Ep 116 — DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Past and Present

EELP Senior Attorney Erika Kranz speaks with Andy Mergen, Clinical Professor and Faculty Director of the Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, and Sommer Engels, Clinical Instructor with the Clinic. They take listeners behind the scenes at the U.S. Department of Justice to explain the role of its Environment and Natural Resources Division, or ENRD. Erika, Andy, and Sommer, all ENRD alumni, describe how DOJ and ENRD fit within the federal government, what ENRD litigators do, and what it’s like to represent federal agencies in court. They also discuss how ENRD works with — and sometimes has to push back on — its client agencies across the federal government. And they talk about recent shifts at the division — including new arguments made, reduced environmental enforcement, changed approaches to litigation and settlement, and a renaming of the division itself — and explain why those changes matter. For a transcript and related links see our website https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/cleanlaw-dojs-environment-and-natural-resources-division-past-and-present/