Quarterly Newsletter
Summer 2012
Center for Law, Environment,
Adaptation and Resources
University of North Carolina School of Law
CLEAR Participates in Rio+20 Conference
CLEAR Director Professor Victor Flatt
attended the United Nations’ Rio+20
Conference, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
this June. The conference was held on the
twentieth anniversary of the 1992 Earth
Summit. The overall focus on the meeting
was sustainability with a goal of
promoting sustainable development.
CLEAR Hires Full-Time
Fellow
Each participating nation submitted a
document outlining their objectives for the
summit. The priority areas announced by
the United States included urban
sustainability, food security, and
international collaboration on
environmental policy.
In association with the Environmental Law
Institute (ELI) and the American Society of International Law, CLEAR hosted a
discussion on the role of law in climate change adaptation and sustainability. The
program included presentations by Professor Flatt of CLEAR, Dr. Birgit Lode of the
German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Marilyn Averill of the Center
for Science & Technology Policy Research, Carl Bruch of ELI, and Professor Timo
Koivurova of the Arctic Centre/University of Lapland.
The focus of the discussion was law as a
framework for climate change adaptation
and sustainability efforts. Each of the
presenters offered examples of the
interaction between law and sustainability,
both in positive and negative ways. The
discussion also emphasized the need for
local policy decisions to support climate
change adaptation. Selected presentations
and speaker biographies can be found on
the CLEAR website.
In addition, Professor Flatt spoke at events on climate change adaptation and law and
legal barriers to deployment of low impact energy.
The summit culminated with the adoption of the Rio+20 agreement. In the document,
the participating countries agreed to take steps toward improving sustainability and
authorized the distribution of aid to developing countries to support environmental
programs. In addition to the main conference and official agreement, many side
programs, such as the one CLEAR co-hosted, were held in Rio.
Though some environmental and human rights organizations have expressed concerns
about the contents of the final agreement, these side meetings fostered a great deal of
discussion outside of official channels.
Continued on page 2
Heather Payne, a 2011 graduate of UNC School of
Law, has been hired to expand the role of postgraduate CLEAR Fellow.
Before attending Carolina Law, Heather worked
for nine years as a chemical engineer and supply
chain executive with Honeywell and Sears
Holdings. While in law school, she completed
internships with The Nature Conservancy and the
Southern Environmental Law Center. After
graduation, she clerked for the Honorable Martha
Geer at the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
As a full-time Fellow, Heather will drive the
implementation of CLEAR’s strategic plan,
conduct academic research and coordinate
activities and events. She is licensed in the State
of North Carolina, the Eastern District of North
Carolina, and by the United States Patent and
Trademark Office.
INSIDE
CLEAR in the News
Recent Developments
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Summer 2012
Quarterly Newsletter
Alumni Profile
Amy Pickle: From Pigs to Policy
After Amy Pickle graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with
her juris doctorate, she took a post focused on something many may have viewed as
slightly taboo.
Hog waste.
The North Carolina Attorney General had established a unique process to reduce
water and air pollution from hog waste. The biggest hog companies in the state,
environmentalists, neighbors, scientists, and small farmers were tasked with
developing new hog waste treatment technologies and Pickle worked with a small
team of lawyers to manage the entire process.
“Of course, I heard lots of ‘ewww, gross,’” Pickle recalls of telling those close to her
about the job. “But during my last year of law school environmental concerns around
the North Carolina hog industry were really peaking, so I turned down private
practice and landed a role working on the most pressing environmental issue for the
state at the time. It was a great way to integrate science and law and absolutely has shaped my career.”
For three years, Pickle jumped between business suits and rubber boots for her visits to hog farms as she learned the art of making policy work.
It was a step that would help entrench Pickle deep in North Carolina environmental policy—taking her from the Department of Justice to an
advocacy role for environmental policy changes at the state and federal levels with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
Now, this alumna is part of Duke University’s wider community of world-class scholars, serving as senior attorney for the Nicholas Institute
for Environmental Policy Solutions’ State Policy Program. This academic think tank deploys economic, legal, and policy experts to help public
and private decision-makers better understand and assess ways to address critical environmental problems. Here, Pickle has worked with a
variety of decision-makers on everything from adaptation to climate change to state water allocation policy to nutrient pollution to offshore
energy.
“The Southern Environmental Law Center honed my legal analysis and litigation skills and made me a better attorney, but I was ready to
broaden my legal work to focus on policy, engage more stakeholders, and shape the new environmental landscape,” Pickle said. “Stepping
back from advocacy work has given me greater freedom to analyze and work on creative and practical solutions to environmental challenges. I
found I really enjoy surveying the broad policy landscape and crafting a whole solution.”
In addition to Pickle’s work at Duke’s Nicholas Institute, she was appointed by Governor Beverly Perdue as one of the 15 members of the
newly created Mining and Energy Commission. The Commission is legislated by the General Assembly to develop regulations governing
hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” of the state’s underground shale gas reserves. Earlier this year, she also took a role serving the state’s
Environmental Management Commission at Perdue’s invitation.
“I see my role on the Environmental Management Commission as a natural outgrowth of my work at the Nicholas Institute,” she said. “I’m
using my policy expertise for the benefit of the state, and it’s a natural fit given my focus is public-interest environmental law.”
For Pickle, the steps taken earlier on set her up for a career that not only drew upon her love of science, but also gave her the opportunity to
work in the public interest.
"At each step on my career path, I've had the good fortune to work with some of the smartest, most creative, dedicated lawyers in the
environmental field,” she said. “I love working with different stakeholders, finding out what motivates them, researching everything about an
issue and then figuring out how to deploy that information. And that trend started at UNC."
Rio
Find CLEAR on Facebook!
Continued from page 1
Many remain hopeful about of the
conference outcomes and the potential
implementation of the practical
suggestions discussed in side
programs.
CLEAR has a Facebook page!
Like us on Facebook and visit our page
to read daily posts on recent news in
environmental law, climate change law,
and climate change adaptation, in
addition to updates on CLEAR news
and events.
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Summer 2012
Quarterly Newsletter
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ADAPTATION LAW AND POLICY
Report Predicts Economic
Growth from Energy
Efficiency Program
A study in four Canadian provinces has found
that energy efficiency measures may initially
limit tax revenues, but will ultimately be
financially beneficial by making local
economies more competitive and creating jobs.
The programs considered for implementation
in the provinces focus on electricity, natural
gas, and fossil fuel efficiency.
The report took into consideration the various
systems and differing level of investment in
each, determining that any scenario would
have significant economic benefits. For
example, if all four provinces put the efficiency
measures into practice at a mid-range level,
researchers estimate a regional increase of
fourteen percent in GDP and twelve percent in
employment rates by 2040.
Photo used under a Creative Commons license.
The same energy efficiency strategy has been
successful in other Canadian provinces, like
British Columbia, allowing local governments
to reallocate their net revenues to fund other
areas.
Federal Whale Protection Plan
Anticipated for San Francisco Bay
Federal officials have developed a plan to protect marine life
in the San Francisco Bay area. The plan is expected to be
implemented next year and will require ships to take
different routes along the coast in order to prevent accidents
with migrating whales. The new shipping routes have been
altered based on data indicating whale feeding grounds in
the bay, redirecting ships’ paths in a way that best avoids
the areas where the whales have been found to travel.
Several endangered species are at risk of collisions with
shipping traffic, incidents which have seen a recent increase
though exact numbers are difficult to determine. In
response to the concerns about accidents involving whales,
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the
Coast Guards, marine scientists and researchers, and
shipping industry leaders created new cargo lanes in the
area and a whale monitoring system to provide information
about whales’ locations to ship captains.
The monitoring system requires training sailors aboard the
vessels to identify whales and report the sightings, but
industry groups say that despite training costs, the
measures would save shipping lines money since the
increased certainty of whale locations would reduce
unnecessary reductions in speed.
Climate Change Study Reveals
Increased Carbon in Forest Soil
Scientists have identified an additional process on the earth’s surface
which can exacerbate the effects of global warming. One of the
changes scientists have long been aware of is the melting of Arctic sea
ice, which leads to rising levels of warm sea water that, in turn, causes
more melting. Another change, discovered more recently, is the
increased microbe activity in forest topsoil.
According to a study by the University of California, Irvine and the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the microbes in forest soil
consume the soil and release carbon dioxide at increased rates under
warmer temperatures. The question of how carbon dioxide in forest
topsoil would react to warming has been controversial and the
processes closely studied in samples from North Carolina and
Wisconsin.
The report also found that the increase in carbon dioxide in response
to rising temperature is higher than anticipated. Carbon dioxide is
produced at an increase of eight times when temperatures rise by
thirty six degrees Fahrenheit. Based on the temperature predictions,
carbon emissions from forest topsoil could double by the year 2100.
Forests are an important part of mitigating climate change effects and
this study brings to light new concerns about how to adapt efforts to
maintain forest topsoil to warming global temperatures.
The objective of the plan is to make whale sighting reporting
mandatory if the strategy is successful in reducing accidents in San
Francisco Bay.
Photo used under
a Creative Commons license.
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Quarterly Newsletter
Reports Analyze
Transition from Coal to
Natural Gas
A recent National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration report
revealed that the severe weather incidents
of 2011 are related to the effects of climate
change. Scientific data indicates that global
warming is causing more extreme weather
despite additional unexpected cold events.
The goal for this report is that it will
provide a clearer understanding of global
warming and the role human activities play
in climate change.
Another study, written by Professor
Lawrence Cathles of Cornell University,
indicates that meeting the goal set by
President Obama of reducing emissions by
seventeen percent is feasible. A reduction
in United States carbon emissions by
almost eight percent since 2006 has already
been seen, and the increased use of natural
gas as an energy sources is anticipated to
further minimize emissions.
Summer 2012
Study Indicates Potential
Fish Species Adaptation to
Ocean Changes
A recent Australian report shows that some
marine life may have the ability to adapt to
increasing ocean temperatures and higher
carbon dioxide levels. The study involved
cinnamon anemonefish and indicated that
the fish best able to cope with these changes
were the offspring of fish which had
experienced the same environmental
pressures.
Co-authored by a doctoral student and a
professor with the ARC Centre of Excellence
for Coral Reef Studies, the study is one of the
first to consider the effects of global climate
change across multiple generations of a
species. It shows that carbon dioxide levels
and temperature have a significant impact on
the outcomes for young fish and reveals that
there is a type of non-genetic information
sharing occurring between parent fish and
their offspring.
Are You a UNC School
of Law Alumnus?
Are you an alumnus of the UNC
School of Law working in the
environmental law and policy field?
CLEAR will be profiling UNC School
of Law Alumni beginning in the
Summer 2012 Newsletter. If you
would like to tell us about your career
and share your experiences, or
nominate another alumnus, send an
email to Professor Flatt at
flat@email.unc.edu
Natural gas is currently less expensive than
coal, but approximately one third of it is
produced through fracking, a highly
controversial process. Though cleaner
burning and more efficient than coal,
natural gas is composed of methane, which
can leak and pose a risk of explosion in a
large concentration.
Other experts have expressed concerns that
the reduced emissions attributed to natural
gas usage may not be enough to mitigate
the effects of climate. In addition, there
may be significant environmental
problems, including water and air
pollution, associated with natural gas
extraction. The shift to natural gas usage
has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions in the U.S., but must be carefully
monitored to ensure that it does not have
detrimental environmental impacts.
Photo used under a Creative Commons license.
Office: 919.962.4118
flatt@email.unc.edu
UNC School of Law
Van Hecke-Wettach Hall
160 Ridge Rd., CB 3380
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380
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