John Dernbach

John Dernbach

Author on Sustainable Development and Climate Change Law

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Curtin Winsor Award for Lifetime Achievement

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) recently honored me with its Curtin Winsor award for lifetime achievement. PEC is a nonprofit statewide organization that aims to protect and restore the natural and built environments through innovation…

By John Dernbach • December 18, 2022

Making America a Better Place for All: Sustainable Development Recommendations for the Biden Administration

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an important normative framework the U.S. should use to improve human quality of life, freedom, and opportunity. See what 22 experts say about steps the Biden-Harris Administration should take now to…

By John Dernbach • April 15, 2021

Biden and Trump Positions on Climate Change and Sustainability: Comparison Chart

Students at Widener Commonwealth Law School have created a two-column comparison chart to enable you to quickly compare and contrast the positions of Joe Biden and Donald Trump on a range of sustainability and climate change issues.  The chart is…

By John Dernbach • October 10, 2020

Pennsylvania Supreme Court to Hear Important Environmental Rights Amendment Case in September

Almost 50 years ago, in 1971, Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly approved an Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA) (Article I, Section 27) to the state constitution.  The ERA creates a public trust in “public natural resources, and requires…

By John Dernbach • August 22, 2020

American Bar Association Urges Broad Range of Actions to Reduce U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions “to Net Zero or Below”

The American Bar Association (ABA) has adopted a resolution urging all levels of government as well as the private sector to “to recognize their obligation to address climate change and take action” to “[r]educe U.S. greenhouse gas…

By John Dernbach • August 12, 2019

Legal Pathways to Dramatic Reductions in U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Summary Now Available

The Environmental Law Institute has made available for download a 160-page pdf of the summary and key recommendations volume of Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States, edited by Michael B. Gerrard and John C. Dernbach. …

By John Dernbach • January 20, 2019

Sustainable Development in Law Practice: A Lens for Addressing All Legal Problems

A small but growing number of lawyers identify themselves as doing sustainability work.  In the Martindale-Hubbell online directory of lawyers, in which lawyers list their areas of practice, 759 U.S. lawyers identify sustainability or sustainable…

By John Dernbach • February 20, 2018

Taking the Public Trust Seriously: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Landmark Decision in PEDF v. Commonwealth

On December 19, 2013, in Robinson Township v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held unconstitutional major parts of Pennsylvania’s Act 13—a 2012 oil and gas law designed to facilitate the development of natural gas…

By John Dernbach • July 1, 2017

The Challenge and Opportunity of Deep Decarbonization

The national debate about climate change has reached a crucial point. We have had eight years of modest progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  The best known and most controversial part of that effort is the Clean Power Plan, which is…

By John Dernbach • January 27, 2017

Where do Presidential and Pennsylvania U.S. Senate Candidates Stand on Sustainability and Climate Change?

Students at Widener Commonwealth Law School have created two-column comparison charts to enable you to quickly compare and contrast the positions of major party candidates on a range of sustainability and climate change issues.  The chart for the…

By John Dernbach • October 27, 2016

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