Environmental Law and Policy
Anchored by path-breaking programs—the Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program (ENRLP), the Environmental Law Clinic, and the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance—and complimented by a wide array of cutting-edge research and scholarship, timely policy work, and experiential learning for students, Stanford Law School’s work in the environmental arena dates back to the 60s when the environmental movement was born and continues to this day. Through the clinic and numerous Policy Lab practicums and courses, nationally-renowned faculty, and student organizations, our students are able to actively engage in the issues and advance law and policy. Stanford’s award-winning Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program (ENRLP) has earned its reputation as a leading program for education and research in this dynamic field. The Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance explores and develops economically sensible policy and finance solutions that advance cleaner, more secure energy.
Programs, Centers, and Clinics
In the News
Podcast: Celebrating democracy’s small victories
Fulcrum, Democracy Works podcast
This episode’s guest is Michelle Wilde Anderson, a professor of property, local government, and environmental justice at Stanford Law School and the author of The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America. The book tells the stories of revitalization efforts in Stockton, California, Josephine, Oregon, Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Detroit,…
Read MoreHow U.S. cities are faring post-Great Recession
Detroit Today on WDET
California gas-powered car ban could fuel GOP legal battle
The Hill
Some California farmland being restored to natural state in hopes of lessening drought effects
CBS News
California poised to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars
Popular Science
Water wars in a drying California: New money vs. old power in San Joaquin Valley
The Mercury News
Covered California Explains Rate Increases | Reinvesting in Stockton | Woodland Opera House Musical “In the Heights”
Capital Public Radio
Master of Laws (LLM) in Environmental Law and Policy
Rigorous interdisciplinary training in environmental, energy and resource law and policy. This specialized program seeks to provide foreign lawyers with the legal and policy analysis expertise needed to address issues of pollution, toxic substances, climate change, energy, freshwater, protection of living species on both land and in the oceans, land use management, and environmental assessment.
learn moreStudent Organizations and Journals

The Bright Award
The Bright Award is given annually to an “individual who has made significant contributions in the environmental preservation and sustainability area” and is awarded to an individual from one of ten rotating regions.
learn moreThe Bright Idea Podcast
The Bright Idea is a Stanford Law School podcast that highlights some of the most promising and inspirational work around the world in sustainability and conservation. Professor Buzz Thompson begins this series by talking to some of the past winners of Stanford Law School’s Bright Award. The Bright Award is an annual environmental award given to individuals who have dedicated their careers to improving sustainability and conservation. It is the only award like it in the world, and it is the highest environmental prize given by Stanford University. Stanford Law School Alumnus, Ray Bright, established the Bright Award with the goal of recognizing the winners’ prior sustainability work and supporting and extending that work into the future.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
Publications
ENRLP Newsletter
For Californians, the climate crisis has already arrived. In our Fall 2020 Newsletter, Professors Deborah Sivas and Buzz Thompson analyze how climate change has exacerbated wildfires, what we can learn from Native fire and forest management practices, and what legal and policy changes might lessen the impacts of wildfires on residents. Read the newsletter to learn more about wildfire policy, Stanford’s new sustainability school, and our new Bright Idea podcast highlighting environmentalists around the globe.
read the newsletter