Preface

• Author: Robin Kundis Craig/Stephen R. Miller
• Pages: 9-11

ix

Preface

is is the second book published by the Environmental Law C ollaborative

(ELC), an aliation of environmental law professors that began in 2011. e

aspirations of the ELC were well-summarized by Profs. Jessica Owley and

Keith Hirokawa in their preface to t he ELC’s rst book, Rethinking Sustain-

ability to Meet the Climate Change Challenge (ELI Press 2015):

Inspired by early conferences at Airlie House (particula rly the 1969 confer-

ence that gave birth to the Env ironmental Law Institute), the group created a

forum to br ing together our fellow researchers to discu ss and make progre ss

on pressing environmental concerns. e ELC seek s to foster progress toward

an adaptive, conscious, and equitable governance of actions that impact loca l

and global ecologie s by engaging t he contemporary discourse. To adv ance

society a nd secure welfare, locally a nd globally, we must be prepared to face

divisive issue s that confront our environment. Assuming our stren gth lies in

the democratic development a nd conrmation of values and priorities, our

citizenry must be willing and capable of understanding the circumstances and

alternatives that fa ce our natural su rroundings. It has be come increasingly

apparent t hat although environmental polic y is bene ted by a robust drive

for the dissemination of in formation, environmental policy i s also inuenced

by strategic misinform ation and eective use of persuasive communicat ion.

e ELC facilitates dialog among thought leaders on sustainable policy priori-

ties, practical implementation strategies, assessment mechani sm, and co op-

erative an alysis of science, economics, and eth ics. e core f unctions served

by t his group are: (1)collaborative research and analysi s of law and polic y

questions that i mplicate the i ntegrity of eco systems; (2) production of lit-

erature t hat reects the insights from the collaboration and ma kes laws and

policy recommendations that may be targeted to specic entities or for broad-

based consideration; and (3)eective dissemination of work product when

and where it may produce meaning ful and considered action.1

Since the ELC’s creation, it has engaged in two signicant series of collab-

orations. e rst series of collaborations arose out of the ELC’s rst meeting

in July 2012 in Chester, Connecticut. Over three days, the ELC participants

discussed the meaning of sustainability in the face of climate change. Par-

ticipants spurred these discussions by raising issues of signicance from a

1. J O  K H. H, R S  M  C C

C ix-xi (2015).