overturning past legislation and regulations, which should present formidable obstacles to the Trump administration’s intentions during this four-year term.
Professor Uhlmann stressed the need is for a broad-based, bi-partisan social movement to protect the environment.
About the Speaker
David Uhlmann is the Jeffrey F. Liss Professor from Practice, director of the Environmental Law and Policy Program at the University of Michigan Law School, and a Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Sustainability at the University of Michigan.
Since joining the Michigan Law faculty in 2007, Professor Uhlmann has published in numerous law reviews and journals and authored op-eds for The New York Times. He leads the Environmental Crimes Project, the first comprehensive empirical study of criminal enforcement under U.S. pollution laws.
Professor Uhlmann served for 17 years at the U.S. Department of Justice, the last seven as chief of the Environmental Crimes Section. He received a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. in history with high honors from Swarthmore College.
