Origins of Environmental Law

DESCRIPTION: In the 1970s, over the course of a single decade, the U.S. Congress enacted a series of environmental laws that defined the direction and character of environmental policy in the United States and globally. These include laws like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Superfund Act that shaped the environment as we know today, and that are still being used in ways that the writers never thought possible, such as to combat climate change. In fall 2014, Columbia University offered a new class dedicated to the process that led to these seminal laws, taught by the writers of the legislation themselves.

The Earth Institute, the School of Continuing Education and the School of International and Public Affairs sponsored a unique class on the Origins of Environmental Law: Regulation and Evolution. The class was taught by Leon G. Billings and Thomas C. Jorling, the two senior staff members who led the Senate environment subcommittee which originated and developed major environmental legislation in the 1970s, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Superfund Act. Students learned about a series of environmental laws that were enacted over the course of a single decade. They gained a unique opportunity to learn about the historical, legislative and political process that led to the implementation of these seminal laws from the writers of the legislation themselves.

The class covered everything from early environmental federalism to the nature of environmental politics today. Students examined critical issues that policymakers face, and looked at the role of the media, lobbyists, administration staff, partisanship and economics in the context of lawmaking. Billings and Jorling gave students firsthand knowledge about the structure and personalities of the members of the Senate environment subcommittee at the time.