Public Interest Environmental Law Conference
The Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) is a conference held annually on the first weekend in March at the University of Oregon School of Law in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The conference is a gathering of environmental activists, advocates, and students from across the United States and the world.[1]
PIELC is organized and hosted by the students involved in the environmental law society "Land Air Water" (LAW). Land Air Water is a student group at the University of Oregon School of Law. It is co-sponsored by Friends of Land Air Water, a University of Oregon/Land Air Water alumni group that helps advise the student organizers.
The conference has six to ten internationally recognized keynote addresses and over 120 panels. The conference has been held since 1983 and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2012.[2]
The conference is held on the first weekend in March. Early panels start Thursday afternoon, and the official opening is Thursday evening. It closes with a final address Sunday at noon. Typically the conference has around 2,000 attendees.
The content of the conference is aimed at professional environmental activists, such as people that work in non-profit public interest organizations such as the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club, and the Oregon Natural Desert Association and public interest environmental attorneys like Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council, and private public interest attorneys. CLE credits are available.
The conference is also of interest to students of environmental law and environmental studies, and each year it hosts groups from around a dozen different schools.
The conference is unapologetically pro-public interest, and pro-environment. It does not attempt to persuade the general public that environmental issues matter. It is a forum for the people who are actively enforcing environmental law, and promoting environmental values to talk among themselves, and share experiences, strategies, and news.
References
- ↑ "PIELC website".
- ↑ "30 Years of PIELC". Eugene Weekly. Retrieved 2012-03-03.