Date: 19th September 2007.

Time: Reception from 6pm. Lecture from 7.30pm 

Venue: Drinks and buffet at Gaia House, 18 Well Walk, London, NW3 1LD, from 6pm. The discussion begins at 7.30pm at Burgh House, New End Square, London NW3 1LT - Opposite Gaia House.

Price: £7 donation on the night greatly appreciated.  

Contact: Sarah Nicholl at the Gaia Foundation, sarahn@gainet.org or telephone 020 7428 0055.

The New York Times called it the most important environmental case in U.S. history. The case, Mass v. EPA, challenged the Bush Administrations policy of refusing to regulate global warming gases. The Administration claimed that either global warming did not exist, or that even if it did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had no authority to regulate on it. Claimants, several environmental groups and states including Massachusetts, argued that global warming is a reality and that US legislation must therefore give the EPA authority to regulate harmful greenhouse gases. Earlier this year, after fighting for several years at the lower court level and in what many saw as a surprise ruling, the Supreme Court decided in their favour. It called Global Warming an urgent environmental crisis and affirmed that the EPA had authority to address it. The decision was universally seen as a defining moment in the debate over Global Warming in the United States, having global implications.

Attorney Andrew Kimbrell, along with his legal partner Joseph Mendelson, devised the law suit and fought at the agency and lower court level for several years until finally achieving victory at the Supreme Court.

In his presentation, Andrew Kimbrell will describe how the case developed, the legal strategy behind it and the at times dramatic interaction with both the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration as the case proceeded. He will discuss the consequences of the case for Global Warming regulation and environmental law in the U.S., as well as possible international implications. 

Kimbrell will also discuss how the case despite its success reveals the inability of current law in the United States and elsewhere to appropriately deal with the environmental crises the globe now faces. He will outline a bold new concept of Natural Law that can frame an Earth Jurisprudence and talk about several major legal concepts that need to be implemented in order for the law to become relevant in the most important issue of our time.

This event is organized in association with Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) and the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA).

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