JASON J. CZARNEZKI

We’re looking for a Chinese Language tutor in Montpelier, VT. If you and anyone you know might be interested, please let me know. Thanks!

I just finished reading my colleague Gus Speth’s book The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability. I look forward to discussing the book with him. On the one hand, I think one can levy an easy criticism on the book: that it’s long on “gloom and doom” and short on hope. That said, I think this book better illustrates the environmental costs of modern day consumption and consumerism better than any other that I have read, and levies a harsh critique upon modern economics and capitalism. Perhaps the most interesting quote is as follows:

“[M]ost mainstream environmentalists have not wanted to suggest that the positions they advocate would require serious lifestyle changes.”

So this raises a key query: How can we fundamentally change the way we live?

http://vtdigger.org/2011/03/24/universal-health-care-bill-passes-89-47/

UPDATE: Dems claim victory; GOP calls health care bill an “empty shell”

“Prof Writes on Being An Environmentalist Every Day”

See here and here.

If you are interested in reviewing a copy of my book Everyday Environmentalism for course use or in relevant media, you can request access to an electronic copy of the book through Netgalley here.

Story in Seven Days: http://www.7dvt.com/2011vermont-law-school-trains-animal-rights-attorneys

The Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice is offering the following awards:

• Annual Award for Scholarship

• Nominate a publication of administrative law. Eligible books and articles are those that were published (copyrighted) during 2010.

Mary C. Lawton Outstanding Government Service Award

• Nominate a government attorney or political appointee who has made an outstanding contribution to the development, implementation, or improvement of administrative law and regulatory practice. The award will be presented at the Section’s Annual Awards Dinner in Washington, DC on October 17, 2011.

2011 Gellhorn-Sargentich Law Student Essay Award Competition

• Discuss a problem or issue related to presidential control of agency rulemaking. Eligible students are those currently enrolled in ABA accredited law schools and also members of the ABA Section of Administrative Law. The winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize and round-trip airfare and accommodation to the fall conference in Washington, DC.

In my classes yesterday we had a guest speaker; a Trial Attorney from the U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Enforcement Section. In addition to talking about her work, she provided many valuable information for students on the job hunt and interested in working or interning at the DOJ and its offices working on environmental issues. These links may be useful for students:

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/int/internsum11.htm#environment

http://www.justice.gov/enrd/ENRD_Employment.html

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/int/internsum11.htm#environment_enforcement

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/int/internsum11.htm#environment_sffo

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/hp/hp.htm

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/sp/sp.htm

After two weeks of researching food eco-labeling at Uppsala University, we spent the weekend in Tallinn, Estonia. We took a ferry across the very icy Baltic Sea, and then enjoyed the fabulous Medieval Old Town in Tallinn (photo below). It was a fantastic trip; one of the most intact and largest medieval towns in Europe. This week we’re off to southern Sweden and Linnaeus University.

To give you the sense of eco-labels that I’ve been focusing on in Sweden, see the middle column of the photo below. “Miljö” means “environment.”

Check out this short article by my colleagues Adam Moser and Jingjing Liu.