The Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Bluhm Legal Clinic’s Environmental Advocacy Center (EAC) works with communities and professional advocates to address some of the most pressing environmental and energy issues facing our region and planet. The EAC takes on cases and environmental projects that offer unparalleled opportunities for students to practice lawyering and advocacy, and contribute uniquely to environmental problem-solving. The EAC’s diverse docket of projects is organized in three primary issue-areas: (1) environmental justice in Chicagoland; (2) climate change and energy policy advocacy in Illinois; and (3) the protection and restoration of natural resources through litigation and regulatory advocacy under federal environmental statutes. By partnering with leading environmental justice organizations, like the Southeast Environmental Taskforce, People for Community Recovery, and Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, and with key environmental organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Law and Policy Center, World Wildlife Fund, and Elevate Energy, the EAC extends its impact as well as opportunities for students.
Students in the EAC pursue environmental solutions through a broad range of strategies: litigation, administrative proceedings, legislative and rule-making proceedings, public advocacy, and media. “Environmental attorneys can be called on to deploy nearly every tool in the legal toolbox – from litigation, to counseling and dealmaking, from crafting common law claims to disentangling Byzantine statutory and regulatory requirements,” notes EAC Director Rob Weinstock, “and therefore environmental lawyers must be comfortable in every type of forum – be it courts, agencies, legislatures or the public forum. The EAC designs its docket to train students to be just the sort of dynamic and multifaceted environmental lawyer who can succeed in any setting.” Working with attorneys, scientists, economists, and legislative experts, and participating directly on cases and in a weekly seminar, students learn to assess environmental issues as part of interdisciplinary teams and to collaboratively develop and implement solutions that work.
