audio files of occasional, exceptional presentations at VLS
8/1/06 Hot Topics Lecture by Lea Swanson.
Drawing on fieldwork in Bolivia, Africa, and Papua New Guinea, Swanson will explore the challenges and opportunities of a global NGO working with business, government, and local NGos to make a positive contribution to advancing sustainable development.
7/25/06 Hot Topics Lecture by Scott McCreary.
California’s Marine Life Protection Act calls for creation of a statewide network of Marine Protected Areas by 2011. A state-private partnership supports this effort, with California’s biologically diverse and politically contentious Central Coast as the pilot study area.
7/20/06 Hot Topics Lecture by Peter Van Tuyn.
The 2005 fight to protect the Arctic Refuge was won in the face of incredible odds. An overview of the legal, media, and grassroots efforts that upset universal truths on Capitol Hill and resulted in a huge defeat for the Bush administration and pro-drillers in Congress, with up-to-the-minute news on the effort to drill this year.
7/19/06 Hot Topics Lecture by Ian Dodge.
In world trade talks, Europe and Japan are often accused of unfairly subsidizing their farmers. They say that they’re using agricultural policies in support of the environment and other public goods. Is the relationship between agriculture and the environment different in Old World countries?
7/18/06 Hot Topics Lecture by Cynthia Henry.
Has the journalistic inclination to seek “balance” on global warming misrepresented scientific uncertainty to the advantage of those opposed to curbing greenhouse gases? Is the public now informed or more confused? This lecture will address how American journalists have struggled to cover an issue that defies the norms of breaking news.
7/13/06 Hot Topics Lecture by Kim Connolly and Patrick Parenteau.
Rapanos v. U.S. and Carabell v. Army Corps of Engineers address the extent of federal jurisdiction over wetlands and tributaries. Do these decisions protend a radical overhaul of federal environmental law or just tinkering at the edges?
7/11/06 Hot Topics Lecture by David Mears and Randy Hill.
Three cases provide the first opportunity to see how the Court will deal with statutory interpretation and the commerce clause in environmental cases. The first, S.D. Warren v. Maine Board of Env’l Protection, addresses state authority under the CWA to require water quality certifications when hydropower dams are relicensed.
6/29/06 Hot Topics Lecture by Tammara Van Ryn.
Congress and the IRS have increased their scrutiny of nonprofits, with a focus on tax deductions for donating conservation easements. The IRS has taken a more activist role, and the land trust community has responded by developing a self-regulation program.
6/27/06 Hot Topics Lecture by Tom Henry.
The near-rupture of Davis-Besse’s reactor in 2002 reinvigorated anti-nuclear activists. The nuclear industry fought to keep the public from thinking of this safety lapse as business as usual. How did the NRC allow itself to get snookered by a utility that puts profits ahead of safety in an era of deregulation?
6/22/06 Hot Topics Lecture by Bob Irvin.
The debate over renewal of the ESA is coming to a head. The House has passed a bill introduced by Richard Pombo that would drastically alter the conservation of endangered species. Key senators are negotiating possible changes to the ESA. This is an inside look at the negotiations, an analysis of the Pombo bill, and predictions of what will happen next.
