![handle is hein.journals/hlrec126 and id is 1 raw text is: THE RECORD!
The Independent Weekly Newspaper at Harvard Law School
www.hlrecord.org Volume 126, No. 1 Thursday, Janurary 31, 2008
BY D
HLS on Climate Change
Senator Kerry Speaks at
INA AWERBUCH Byrd-Hagel Resolution in a 95-0 vote.
Kerry dryly noted that he had led the op-
ng Professor Roger Ballentine position to the resolution. Although the
Senator John Kerry to speak to Byrd-Hagel Resolution was, for all in-
w of Climate Change class on tents and purposes, a rejection of the
y 16. Ballentine, the former Kyoto Protocol, Kerry emphasized that
an of the White House Climate the resolution really marked the Sen-
Task Force under President ate's concern with the Protocol's exclu-
, introduced Kerry as one of the sion of the developing world from
nvolved politicians in climate binding targets, and a fear that emis-
policy. Kerry discussed his sions from developing countries would
volvement in climate change ef- thus cancel out the efforts of industri-
icluding his work on the Kyoto alized countries.
ol, and the future of climate Kerry maintained that there has been
policy. a shocking delay in people's serious-
became involved in the inter- ness about [climate change]. This
I effort to address climate change delay and the increasing seriousness of
y as the 1992 Earth Summit in climate change risks, he said, have
hich resulted in the United Na- grave national security implications.
ramework Convention on Cli- Many of the states experiencing politi-
Change. Although former cal turbulence are also states signifi-
nt George H.W. Bush embraced cantly impacted by climate change.
tary framework for emissions re- Kerry expressed concern over out-
s, Kerry remarked that unlike breaks of malaria in new areas in
ountries, the United States did Africa, and the possibility that lowlands
e any further steps leading up to such as the Seychelles islands could be
t Conference of the Parties in wiped out by rising sea levels. Some of
n 1995. Kerry characterized the the most serious problems, he noted,
Protocol as a significant accom- will involve the law of the sea and the
ent, for getting the UNFCC effects on our oceans, including acidifi-
nations (whichincludeonly de- cation of the ocean and over-fishing.
d or industrialized countries) to Looking forward, Senator Kerry an-
gether and set binding targets. alyzed potential solutions for climate
gh the Protocol was never pre- change. Currently, Kerry is working in
to Congress for ratification, the Congress to bring a cap-and-trade sys-
precluded the possibility of rati- tem for emissions to the floor. He said
Swhen it unanimously passed the that this is the most important current
News Briefs: New Reqs, New Profs, Budding Celebrity
Admin Announces New, Friendlier
3L Paper Requirement
At the end of the 2L/3L finals pe-
riod, the HLS administration an-
nounced a sweeping change in the law
school's written work requirement, al-
lowing students to opt out of the tradi-
tional long research paper and
substitute two pieces of writing from
clinicals, moot court, seminar reaction
papers, or journal writing. The Regis-
trar's Office currently has forms for
3Ls to show that they have satisfied
the new requirements.
When asked what prompted the
change, Dean Elena Kagan responded,
In the course of reviewing our cur-
riculum, the faculty thought hard about
the various opportunities for significant
writing in courses, seminars, clinics,
and extracurricular activities. What we
tried to do was to strengthen the writ-
ing requirement by making it more
meaningful - ensuring that all stu-
dents, whatever their interests or career
ambitions, can focus on the kind of
writing most valuable to them.
Tribe Treated for Benign Tumor
Professor Lawrence Tribe will not be
teaching class this spring because of a
benign brain tumor requiring medical
treatment. Students enrolled in his
class were informed about the class
cancellation in mid-January. The
Record wishes Professor Tribe good
health and a speedy recovery.
Klarman Moves from UVA to HLS
University of Virginia Law School
professor Michael Klarman has ac-
cepted a tenured offer from HLS, where
he will continue his work in constitu-
tional law and history and criminal law.
Klarman has published several books
and over 30 articles, and won awards
for his teaching and service. The fact
that Harvard is just a long stroll from
Fenway Park makes this almost a
dream come true, said Klarman about
his new home. He is the 22nd tenured
or tenure-track professor hired by HLS
in the last 5 years.
HLS Students Collect More Public
Interest Fellowships
Harvard Law's recent domination of
the Skadden Fellowships for public in-
terest work, collecting six this year, was
only the beginning of the law school's
success in the fellowship arena. Other
winners among the class of 2008 in-
clude: Equal Justice Works fellowships
for Alexis Kuznick at the Urban Justice
Center, Elizabeth Fischer at Neighbor-
hood Defender Service of Harlem, and
the Record's own Andrea Saenz at the
Political Asylum/Immigration Repre-
sentation (PAIR) Project; a Human
Rights Watch fellowship for Fernando
Delgado; a National Center on Philan-
thropy and the Law fellowship for Jen-
nifer Kwong; and a Prettyman/Stiller
fellowship at Georgetown Law for
Michael Marks. Look for further cov-
erage of the winners in the Record.
Nesson Talks Poker to Colbert
Professor Charles Nesson appeared
on The Colbert Report last week,
spreading his message that poker is a
valuable learning tool. Wearing his
trademark black, Nesson was calm and
collected even in the face of host
Stephen Colbert's question, Do you
have a gambling problem? and subse-
quent effort to hold an intervention for
him. Nesson also proposed a poker
game between the presidential candi-
dates, leading Colbert to opine that
Hillary Clinton probably already has
cat's-eye sunglasses for the poker table.
The Record also enjoyed the recent
appearance of former Record columnist
Debra Dickerson, who called Bill Clin-
ton's questionable campaign tactics
sphincter-like.
rrofessor Cnarnes INesson
Media Credit: The Colbert Report
climate effort, and likened it to the cap
and trade system for sulfur dioxide that
he pieced together while Lieutenant
Governor of Massachusetts in the early
1980s as an effort to address acid rain.
That system later became part of the
1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act.
Kerry said there was widespread op-
position to the system: industry argued
that it would end jobs, cost $8 billion
and take ten years. Environmentalists
estimated that the system would cost $4
billion and take five years. In the end, it
cost somewhere around $2.5 billion and
took about two and a half years. The
lesson learned, Kerry said, is that no
one can perfectly predict the costs of
setting a national goal. I believe in
what will happen if we make a signifi-
cant commitment to clean coal technol-
ogy. But we don't have time to screw
around with this the way we are. This
administration has adopted its own ver-
sion of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s adage:
the 'fierce urgency of not now.'
Kerry mentioned other efforts that he
is leading, including a joint effort with
Senator Ted Stevens to support three to
five clean coal technology commercial
projects, each using a different technol-
ogy, so that the market can select the best
approach. He also helped bring ocean
acidification to the attention of Con-
gress, and worked with Senator John
McCain to lead the effort to raise CAFt
standards (the fuel economy standards
regulated by the National Highway Traf-
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Although Kerry characterized the
new standard of 35mpg as a 'big vic-
tory, the standards only go into effect
in 2020. In contrast, he said, China will
implement a 36mpg standard next year.
How, he asked, do you lead the
world with a 'head in the sand' philos-
ophy?
Kerry also addressed concerns that
climate change regulations will harm
the economy. His own personal belief,
he said, was that if the government put
significant federal money of at least
$7-9 billion per year into this issue in-
stead of into Iraq, we would have a
stunning output transition in this na-
tion. Kerry acknowledged that the
fight for this in Congress will be tough,
but was optimistic about American
businesses that are now advocating for
a cap and trade program in order to
have more certainty in the marketplace.
Kerry ended his lecture with a final
argument for a strong climate change
policy. If we're all wrong, Kerry pre-
dicted, here's the downside: we'll
have reduced particulates in the area,
reduced hospitalizations of children
with asthma and respiratory problems.
We'll have more jobs because we've
created new technology. We'll have in-
creased security because we'll be less
dependent on foreign fuel. We'll have
protected the environment and reduced
Kerry, continued on p.3](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/hlrec126&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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