Professor Richard Lazarus will discuss his
recent book, The Rule of Five: Making Climate
History at the Supreme Court, which tells the
inside story leading to the Supreme Court’s
most important environmental law case,
Massachusetts v. EPA, in which the Court
ruled that the United States Environmental
Protection Agency has authority to regulate
greenhouse gas emissions to reduce
the threats to public health and welfare
from climate change. It is an unlikely yet
nonetheless hopeful and inspiring story
that both reveals the best of Supreme Court
lawyering and underscores the challenges
the nation has faced in adopting laws needed
to address climate change. Professor Lazarus
will also discuss West Virginia v. EPA, a case
now pending before the Supreme Court,
which threatens to limit EPA’s authority
even while scientists are warning that the
consequences of climate change are even
worse than previously understood.
