CUA Law Professor Lucia Silecchia spoke at the "Environmental Justice in the 21st Century," event on April 16, 2018. The event is cosponsored by the Environmental Law Institute, ABA Section on Civil Rights and Social Justice, the D.C. Bar Association, and Georgetown Law School. See Below.

Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Threats and Opportunities (Part 2)

The environmental justice movement is at a pivotal moment. Media coverage of issues such as lead poisoning and extreme weather events are capturing national attention. Emerging opportunities, including the Environment Justice Act of 2017 introduced by Senator Cory Booker and Representative Raul Ruiz, are working to promulgate environmental justice in the law. This event will highlight both the threats and opportunities facing environmental justice in communities and in the law.

Without a doubt, there is a certain amount of conflict that is helpful, and even vitally necessary, to any society. Without it, there is no healthy debate about things that matter, a diminished ability to reach compromises that may represent the best of competing ideas, and less opportunity to fight for those values that are held most dear. Many people accomplish some of the things about which they are most proud when a conflict of some kind moves them out of complacency and toward action on that which they believe to be good or important. However, when it comes to addressing and resolving conflicts, there are, quite simply, good ways and bad ways to do so.

Keynotes:
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) (invited)
Representative Raul Ruiz (D-CA) (invited)

Panelists:
Dr. Adrienne Hollis, Director of Federal Policy, WE-ACT Environmental Justice, Moderator
Leslie Fields, Director, Environmental Justice and Community Partnerships Program, Sierra Club
Sheila Foster, Professor of Law and Public Policy, Georgetown University
Lucia Silecchia, Professor of Law at the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America