"Environmental attorneys also grapple with serious ethical questions. They must manage
the tension between environmental protection and economic development. They protect not only
the environment but also human interests by distributing environmental risks fairly, preventing
job loss, and ensuring access to natural resources. Since the scientific understanding of
environmental issues evolves rapidly, attorneys must make sure that the law keeps up – and must
build legal regimes from scratch to handle new environmental problems."
This passage describing environmental law comes Harvard Law School's "A Trail Guide to Careers in Environmental Law." (Sidenote: is the "Trail Guide" a nod toward the fact that anyone pursuing environmental law is obviously a trail-dwelling tree-hugger? Not mad about that assumption, since it describes me pretty well. Just curious.) I've been interested in environmental law since the beginning of my undergraduate experience. I was initially daunted with a misconception that "green careers" were limited to "math and science" people, and as a "history and writing" person, I felt out of luck. But then I stumbled across environmental law. It felt, and feels, like an excellent way for me to dedicate a career toward advocating for the environment, while also utilizing a skill set in communication, history, memorization, and let's face it, arguing.
My commitment to this path has been strengthened through my participation in the Urban Ecology minor program. I find myself now also wanting to engage in the field of building green communities, with a conviction that practicing environmental law can help me do so. Environmental lawyers assist with creating legal policies that encourage and demand more biocentric living. Environmental lawyers champion the causes of citizens and developers who are experiencing roadblocks on their routes to sustainable, and equitable development. Environmental lawyers hold other citizens and developers, who aren't so eco-minded, accountable for their impacts. Environmental lawyers are a thread within the tapestry of cooperative change.
On a slightly different note, I've practiced finding a voice in my own community this week. I live in Holladay, the site of recent demolition projects to prepare for an oversized, industrial-scale shopping center. Coinciding with this demolition, is a personal project to construct bee dwellings in my yard. I've reached out to Holladay City to request acquiring some of their salvage materials to use for my bee house project. It's such a small thing, but being able to simultaneously keep that material out of a landfill, and create a piece of my own, would be a huge success. Then perhaps, I could look at the new, mammoth-sized shopping center without dry heaving. Perhaps.
This passage describing environmental law comes Harvard Law School's "A Trail Guide to Careers in Environmental Law." (Sidenote: is the "Trail Guide" a nod toward the fact that anyone pursuing environmental law is obviously a trail-dwelling tree-hugger? Not mad about that assumption, since it describes me pretty well. Just curious.) I've been interested in environmental law since the beginning of my undergraduate experience. I was initially daunted with a misconception that "green careers" were limited to "math and science" people, and as a "history and writing" person, I felt out of luck. But then I stumbled across environmental law. It felt, and feels, like an excellent way for me to dedicate a career toward advocating for the environment, while also utilizing a skill set in communication, history, memorization, and let's face it, arguing.
My commitment to this path has been strengthened through my participation in the Urban Ecology minor program. I find myself now also wanting to engage in the field of building green communities, with a conviction that practicing environmental law can help me do so. Environmental lawyers assist with creating legal policies that encourage and demand more biocentric living. Environmental lawyers champion the causes of citizens and developers who are experiencing roadblocks on their routes to sustainable, and equitable development. Environmental lawyers hold other citizens and developers, who aren't so eco-minded, accountable for their impacts. Environmental lawyers are a thread within the tapestry of cooperative change.
On a slightly different note, I've practiced finding a voice in my own community this week. I live in Holladay, the site of recent demolition projects to prepare for an oversized, industrial-scale shopping center. Coinciding with this demolition, is a personal project to construct bee dwellings in my yard. I've reached out to Holladay City to request acquiring some of their salvage materials to use for my bee house project. It's such a small thing, but being able to simultaneously keep that material out of a landfill, and create a piece of my own, would be a huge success. Then perhaps, I could look at the new, mammoth-sized shopping center without dry heaving. Perhaps.
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