Closing Statement. Holding to Values

• Author: Scott Fulton
• Position: President
• Pages: 64-64

64 | THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, November/December 2021.

Copyright © 2021, Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. www.eli.org.

ELI REPORT

THE TUMULT of the last two

years brought a good deal of



work. The pandemic not only

changed our mode of working but also

underscored key issues and divisions

that connect with traditional ELI values

like the commitment to sound science

as a foundation for decisionmaking and

the belief in the concept of objective

facts based on evidence. These same

values of course also connect rather

strongly with another animating current

these days — the pressing, existential

concerns about climate change and the

intensifying collapse of species.

The rancid politics, disinformation,

and lawlessness leading up to and fol-

lowing our last election cycle collided

with other key ELI values like respect

for governance systems and the funda-

mental importance of rule of law. And

the issue of race, driven by searing imag-

es of murder on our streets and the rise

of a brazen and virulent tide of white

supremacy, re-riveted our focus on the

vital importance of equal protection

under the law — also a key ELI value.

The turbulence around us led to a

good deal of serious dialogue with our

board and our staff, parsing such ques-

tions as what it means to be “non-par-

tisan” and “non-activist” — key dimen-

sions of the traditional ELI identity — in

such calamitous circumstances. We



current vision statement, committing

the Institute to the pursuit of a “healthy

environment, prosperous economies,

and vibrant communities, founded on

the rule of law”; and at our mission

statement, calling for us to foster “inno-

vative, just, and practical law and policy

solutions” to enable leaders “across

borders and sectors” to make “environ-

mental, economic, and social progress.”

We have discussed the centrality of the

environmental piece of this equation

and the reality that the only healthy en-

vironment is one that is both sustainable

and broadly accessible.

There has also been considerable

discussion about when ELI should raise

its voice in the face of what we see. As

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Race and Environmental Justice and our

various press releases and commentary

on the Capitol insurrection, the de-

structive power of disinformation, and

the like, we have tried to do this. Some

within our community may wish we had

said more; others may wish we had said

less. But a key teaching from this time is

that remaining objective does not mean

the same thing as being neutral, espe-

cially when fundamental values are at

stake. Indeed, in such circumstances, to

insist on complete neutrality is to risk

ambivalence, or worse, complicity.



something of a sacred space within the

environmental continuum that all parts

of the continuum seem to value, and

when and how we express ourselves

needs to protect that sacred space.

ELI is a big tent that includes the full

continuum of actors. Most within our

community are engaged in advocacy in

various forms. Advocacy is of course

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by which the integrity of environmental

decisions is tested.

But also important are those who

strive to point toward the objective

facts and bring understanding that can

inform advocacy and policy debate,

endeavoring to offer independent as-

sessment, balanced education, and a

nonpolitical meeting place where dif-

ferent factions can come to understand

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that ELI has occupied through the ages,

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bit as important as more direct forms of

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gives ELI legitimacy as that kind of place.

As most of you know by now, my

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to a close. I asked the board at the

end of last year to start the process of

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up more complete residency in Rome,

where my wife, Sasha, is working. That

process appears to now be fast ap-

proaching its conclusion. As it happens,

we are also arriving at the endpoint of

the time horizon for the ELI Strategic



on the job.

Putting together the next chapter

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

Given the troubled waters that we

are passing through, I am quite certain

that this question of ELI values will

feature prominently in that strategic

update. And, because the values ELI



values of ELI-the-organization, but also

values toward which we might hope

the entire ELI community would be

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views and perspectives will be sought

in that process. Please be ready to roll

up your sleeves when the request for

input comes!

Scott Fulton

PRESIDENT

Holding to Values

Closing Statement