Earth Equity News

Kagan Helped Create Environmental Law Program at Harvard. By Gabriel Nelson, Greenwire, May 10, 2010. "With the announcement that President Obama has chosen Solicitor General Elena Kagan to fill the Supreme Court seat of retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, the summer confirmation battle has begun for a nominee whose legal philosophy remains largely unknown... When it comes to environmental law, Kagan's positions are largely a mystery, said Daniel Farber, an environmental law professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Her writings suggest that she favors deference to presidential authority, he said -- a stance that would have different effects depending on the administration in power but could result in more expansive environmental regulation. 'We know just about nothing about her views on environmental issues,' Farber said. 'She's got very little paper trail.' But there are indications that Kagan is sensitive to environmental issues, mostly from her time as dean of Harvard Law School. Kagan oversaw the creation of the school's Environmental Law Program and an environmental clinic, recruiting high-profile faculty to lead them, said Lois Schiffer, a former head of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. A group of alumni had spent years pushing the school to expand its environmental law offerings, but they made no headway until Kagan arrived, Schiffer said. Schiffer, a Harvard Law School alumna who guest-taught an environmental policy course during Kagan's tenure at."