Rena Steinzor is the Edward M. Robertson Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, and a past president of the Center for Progressive Reform. She is the author of Why Not Jail? Industrial Catastrophes, Corporate Malfeasance, and Government Inaction.
Professor Steinzor has taught an environmental law survey course, seminars in risk assessments and critical issues in environmental law and science, administrative law, contracts, torts and counseling and negotiation. She has written in the areas of (1) regulatory dysfunction in agencies assigned to protect public health, worker and consumer safety, and the environment; (2) the role of centralized White House review on the protectiveness of regulation; (3) environmental federalism, including so-called "unfunded mandates" imposed on state and local governments by the federal government and the impact on public health of devolving authority and responsibility for solving environmental problems; (4) the implications of industry self-regulation on the protection of the environment and human health; (5) "market-based" alternatives to traditional regulation; and (6) political interference with regulatory science.
She is the editor, with Christopher Schroeder, of the CPR-sponsored book A New Progressive Agenda for Public Health and the Environment, published by Carolina Academic Press. She is also the editor, with Wendy Wagner, of the book Rescuing Science from Politics, published by Cambridge University Press in 2006. Her book, Mother Earth and Uncle Sam: How Pollution and Hollow Government Hurt Our Kids was published by the University of Texas Press in December 2007. With Professor Sidney Shapiro of Wake Forest Law School, she co-authored The People’s Agents and the Battle to Protect the American Public: Special Interests, Government, and Threats to Health, Safety, and the Environment published by the University of Chicago Press in 2010.
Professor Steinzor began her legal career in 1976, and entered academia in January 1994. From 1987 through 1993, she was associated - first as "of counsel" and ultimately as the partner in charge of the environmental practice - at Spiegel & McDiarmid, a 45-lawyer, Washington, D.C. firm representing approximately 400 cities, counties, states, and public agencies in the energy, environmental, communications, and transportation fields. The practice counseled federal, state, and municipal clients regarding compliance with federal and state laws and regulations.
Prior to joining Spiegel & McDiarmid, Professor Steinzor served as Staff Counsel, Subcommittee on Commerce, Transportation, and Tourism of the Energy and Commerce Committee, U.S. House of Representatives (James J. Florio, Chairman). She was the primary staff person responsible for legislation that became the "Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986" (Public Law 99-499) and the "Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act" (Public Law 99-519). She also prepared legislation to reauthorize the Toxic Substances Control Act during the 98th Congress.
Professor Steinzor has testified before Congress on several occasions, most recently regarding the impact of health, safety, and environmental regulations on the economy.
Rena Steinzor
University of Maryland Carey School of Law
Baltimore, MD
410.706 0564
email
website
Amro Ali worked as an environmental engineer at the state and local government levels in North Carolina to enforce the laws and regulations that govern air and water quality. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in chemical engineering. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in sustainability at Wake Forest University.
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Michelle Bryan is a professor of Law at the University of Montana, and teaches in the school's Natural Resources & Environmental Law Program. Full bio.
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Thomas Cluderay is general counsel at the Environmental Working Group. He leads EWG’s legal team and oversees all of the organization’s legal matters. He also works with the government affairs team to develop strategies for advancing EWG policy initiatives, represents EWG before lawmakers and other government bodies and provides regulatory and legislative analyses with an emphasis on public health, consumer protection and environmental policy. Full bio.
Mariah Davis is Field Manager of the Choose Clean Water Coalition. A Virginia native, she has led and executed clean water and climate action strategies to engage elected officials on the importance of protecting and sustaining programs most viable to the Chesapeake Bay. She strives to promote environmental justice to ensure overburdened communities share equitably in the benefits of clean water.
Kerry Darragh is a senior associate at The Hatcher Group, where she works with environmental and health care clients such as the Maryland Clean Agriculture Coalition, Behavioral Health Coalition of Maryland, American Rivers and Maryland Pesticide Education Network to help them achieve their policy and communications goals.
Elise Desiderio is a law student at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law.
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Melissa Kelly is the staff director and attorney at the Center for Land, Environment, and Natural Resources (CLEANR).
Robert Meltz is Special Counsel at Defenders of Wildlife.
Monte Mills is an assistant professor of law and co-director, Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic at the University of Montana. Full bio.
Celeste Monforton joined the Milken Institute School of Public Health in 2006. She is a regular contributor to the "Pump Handle," a blog known as "a water cooler for the public health crowd." She continues her work in occupational health and maintains her ties to The George Washington University by serving as a professorial lecturer. Full bio.
Kevin Morris is a J.D. candidate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law. He serves as a research assistant for CPR Member Scholar Maxine Burkett.
Alexi Nathan is a rising third-year law student studying environmental law and human rights at American University Washington College of Law.
Hari M. Osofsky is dean of Penn State Law and the Penn State School of International Affairs and Distinguished Professor of Law, professor of international affairs, and professor of geography. Dean Osofsky’s more than 50 publications focus on improving governance and addressing injustice in energy and climate change regulation.
Jarryd Page is an intern at the Center for Progressive Reform. Before interning at CPR, he earned a B.S. from the University of Maryland's Environmental Science & Policy Program in 2017. He has previously worked at National Geographic and served as Adjunct Lecturer at Marymount University. He also holds a B.A. in Art History from University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.A. in Art History from the University of Kansas.
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Shannon Roesler is a Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma City School of Law. Before joining the law school faculty, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Deanell Reece Tacha on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. She was also a staff attorney and teaching fellow in the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic at Georgetown University Law Center and a visiting faculty member at the University of Kansas School of Law. University bio.
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