ENR News and Events

The Capital Press quoted Associate Professor Greg Dotson in a recent article, "Oregon Urged to Cut Emissions Despite Federal Climate Hostility." Professor Dotson, an expert on environmental and energy policy, said, "For continued progress growing the clean energy sector, for addressing climate change, it is going to rely on state leadership and the private sector." 
Amy Bowers Cordalis—a mother, fisherwoman, attorney, and member and former General Counsel of the Yurok Nation—presented the 19th Annual Rennard Strickland Lecture. A recording of her talk, "The Water Remembers...And So Does the Law," is now available. 
Associate Professor Greg Dotson was invited this fall to present before the Oregon House Interim Committee on Climate, Energy, and Environment. His presentation focused on "Impacts of Recent Federal Actions on Energy- and Environment-Related Agency Operations and Renewable Energy in Oregon." 
2017 graduate Elizabeth "Libby" Pettit was recognized with Oregon Law's Outstanding Recent Alumni Award at the 2025 Oregon Law Alumni Weekend. During law school, Pettit, who now works with the Environmental Protection Agency, focused her studies on environmental and natural resources law and served as an ENR Fellow. 
On Tuesday, September 30, 2025, world renowned climate leader and Tribal advocate Amy Bowers Cordalis (Yurok) will deliver the 19th Annual Rennard Strickland Lecture at the University of Oregon School of Law. Attend in person in Room 110 of the law school or join remotely via Zoom Webinar. 
Justin L. McCarthy (JD '25) published his paper, "Separating Holding from Dicta: Marin Audubon v. FAA," in the August 2025 issue of the Environmental Law Reporter.
"What I think is overwhelmingly clear from the Inflation Reduction Act is that Congress understood that greenhouse gases are pollutants that are being addressed under the Clean Air Act, and should continue to be addressed under the Clean Air Act," Professor Dotson told the DailyNews ClimateBrief. 
The Environmental and Natural Resources Law (ENR) Center proudly welcomes 20 law students as ENR Fellows. Throughout the 2025-26 academic year, these students will collaborate to tackle climate-and-justice issues, working across the ENR Center's seven interdisciplinary research projects. 
Join us in person or virtually for the 19th Annual Rennard Strickland Lecture—set for Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at 12:00 p.m.—with this year's speaker, Amy Bowers Cordalis (Yurok). 
In "Federal Flood Policy and Maladaptation: A Story of Collective Forgetting," her latest article published in the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, Assistant Professor Sarah Adams discusses the history and trajectory of federal flood policy and the implications for environmental justice and climate adaptation.