Michael Burger
MICHAEL BURGER
Executive Director
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Columbia Law School
435 West 116th St.
New York, NY 10025
Email:
academic experience
Columbia Law School
Executive Director, Sabin Center for Climate Change LawJanuary 2015-present
Direct climate change-related research, advocacy and education programs in diverse areas, including domestic and international climate law, environmental law, natural resources law, energy law, human rights law, and sustainable development.
Roger Williams University School of Law July 2010-December 2014
Associate Professor of Law
Taught upper-level courses in Environmental Law, Administrative Law, and Law & Literature. Founded and directed Environmental and Land Use Law Clinical Externship Program.
New York University School of Law June 2007-May 2010
Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering
Taught first-year law students course designed to provide sophisticated and in-depth attention to interactive, fact-sensitive and interpretive work fundamental to professional law practice. Includes modules on legal research, legal writing, client counseling, contract negotiation, mediation and oral advocacy.
appellateadvocacy
Counsel of Record, Brief of the National Organization of Counties, National League of Cities, United State Conference of Mayors,International City/County Management Association, and International Municipal Lawyers Association as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondents, American Trucking Association v. City of Los Angeles, et al., 11-798 (reported at 569 U.S. ___ (2013)).
law practice experience
Office of the Corporation Counsel, Environmental Law Division Sept. 2003-June 2007
Assistant Corporation Counsel
Represented and counseled the New York City Mayor’s office and City agencies in litigation, administrative proceedings, legislation and policy-making pertaining to matters under federal, state and local environmental laws.
- Served as lead environmental litigation counsel for City agencies in legislative drafting and rulemaking for local laws requiring use of low sulfur diesel fuel and reductions in emissions of air pollutants from on-road and off-road vehicles.
- Served as junior City attorney in multi-party litigation where the City, several states and private land trusts have claimed that industrial contributions to global warming constitute public nuisance under federal and state law (Connecticut v. AEP), and as lead counsel for City’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (“RGGI”).
- Served as lead City attorney in a multi-party federal lawsuit brought by the City, fifteen states and several non-profit groups, against the U.S. Department of Energy for its failure to create and revise required efficiency standards for consumer and commercial appliances.
- Successfully defended City’s sale of building at 2 Columbus Circle against a series of lawsuits filed over two years alleging violations of, among other things, state and city environmental review laws, the public trust doctrine, the State Constitution, the Open Meetings Law and the Freedom of Information Law.
- Served as lead attorney in City’s defense of rezoning of the Greenpoint and Williamsburg sections of Brooklyn against challenges to environmental review.
- Successfully prosecuted City’s first affirmative trespass action against citizen encroaching on City-owned property in the New York City Watershed.
- Successfully prosecuted and negotiated settlement of City’s first affirmative action to enforce the terms of a watershed conservation easement.
- Successfully prosecuted and negotiated settlement of enforcement action requiring private golf course owner to upgrade wastewater treatment plant to come into compliance with Watershed Regulations.
- Successfully defended City’s enforcement of Watershed Regulations against challenges to denials of variances for permits and against regulatory takings claims.
- Represented City in administrative proceeding challenging state environmental agency’s permits for large resort development in the New York City Watershed.
- Legal Rookie of the Year, December 2004.
Earthjustice May 2002-August 2002
Law Clerk, International Program
Researched and wrote memoranda and motions on international and domestic legal issues at the intersections of human rights and environmental law, and international trade and environmental law.
Columbia Law School Environmental Law Clinic Sept. 2001-May 2002
Student Clinician
Researched and wrote memoranda and motions on issues including citizen enforcement of federal right-to-know statutes, clean air and environmental justice, open space in New Jersey, and wetlands conservation in the New York/New Jersey Harbor.
World Federalist Movement Sept. 2001-May 2002
Research Intern, International NGO Task Group on Legal and Institutional Matters
Researched dispute settlement and enforcement mechanisms in international environmental governance. Drafted paper that formed core of new program’s mission and website.
professional writing and editing experience
Freelance Writer and EditorApril 2001-May 2002
GothamGazette.com: Contributed bi-monthly environmental column and occasional features to New York City political news website funded by the Citizens Union and New York Times Foundations.
SavvyVoter.org:Conceived, assigned and edited overview articles on New York City political issues for non-profit election website funded by the Soros and Earth Pledge Foundations.
Other: Wrote on environmental and cultural issues for The Village Voice, Time Out New York, The Earth Times, Terrain, Artbyte, Potentials Magazine and Mediachannel.org.
SiteSherpa, LLP Aug. 2000-April 2001
Writer/Editor
Investigated and reviewed more than 500 websites for navigational web browser “meta-guide.” Specialized in environment, news, media, law, government, religion and film sites.
American Lawyer Media, Inc. Nov. 1999-Aug. 2000
Reporter
Wrote news pieces and feature articles for national magazines covering legal affairs and the business of law.
education
Columbia University School of Law, New York, NY, Juris Doctor, May 2003
Honors: Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, 2001-2003
Charles Evans Hughes Fellow, Human Rights Internship Program
Journals:Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, Articles Editor
Brown University, Providence, RI, Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, May 1996
Honors: Ratcliffe Hicks Premium for Excellence in Coursework in English and English Languages
Undergraduate Teaching and Research Assistant Fellowship, Environmental Literature
Thesis:“Walking Through Lincoln Woods: Ethical Explorations in a Literary Landscape,” on file with the university.
New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Science, New York, NY, Master of Fine Arts-Creative Writing (Fiction), May 2009
Thesis:“The Law of Takings, A Novel,” on file with the university (E.L. Doctorow, advisor).
law journal publications
Narratives in Conflict: Alaska Natives and Offshore Drilling in the Arctic, 2014 Nordic Envtl. L. J. 77 (invited symposium essay).
The (Re)Federalization of Fracking Regulation, 2013Mich. St. L. Rev. 1483 (2014).
Fracking and Federalism Choice, 161 U. Pa. L. Rev. Online150 (2013),
Recovering from the Recovery Narrative: On Glocalism, Green Jobs and Cyborg Civilization, 46 Akron L. Rev.912 (2013) (invited symposium essay).
Environmental Law/Environmental Literature, 39 Ecology L. Q.1 (2013).
Property Law and American Empire, 35 U. Hawaii L. Rev. (forthcoming 2015) (co-authored with Paul Frymer, Associate Professor, Princeton University).
Towards Engaged Scholarship, 33Pace L. Rev.821 (2013) (contribution to group-authored article edited by John Nolon).
“The Story with Sustainability,” in Rethinking Sustainability to Meet the Climate Change Challenge, 43 Env. L. Rep. 10342, 10356-57 (April 2013) (contribution to collection of essays by participants in Environmental Law Collaborative 2012 workshop).
Consistency Conflicts and Federalism Choice: Marine Spatial Planning Beyond the Territorial Sea, 41 Env. L. Rep. 10602 (July 2011).
Intrapersonal Intelligence as a Lawyering Skill: Introducing Values Systems into the Environmental Law Syllabus, 2 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. Online Companion 1 (2011).
“It’s Not Easy Being Green”: Local Initiatives, Preemption Problems and the Market Participant Exception, 78 U. Cin. L. Rev. 835 (2010).
Empowering Local Autonomy and Encouraging Innovation in Climate Change Governance: The Case for a Layered Regime, 39 Env. L. Rep. 11161 (Dec. 2009).
Bipolar and Polycentric Approaches to Human Rights and the Environment, 28 Colum. J. Envtl. L. 371 (2003).
Ecology and the Jewish Spirit: Where Nature and the Sacred Meet, edited and with Introduction by Ellen Bernstein; Book Review, 26 Ecol. L. Q. 126 (1999).
book chapters
“Sustainable Utopias and Climate Change Apocalypse,”Rethinking Sustainable Development to Meet the Climate Change Challenge,” (Keith Hirokawa and Jessica Owley, eds., forthcoming fromEnvironmental Law Institute (ELI) Press).
“The Last, Last Frontier,” Environmental Law and Contrasting Ideas of Nature: A Constructivist Approach (Keith Hirokawa, ed., Cambridge University Press) (2014).
“Charlottesville, Other Cities, Restore Their Watersheds,” in Cities and Nature, A Handbook for Renewal(Roger L. Kemp, ed., McFarland & Company, Inc., 2006); originally published as “A Watershed Moment: A New Environmental Movement is Born,” The Next American City, Issue 4, Oct. 2004, at 10.
other recent environmental writing
On the Merits: CTS Corporation v. Waldburger, No. 13-339, April 13, 2014 (Washington Legal Foundation), available at
“Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell on the U.S. as an Arctic Nation,” Q&A in High Country News, August 22, 2012.
“The battle over oil in the Arctic heats up,” Book Review of “The Eskimo and the Oil Man,” by Bob Reiss, in The Providence Journal, May 20, 2012.
selected presentations & appearances
Stanford Literary Lab Project Workshop, Stanford University, What the Supreme Court Talks About When It Talks About Environmental Law, September 2014.
Marine Affairs Institute Roundtable Discussion Series, Roger Williams University School of Law, Clusters, Competition and Consequences: Law and Development on Norway’s Arctic Frontier,November 2013.
Extractive Industries in the North: What About Environmental Law and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights?,Faculty of Law, University of Tromsø –The Arctic University of Norway, Competing Narratives off the North Slope: Drilling, Preservation and Spill Preparedness in Alaska’s Arctic Waters,November 2013.
Second Annual Conference on Federalism and Energy in the United States, Northwestern Law School, Scale and Scope in the Regulation of the Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing, November 2013.
Natural Resources Law Teachers Institute, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Flagstaff, AZ, Assault Litigation,May 2013.
How Should Hydraulic Fracking Be Regulated?, Columbia Law School, Fracking and Federalism Choice, April 2013.
Shifting Seas: The Law’s Response to Changing Ocean Conditions, Roger Williams University School of Law, 9th Marine Law Symposium, Panel Moderator:The Emerging Arctic, November 2012.
The Next Generation of Environmental & Natural Resources Law: What Has Changed in 40 Years and What Needs to Change as a Result, University of Akron School of Law, Recovering from the Recovery Narrative: On Glocalism, Green Jobs and Cyborg Civilization, September 2012.
First Environmental Law Collaborative Roundtable, Environmental Law Collaborative, The Story of Sustainability, July 2012.
Environment, Culture, and Place in a Rapidly Changing North,University of Alaska-Southeast, Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment Off-Year Symposium, The Arctic Imagination, Climate Change, and the Evolution of Environmental and Maritime Law on the Earth’s Frozen Frontier, June 2012.
Symposium on Engaged Scholarship, Pace University School of Law,May 2012.
Third Biennial Literature and Law Conference, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Environmental Law, the Environmental Imagination, and the Idea of Justice,March 2012.
Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, University of Oregon School of Law, Narrative, Rhetoric, and Environmental Advocacy, March 2012.
Symposium on Legal Challenges and Opportunities for Offshore Wind and Hydrokinetic Energy Development in the Northeast, Pace University School of Law, Federalism, Experimentation, and Offshore Wind, March 2012 (invited presentation).
Colloquium on Environmental Scholarship, Vermont Law School, Wolf Myths and Climate Stories: Case Studies in Environmental Law & Literature, Sept. 2011.
Law and Society Association, Annual Meeting, American Law of Conquest and Empire at the Jurisdictional Borderlines, June 2011.
Practically Grounded – Best Practices for Skill Building in Teaching Land Use, Environmental, and Sustainable Development Law, Albany Law School and Pace University School of Law, Intrapersonal Intelligence as a Lawyering Skill: Integrating Students’ Values into Doctrinal Analysis of Environmental Law & Policy, May 2011.
Blowout: The Legal Legacy of the Deepwater Horizon Catastrophe, Roger Williams University School of Law Symposium, Panel Moderator: Origin of a Disaster, April 2010.
Taking Stock: The Magnuson-Stevens Act Revisited, Roger Williams University School of Law, 8th Annual Marine Law Symposium, Panel Moderator: The Magnuson-Stevens Act and Other Management Schemes, Nov. 2010.
Touro Law Center Faculty Colloquium, “It’s Not Easy Being Green”: Local Initiatives, Preemption Problems and the Market Participant Exception, February 2010.
areas of research
Climate Law, Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, Administrative Law, Climate Change Law, Ocean & Coastal Law, Law & Literature, Law & Humanities
awards
First Annual Penny Pether Award for Law and Language Scholarship (2013)
International Municipal Lawyers Association Amicus Award (2013)
teaching and service initiatives
Environmental and Land Use Law Clinical Externship
Organized and established program for new experiential learning opportunity for students seeking placements in government agencies and non-governmental organizations involved in environmental and land use law and policy.
Sacred Natural Sites Law & Policy Project
Established partnership with Sacred Natural Sites Initiative and Natural Justice to develop website providing law and policy resources for indigenous communities and other groups advocating for biocultural rights and preservation. Offered opportunity to law students to participate in website development through research and writing.
Environmental Law Collaborative
Co-founded new network of environmental, energy, and natural resources law professors seeking to engage in the public discourse about emerging environmental ideas. Co-organized first workshop, held in Chester, CT in June 2012. Helped facilitate publication of series of blog posts, group article, and book on climate change and sustainability.
courses taught (roger williams)
Administrative Law
Environmental Law
Environmental and Land Use Law Clinical Externship
Advanced Topics in Environmental and Land Use Law
Law & Literature
university service (roger williams)
Member, Marine Affairs Institute Advisory Board
Faculty Advisor, Environmental Law Society
Faculty Advisor, Environmental Law Moot Court Team
other service
Vice-Chair, American Bar Association Section on Energy, Environment and Resources, Constitutional Law Committee (2011-2015)
Editor, American Bar Association Section on Energy, Environment and Resources, The Year in Review, Constitutional Law Committee chapter (2011-2015)
Fellow, American Bar Association Section on Energy, Environment and Resources Leadership Development Program (2012-13)
Member, Rhode Island Food Policy Council Healthy Environment Working Group
Affiliate, Sacred Natural Sites Initiative
Contributing Editor, Environmental Law Prof blog
Co-founder/Organizer, Environmental Law Collaborative
Member, Board of Directors, Longitude (a 501(c)(3) organization)
professional affiliations
Bar Admissions: State of New York (2004)
Court Admissions:
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2005)
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (2005)
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2013)
Supreme Court of the United States (2013)
Professional Associations:
American Association of Law Schools, Sections on Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, and Law and Humanities (Member)
American Bar Association, Section on Energy, Environment and Resources (Vice-Chair and Member)
1