Discussion - 2 hours. May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with professor's permission. The "nation-state" of California has for many years been a national and global leader in environmental law and policy. This seminar course will provide a survey of key California environmental law and policy issues. Those issues include the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); coastal planning and regulation; renewable energy law and policy; California's leadership role regarding the law of global warming/climate change; property rights and the environment; the ecosystem crisis affecting the California Delta; Proposition 65 (the Safe Drinking Water & Toxic Enforcement Act); the public trust doctrine; and environmental federalism (i.e., the respective California and federal roles in environmental regulation). A special feature of this course will be a number of guest speakers on the above topics, including practicing environmental attorneys, judges, policymakers and non-legal experts (e.g., scientists and economists). The course grade for this class will be based primarily on a student paper, in lieu of a final exam. The course will likely include a field trip to UC Davis’ Tahoe Environmental Research Center at Lake Tahoe to bring students into direct contact with some of the resources and issues being studied.
Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance policy.