In this speech at UC Hastings College of The Law, former US Secretary of the Interior (1993 - 2001) and 16th governor of Arizona (1978 to 1987), Bruce Babbitt shares his vision for restoring the environmental movement to a place of prominence in the public discourse. In a speech to an audience of mostly young law students, Babbitt shares strong opinions on America's failures in climate leadership since the Kyoto accords, a leading US educational institution's refusal to divest in fossil fuels, as well as other pressing and irrefutable conditions that are endangering life on the planet like never before. He encourages young lawyers to perhaps engage in well thought out civil disobedience, not unlike the civil rights movement, which drew him with a moral imperative to Alabama as a young law student in the 1960's.
Throughout his career, over 25 of which were in government service, Babbitt has earned a reputation as one of the most accomplished conservation proponents and environmental issues legal scholars in American history. His career experiences range from investigating the Three-Mile Island nuclear power plant accident for President Carter, to leading successful efforts to enact the California Desert Protection Act, the largest land protection bill ever enacted for the lower 48 states. Babbitt also created the National Landscape Conservation System, a collection of fifteen U.S. National Monuments and fourteen National Conservation Areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management to keep them "healthy, open, and wild." He, as of late, as worked on issues in the Amazon basin from his home and office in Washington DC, and is currently chief counsel of the environmental litigation department of Latham & Watkins.
Mr. Babbit is introduced by UC Hastings College Of The Law Professor John Leshy, who worked with him at The US Dept of The Interior in the 1990's. He is preceded by UC Hastings Dean Frank Wu who inaugurates this event as the first Gordon Mathis Riley Lecture, named in honor of a UC Hastings student who died suddenly at the age of 30 in 2012. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Riley had worked with The Surfrider Foundation and previously attended the Peak and Island Schools in Hong Kong, Scotch College in Australia, The Hong Kong International School and Park City High School. He was an avid student of philosophy, and enjoyed competitive big-wave surfing as well as preserving the world’s coastal and mountain environments. He is survived by his parents, Robert, and Shardel, his sister, Meredith, and his brother, Mitchell.
Gordon’s family established this lecture series “…. as a fitting tribute to the life and interests of our son and brother, Gordon Mathis Riley, and as a legacy for his classmates at UC Hastings. His passion for the environment, his dedication to yoga and to spiritual thinking, and his abiding interest in outdoor activities resonate strongly with the intention of this lecture series.”
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More info at http://UCHastings.edu
