Monday, April 20, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Environmental Lawlessness
What happens when laws and regulations don’t keep pace with changes in technology, science, and society? The answer, according to Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus, is lawlessness. Come learn some of the history and circumstances behind the country’s current but outdated environmental laws, how the original scope and intentions of these laws may no longer match the scope of the problems we face today, and the lawmaking challenges we now face as we seek to address the mounting environmental risks posed by deepwater drilling, natural gas fracking, and climate change.
Professor Lazarus, who teaches environmental law, natural resources law, Supreme Court advocacy, and torts at Harvard Law School, was the principal author of Deep Water – The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling (GPO 2011), the Report to the President of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commission. On Monday, April 20, from 7 – 8:30 at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, he will speak of lessons learned from this environmental disaster and how new regulations in line with current technologies are needed to better protect the environment as we tap our natural resources. This free lecture is part of the Director’s Lecture Series, but registration is required at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?EventID=1.
