The fields of energy law, environmental law, and land use law, while distinct, have increasingly become interconnected as law and policy domains. The curriculum at Vanderbilt Law School allows students to focus on any these fields individually or gain a broader exposure to their intersections.
First-year students are introduced to agencies, statutes, and the central role they play in the American legal system in The Regulatory State. This required course, along with Property Law and Torts, lays the groundwork for upper-level electives devoted to EELU topics:
| Energy Law | Environmental Law I: Public Environmental Governance |
| Environmental Law II: Private Environmental Governance | Land Use Planning |
| Energy & Environmental Federalism | Sustainable Cities |
| Water Law | Local Government Law |
The National Environmental Policy Act: Compliance & Litigation Short Course
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was the first major environmental law passed by Congress and remains the basic framework by which the federal government examines and accounts for the environmental consequences of its actions. This course trains students to critically assess federal agencies’ compliance with the obligations established by NEPA by learning the text of the statute, its implementing regulations, the review provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, and major relevant case law.
Climate change presents profound governance challenges from local to global scales. This seminar will broadly explore how public and private institutions are acting to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to limit the extent of climate change (mitigation) and to prepare for the effects of climate change that cannot be avoided (adaptation).
This seminar will focus in depth on the legal and governance issues surrounding the impending energy transition in the 21st century, which focuses on decarbonization of the energy sector. We will examine how throughout history energy transitions have sought to address society's dependence on legacy resources, while also attracting the capital necessary to promote new innovations.
Corporations spend over $100 billion per year on pollution control. An advanced environment law course available through Vanderbilt's Law and Business Program allows students to explore the effects of environmental law on corporate behavior. The course, co-taught by Michael Vandenbergh and Mark Cohen of the Owen Graduate School of Management, is open to law, business, and graduate students in environmental management studies.
Connect with the EELU Program coordinator.