2026 ELPAR & ELI Conference
Each year, Vanderbilt Law School and the Environmental Law Institute invite leading professors, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss the proposals selected from the environmental law and policy academic literature.
Environmental Law Policy Annual Review
The Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review (ELPAR) is a law class that produces a joint publication between Vanderbilt Law School and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) — an internationally recognized, non-partisan research and education center based in Washington, D.C. working to strengthen environmental protection by improving law and governance worldwide.
Each year, Vanderbilt Law School students work with their course instructors, an expert advisory board and senior staff from ELI to identify some of the best environmental law and policy proposals in the legal academic literature. The result is a one issue, student-edited volume that includes condensed versions of the articles along with expert commentaries. ELPAR is published each August in the Environmental Law Reporter and is available for free online. Several of the selected articles are presented each year at a conference in Washington, D.C. in which ELPAR students participate. The conference is typically attended by representatives from businesses, state and federal government agencies, think tanks, trade associations and non-profit organizations.
ELPAR is designed to bring ideas from the academy to policymakers and practitioners, as well as recognize and incentivize scholars to write articles that include creative and feasible law and policy proposals. At the same time, ELPAR seeks to provide a first-rate educational experience to law students interested in environmental law and policy.
The 2025-26 ELPAR Award Winners
Event Recaps
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The EELU 2026 State of the Environment Conference
The Fourth-Annual State of the Environment Conference, held by the Vanderbilt Law School’s Energy, Environment, and Land Use (EELU) Program, took place on January 21 at Vanderbilt Law School. Faculty, policymakers, and experts discussed major environmental issues in the Southeast. Supported by the Sally Shallenberger Brown Program Fund, the conference consisted of five panels, followed by a networking reception.
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ELPAR’s 2025 Nashville Conference Explores the Implications of Re-conceptualizing Soil Governance as a Common Resource Problem
The Environmental Law & Policy Annual Review (ELPAR) hosted its annual Nashville Conference, which featured Sarah Fox, Associate Professor of Law at the Marquette University Law School. The conference centered on Professor Fox’s ELPAR-recognized article: “Soil Governance and Private Property,” which was previously published in the Utah Law Review and was selected as part of ELPAR’s 2024-2025 top 20 environmental law and policy articles.
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The Greens’ Dilemma: Building Tomorrow’s Climate Infrastructure Today
To implement the massive scale of new infrastructure urgently required to achieve needed reductions in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, a new approach is called for that emphasizes decarbonization by prioritizing permitting speed and climate impact at least as much as conservation and equity. How can streamlining methods be leveraged more comprehensively and effectively to achieve these goals?
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2024 ELPAR & ELI Conference
The 2024 ELPAR Local Conference in Nashville invited a panel of leading policymakers, practitioners, and professors to discuss Going Concerns and Environmental Concerns: Mitigating Climate Change Through Bankruptcy Reform by Alexander Gouzoules. The article was selected for an honorable mention in this year's ELPAR.
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2023 EELU Distinguished Lecture on Climate Change Governance
Roger Martella, GE's Chief Sustainability Officer, emphasized the importance of private-sector solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the 2023 Distinguished Lecture on Climate Change Governance.
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Designing Effective Border Carbon Adjustment Mechanisms Webinar
Aligning the Global Trade and Climate Change Regimes
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2023 ELPAR & ELI Conference
Each year, Vanderbilt Law School and the Environmental Law Institute identify innovative environmental law and policy proposals in the academic literature. Leading professors, policymakers, and practitioners were invited to discuss the proposals selected this year.