Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, C|M|LAW’s Steven W. Percy Distinguished Professor of Law, attended the Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting in New Orleans in January 2019.  She was elected Chair of the AALS Section on Natural Resources and Energy Law, and a member of Executive Committee of the Section on Environmental Law.  In addition, Professor Robertson moderated the Section on Natural Resources and Energy Law’s program, Developments in Offshore Oil and Gas: Regulatory Pullbacks and Drilling Expansion.  The program explored changes in offshore oil and gas policy, such as opening up new areas for development and rolling back safeguards. It explored the implications of these changes, including likely impacts on natural resources.

Speakers included:

Moderator: Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University

Speaker: Robert R.M. Verchick, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

Speaker: Jacqueline L. Weaver, University of Houston Law Center

Speaker: Mr. Stephen W Wiegand, Liskow and Lewis

Speaker: Mr. Robert Wiygul, Waltzer Wiygul & Garside LLC

An additional highlight of the conference for Professor Robertson was a joint field trip, Climate Change Resiliency in Southern Louisiana, co–sponsored by the Sections on Environmental Law, and Natural Resources and Energy Law. The field trip included a visit to the Barataria Preserve in the Jean Lafitte Natural Historic Preserve to learn about bayou ecosystems and offered a concrete look at the challenges that climate change poses to the coastal ecosystems and communities in Louisiana, which are some of the most climate-vulnerable in the United States. The field trip also visited portions of New Orleans damaged by Hurricane Katrina, such as the Ninth Ward and provided an opportunity to see observe both progress and remaining damage in these communities. The field trip allowed professors to gain insight into the practical responses that local communities have taken in light of climate change threat and into the legal challenges and opportunities involved in these responses.