A Passion for Science - Columbia College - Columbia University

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Gerrard visited the Marshall Islands late last year and witnessed the vulnerabilities firsthand. The capital, Majuro, rises only a few feet above sea level on an island whose width is roughly the distance between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue on the Columbia campus. It’s not just an outright disappearance underwater that threatens habitability but also erosion from rising tides, pounding by increasingly severe tropical storms, and salt water infiltrating the drinking water supply, which are already happening. Among the Marshall Islands’ legal concerns, which they share with other small island nations are: Where would their citizens go, with what citizenship status, if and when their country becomes uninhabitable? Would the country retain fishing and mineral rights? Would it still be a country at all? “The questions were so novel and difficult and numerous that they were beyond our capabilities to answer on our own,” says Gerrard, the Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice, referring to the Center for Climate Change Law’s small staff of student interns, four fellows and two visiting scholars. Instead, Gerrard put out an international call for papers — answered by 77 scholars in 23 countries — and organized a conference to be held at Columbia on May 23–25, “Threatened Island Nations: Legal Implications of a Changing Climate.” MAY/JUNE 2011 26 Columbia CollEgE Today GuRu OF Climate Change lAW When an island nation is threatened with extinction due to rising waters, Michael Gerrard ’72 is the man to call B y sh i r a Bo s s ’93, ’97J, ’98 siPa leaders of the Marshall Islands, alarmed that their country is slowly disappearing into the Pacific Ocean due to rising waters caused by climate change, recently turned to environmental lawyer Michael Gerrard ’72 for help. Gerrard, renowned in the field of environmental law and especially climate change law, returned to Columbia from private practice two years ago to teach at the Law School and head the new Center for Climate Change Law (columbiaclimatelaw.com), the first of its kind. Its mission is to develop legal techniques and resources to help governments, companies and even individuals fight global warming and cope with its impact. It’s not just encroaching oceans that are a concern worldwide, says Gerrard. Climate change has grown into one of the most vital problems affecting the earth. Gerrard has been heavily involved in the issue for several years and has worked at the forefront of environmental law since its inception in the 1970s. He has written nine books on specific areas of environmental law, including the first and definitive volume on U.S. climate change law, and he has represented scores of corporate, municipal and nonprofit clients in environmental actions. “There’s overwhelming scientific evidence that humans are causing changes to the climate and that these changes will have a significant negative impact,” Gerrard says. He believes that legal techniques are among the most effective tools to change patterns of energy production and use and address climate change. Gerrard came of age in an industrial area of Charleston, W.Va., heavily polluted with discharge from chemical plants. While he was an undergrad, the country was just waking up to the importance of environmental protection. In 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated, the Environmental Protection Agency was founded and Congress passed key legislation such as the Clean Air Act. “In the shadow of Vietnam, there was a lot of attention paid
Columbia CollEgE Today MIChAEL gERRARd ’72 Signs of the damage caused by rising waters due to climate change are everywhere in the Marshall Islands. Top: Michael Gerrard ’72 stands on a beach where much of the sand has been washed away, exposing the trees’ roots and threatening their survival. Middle left: Gerrard examines a building whose underpinnings are endangered by rising waters. Middle right: One of many gravestones that have been damaged by the encroaching seas. Immediate right: Gerrard and Martha Campbell, U.S. ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Far right: Back home in Chappaqua, N.Y., Gerrard with his wife, Barbara, supervisor of the Town of New Castle, and their sons, William ’05, ’12 Arts (second from right) and David ’03, ’07 Arts. PhOTOS: dERRAIN COOK (MARShALL ISLANdS), LORI SAChARE (FAR RIghT) MAY/JUNE 2011 27
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