Two Denver Law Environmental Experts, Professor Jan G. Laitos and Dr. Anita Halvorssen, to Speak at "Rule of Law for Nature" Conference in Norway

Two Denver Law environmental and natural resources law professors will be featured in the Rule of Law for Nature program, which is being organized by the Natural Resources Law Group at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo from May 9-11, 2012.

Professor Jan G. Laitos, John A. Carver Jr. Professor of Law, and Dr. Anita Halvorssen, Adjunct Professor of Law, will take part in the conference that marks the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration, the 30th anniversary of the UN World Charter for Nature and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the 25th anniversary of the Brundtland Report, and the 20th anniversary of both the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, and the UNCED Conventions: the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Professor Laitos' lecture is entitled, "A Right of 'Non-use' for Nature." Dr. Halvorssen and her co-presenter Ottavio Quirico of the European University Institute, will address "The Impact of Environmental Corporate Responsiblity Policies on Climate Related Border Tax Adjustments."

According to the University of Oslo Faculty of Law, "This is an appropriate point in time for reflection on the legal status of nature, how environmental goods and services are valued and taken into account in decision-making, and the implications of the rule of law in this respect."

The deadline for registration is April 1, 2012. More information about the conference can be accessed by clicking here.

Editor's note: The Faculty of Law building at the University of Oslo is shown above.

Environmental Law Clinic Director Michael Harris leads suit against Christo’s "Over the River" Project

Our very own Professor Michael Harris, Director of the Environmental Law Clinic, is leading several law students in a suit against Christo’s "Over the River" project. Last November, the project was approved by the Bureau of Land Management, which allows the project to hang 5.9 miles of aluminum-coated material over a 42 mile stretch of the Arkansas River in southern Colorado.

On behalf of a grassroots, all-volunteer citizen group, Rags Over the Arkansas River (ROAR), the suit was filed February 1st, 2012 by third-year law students Mason Brown and Justine Shepherd under the supervision of Professor Harris.

According to the suit, the project will be built almost entirely within federally designated Arkansas Canyonlands Area of critical environmental concern that will take 28 months to construct and 12 months to remove. The project will include intensive construction practices to implement, including heavy equipment normally found in mining and road construction (i.e. hydraulic drills, various types of excavators, cranes, grouters, water tanks, grout mixers, support trailers, steel rock anchors, and anchor frames). The group opposes the project due to environmental issues and dangers to the residents and visitors to the area.

For more information please click here.

Nadia B. Ahmad, Denver Law LLM Student, Chosen by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock for Human Rights and Community Relations Advisory Board

Nadia B. Ahmad, who is studying for an LLM in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law (ENRL) Graduate Program at the Sturm College of Law, has been appointed by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock to the city and county of Denver's Human Rights and Community Relations Advisory Board.

The Advisory Board advocates on issues and opportunities of the represented commissions and at-large constituency groups and communicates those to the Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations, which was established in 1948.

The Agency empowers communities to address local issues and strives to promote equal opportunity and protects the rights of all people regardless of race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability as well as works with the Agency regarding policies, goals and objectives that will affect the Agency and the constituents of the Commissions and at large groups.

Among the Commissions that are part of the Agency are: American Indian; African American; Asian Pacific; Aging, GLBT; Latino; People with Disabilities, and Women's.

Don Smith, Director of the ENRL Graduate Program, said, "Mayor Hancock's selection of Ms. Ahmad for this important position reflects his confidence in her judgment and experience. It is quite an honor for Ms. Ahmad. She will do an excellent job."

Ms. Ahmad practiced law in Florida before coming to Denver. She is a JD graduate of the University of Florida School of Law.

Denver Law and Natural Resources and Environmental Law Society to Host Colorado Renewable Energy Society Feb. 16; DU to Have 1st College Chapter

The Natural Resources and Environmental Law Society (NRELS) at Denver Law is excited to announce its alliance with the first college chapter of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES). The primary goal of the college chapter, known as DUCRES (pronounced “do-cress”), is to connect students and student organizations across the University of Denver’s campus with the growing renewable energy industry in Colorado.

Current CRES members can elect to be included in DUCRES provided they are part of the University of Denver community. This includes University of Denver staff, faculty, administrators, students, and recent alumni. Non-CRES members will have the opportunity to join at the February 16 event.

The event on February 16 will feature the Executive Director of CRES, Tony Frank, who will focus on efforts being made by CRES at the Colorado State Assembly and trends that are occurring in renewable energy incentives across the country. The public is encouraged to attend this event and anybody remotely interested in renewable energy should attend.

The free event, which will take place in room 165 of the Denver Law Ricketson Law Building, is from 6 to 8 p.m. February 16, 2012. Questions about DUCRES can be directed to Scott Thompson, sthompson12@law.du.edu.

Click here for a map to the DU campus and the Ricketson Law Building.

President Obama visits Buckley Air Force Base for an energy talk.

Highlighting key concepts of his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday January 24th, 2012 President Barack Obama came to Colorado's Buckley Air Force Base as part of a five-state tour. President Barack Obama briefly stopped at Aurora’s Buckley Air Force Base on Thursday January 26, 2012 to promote his concept of an “all of the above” energy strategy. The White House emphasized their push for clean-energy use on military bases and public facilities by choosing the Buckley Air Force Base as their location for the energy talk.

“Last year we relied less on foreign oil than any time in the past 16 years,” he said while speaking at a Buckley hangar. “But we’ve got to do more, because even if we tapped every drop of domestic oil, we’ve only got 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves,” the president added. “We’ve got to have an all-out, all-of-the above strategy, develop every available source of America energy, and it’s got to be a strategy that is cleaner and cheaper and will create all kinds of new jobs.”

Father Alphonsus Ihuoma, December 2011 LLM Graduate, Visits Sturm College of Law

It was a great pleasure to welcome Alphonsus Ihuoma, a Sturm College of Law LLM graduate of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy (ENRL) program back to Denver recently.

Alphonsus Ihuoma, who hails from Nigeria and is a Nigerian trained barrister, is also a Catholic priest. During his time in the ENRL program, Father Ihuoma served as pastor of the Our Lady of Guadalupe St. Patrick Parish in La Junta, Colorado, which is about 100 miles southeast of Denver. Father Ihuoma continues as pastor there.

Father Ihuoma is an inspiration to all who care about the fair and responsible development of natural resources that respects the environment and, perhaps most importantly, the rights of the communities in which this development takes place. On one hand, he is a religious leader, but on the other he is also a keen legal thinker. It seems likely that his future will include the combination of these two passions, a development that will surely benefit all those in whom the Father comes in contact.

Godspeed to the good Father.

Don C. Smith
Director
Environmental and Natural Resources Law

Editor's note: In picture above, Lucy Daberkow is on far left, Father Ihuoma is in center, and Don Smith is on right.

Becky Bye, 2005 Denver Law JD Graduate, Selected by American Inns of Court for Prestigous Pegasus Scholar Award

Becky Bye, a JD graduate of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, has been selected by the American Inns of Court to be a 2012 Pegasus Scholar.

The prestigious award, which was received by only one other American lawyer, will allow Ms. Bye to practice law this spring in a U.K. barrister's office. Pegasus Scholars spend the majority of their time in barristers' chambers and observe trials or arguments in action.

Activities include opportunities to observe proceedings of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the Privy Council, the Old Bailey, the Royal Courts of Justice and Magistrates' Courts, followed by a discussion of the proceedings with the Justice, Judge or Magistrate as the case may be.

While a student at Denver Law, Ms. Bye focused on environmental and natural resources law. Currently she is an attorney with the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Golden, Colorado. Before joining the Department of Energy, Ms. Bye served as an assistant attorney general in the Colorado Office of the Attorney General. She practiced law with Holland & Hart in Denver before moving to the public sector.

Ms. Bye was articles editor for the University of Denver Water Law Review.