Vermont Law School Podcasts

The following MP3 was recorded on September 6, 2007.

Jonathan H. Adler, M. Reed Hopper, Patrick A. Parenteau, Robert V. Percival, Steven J. Eagle

In the 2006 plurality decision in Rapanos v. United States, the Supreme Court limited the scope of the Clean Water Act’s protection of “navigable waters” to only include those bodies of water that are “permanent, standing or continuously flowing,” and thus did not apply to channels through which water flows only some of the time. In the wake of the Rapanos decision, Rep. James Oberstar (MN) has sponsored the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 that would “fix the Clean Water Act,” according to the Congressman’s website. This legislation would allow the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to enforce the Clean Water Act on wetlands, streams and ponds that are not part of a major “navigable” waterway.

http://www.fed-soc.org/publications/pubid.370/pub_detail.asp

6/26/2007 - Hot Topics Lecture by Oliver Houck

The rise and fall of coastal Louisiana, and whether we can put it back together again. A story of nature, hubris, heroic engineering, unpardonable errors, and willful ignorance. Which brings us to a crossroads: more heroic feats of engineering. Or … what?

http://it.vermontlaw.edu/HTLectures07/HTJun26_2007.mp3

http://it.vermontlaw.edu/HTLectures07/HTJune26_2007_postLecture.mp3

6/21/2007 - Hot Topics lecture by Jack Tuholske

This talk will address Montana’s constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, the strongest provision of any state constitution, as it has been defined by the Montana Courts.  Tuholske will touch upon a number of pending cases in the areas of land use, tort law, and air quality.

http://it.vermontlaw.edu/HTLectures07/HT_Jun21_2007.mp3

6/19/2007 - Hot Topics Lecture by Randy Hill

In April, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 to allow Clean Air Act lawsuits files by the United States against coal-fired electric utilities to go forward.  These suits seek installation of modern pollution control equipment to limit emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.  Hill, who helps to oversee EPA’s Clean Air Act enforcement efforts, will analyze the decision and its impact on clean air.

http://it.vermontlaw.edu/HTLectures07/HotTopicsJune19_2007-24.mp3

Hot Topics Lecture by Professor Martha Judy, recorded June 14, 2007

The Supreme Court sent polluters who voluntarily clean up contaminated sites into a tailspin in 2004. Learn how the Court may restore voluntary cleanup now that the issue is back in U.S. v. Atlantic Research.

http://it.vermontlaw.edu/HTLectures07/HT_Jun14_2007.mp3

Ornithologist Rosalind Renfrew explains how research on the wintering grounds of the bobolink, a South American bird that breeds in North America, is prompting collaborative efforts to ban a pesticide. She will present an ornithologist’s view of this spawning endeavor to use scientific findinsg on a “canary in a coal mine” to achieve conservation through policy.

http://it.vermontlaw.edu/HTLectures07/HT_Jun12_2007.mp3

6/7/07- Broad-scale cumulative effects have led to regional efforts to gain broader understanding of ecosystem processes and interrelationships upon which to base land use management strategies. A systematic step-down assessment process can provide needed context for priority setting and decision making at each level, ensuring more efficient on-the-ground management investments.

http://it.vermontlaw.edu/HTLectures07/HT_Jun07_2007.mp3

6/5/2007 - In Puget Sound, Chinook salmon are both an icon and a major problem. An icon, because they historically were a vital part of native cultures, and today because they symbolize values of wildness. A problem, because their habitat intertwines so closely with a vast urban and suburban landscape, and they are protected under the Endangered Species Act. A tour of salmon country: what Chinook mean to the Northwest, and what their future might be.

http://it.vermontlaw.edu/HTLectures07/HT_Jun05_2007.mp3