Cross-Pollination PIELC brings together 4,000 people with one thing in common. BY TED TAYLOR It's roundup time again. UO law students are corralling thousands of attorneys, activists and students stampeding toward Eugene for the 24th annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) on campus. The four-day gathering with a theme of "Toward a Global Public Trust" begins Thursday afternoon, March 2 and wraps up early Sunday afternoon. Many of the panel discussions, workshops and keynote talks this year will reflect the big issues of the day, such as the politics of theology, eco-sabotage, endangered species protection, sustainability and the Biscuit fire management controversy. Most events are held at the Law School at 15th and Agate or at the Erb Memorial Union at 13th and University. Registration is "highly encouraged" at www.pielc.org or at the Law School. Many events are open to walk-ins, but the coordinators say registration by community members helps pay next year's expenses. As is traditional, four law students are splitting up the duties of coordinating the ambitious event: Pam Hardy, Brianna Tindall, Rob Schwartz and Morgan Dethman. The four oversee a large group of volunteers handling housing, transportation, child care, tabling, continuing education, special events and technology. Coordinators are Morgan Dethman, Rob Schwartz, Pam Hardy and Brianna Tindall. About 120 panels are planned, led by experts in their fields from 50 countries. "We tried to reduce the number this year to 80 to 100 to try to get just the highest quality panels," says Tindall, "but every time we'd get a suggestion we'd say, 'We can't pass that one up. That sounds fantastic.' There are so many topics to cover." It's impossible for everyone to attend every event, so the sessions will be recorded and CDs will be available during and after the conference. The event tends to draw little local media attention, but environmental writers from all over the country attend to find out the latest news, and gather fodder for stories all year. "This is the place where people talk about the cutting edge in environmental science and law," says Hardy. "We're just shepherding it." In addition to the panels and keynote speeches will be workshops, multimedia presentations addressing the entire spectrum of environmental law and advocacy. Topics include: forest protection and ecological restoration, grazing and mining reform, labor and human rights, air and water pollution, Native American treaty rights, globalization and "free" trade, environmental justice, corporate responsibility, marine wilderness, international environmental law, water rights and dam removal, oil and gas litigation, genetic engineering, and urban growth. A lot of planning this year, says Hardy, was on "more varied legally focused, activist-related informational panels, rather than 'This is why we need to save the following endangered species.' The people who are coming here are already convinced that saving endangered species is a good idea. This is a more practical application." "But we wanted other panels too," says Schwartz, "for the undergraduate students and community people who do not have a lot of interest in specific legal panels." One such panel Saturday morning is "Running as an Outsider" with Pete Sorenson and Scott Silver talking about challenging "an entrenched anti-environmental incumbent." Another panel Friday afternoon is on "Ecofeminism" with Chaone Mallorty, Katie Lynch and Janet Fiskio. Hardy says what makes the PIELC work so well is the "combination of different minds and different thoughts. If you had a conference that was just on land use you wouldn't get this kind of cross-pollination of ideas. We have land use people, public lands people, wildlife people, arctic wildlife people, U.S.-Mexico border people and tribal people from all over the Americas." John Bonine, UO law professor and co-founder of the PIELC with Mike Axline, says the conference has evolved over the decades as a powerful "tool for change" in the environmental movement. The consensus to abandon tree-spiking as a form of protest, for example, came out of the PIELC, he says, along with the concepts of environmental justice and environmental racism. The Eugene-based Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (E-LAW) was also born out of the PIELC, he says. Keynote speakers this year include: Dinah Bear (noon Saturday, EMU) is general counsel of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Executive Office of the President. She has chaired the Standing Committee on Environmental Law of the American Bar Association and the Steering Committee of the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Division of the District of Columbia Bar. In her role at CEQ she has been a long time supporter of the landmark environmental law the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). She will discuss long-term strategies for legislation in support of environmental quality. Alfred Lahai Brownell (7 pm Thursday, EMU) is the president and founder of the Association of Environmental Lawyers of Liberia (Green Advocates), based in Monrovia. "This group, though inconspicuous in terms of 'blowing their own horns,' remains the bulwark between a country of lawlessness and a free people of liberty ruled by justice for all," writes The Analyst, a leading Liberian newspaper. Brownell is leading campaigns to reform Liberia's forest sector and helped win imposition of U.N. Security Council sanctions on Liberia's timber exports, and a U.N. travel ban on corrupt government officials and business partners of former president Charles Taylor. Margie Eugene-Richard (7 pm Saturday, EMU) was the first African American to win the Goldman Environ-mental Prize for her activism in the Gulf Coast against Shell Oil. She teamed up with environmentalists and researchers to release a report that showed that the Shell refinery in Norco releases more than 2 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the air each year. Thanks to Richards' campaign, Shell agreed to reduce its emissions by 30 percent and improve its emergency evacuation routes. The company also agreed to pay $5 million for community development and voluntary relocation costs for residents who lived near the plant. Richard's success in Norco has been an inspiring example for activists nationwide battling environmental racism in their own backyards. M.C. Mehta (7 pm Saturday, EMU) is one of India's foremost public interest environmental attorneys, and possibly one of the most world's most well-known and effective environmental lawyers. Mehta has almost single-handedly won more than 40 landmark decisions in the Indian Supreme Court and played a key role in persuading India's Supreme Court to rule that Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees each citizen the "right to life," necessarily includes the "right to a healthy environment." Through his litigation, the court has protected millions of Indian citizens and has forced tens of thousands of factories to comply with environmental laws. Evon Peter (noon Saturday, EMU) is the former chief of Neetsaii Gwich'in from Arctic Village in northeastern Alaska. He is co-chair of the Gwich'in Council International, chairman of the Native Movement, and on the executive board of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council. Peter is a well-recognized advocate of indigenous people's rights and has represented indigenous interests within the U.N. and Arctic Council. His work has also been crucial to the success of the Native Energy Campaign, which seeks to educate tribal leaders about renewable energy. Dr. David W. Orr (noon Friday, EMU) is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College. He is the recipient of a Bioneers Award (2003), the Lyndhurst Prize, and the Benton Box Award (2005). He was named "an Environmental Hero for 2004" by Interiors & Sources Magazine. Orr is contributing editor of Conservation Biology and has authored five books. He is also an advisor and consultant to the Trust for Public Land, the National Parks Advisory Committee, and other organizations. Antonio A. Oposa, Jr. (7 pm Friday with Colleen McCrory, EMU) pioneered the practice of environmental law in the Philippines and is one of Asia's leading voices in the international arena of environmental law. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a professor of environmental law at the UP College of Law and the Philippine Judicial Academy. In an action to halt illegal logging, one of Antonio's cases established the right to sue on behalf of future generations. He received the highest U.N. environmental award, the Environmental Programme (UNEP) Global 500 Roll of Honor. He is also the author of two internationally acclaimed books. Zygmunt Plater (noon Sunday, Law 175), a professor of law at the Boston College Law School brought the snail darter to the nation's attention. He was instrumental in spearheading the Endangered Species Act litigation that closed the Tellico dam and established the ESA as an important tool for protecting biological diversity. Over the past 25 years, he has been involved with environmental protection and land use regulation. Plater has published articles on topics in environmental law, private and public rights in land and resources, equitable discretion, administrative law and related fields. R. James Woolsey (noon Saturday, EMU) is a long time advisor and actor on national security matters and an outspoken advocate for biodiesel, ethanol and industrial hemp. He has 12 years of government service under two Democrat and two Republican governments. He was the first director of the CIA under President Clinton, and is currently the co-chairman (with former Secretary of State George Shultz) of the Committee on the Present Danger. He was under secretary of the Navy for President Carter, and a delegate to the U.S.– Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks in Geneva for President Reagan. He is presently a consultant for both public and private organizations on the state of international affairs, and how to prepare for business in such a volatile environment. Woolsey will speak on the nexus between natural security and national security.
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