Every year, environmental enthusiasts flock to the city of Eugene eager to attend the oldest environmental law conference in the nation.
The Public Interest Environmental Law Conference celebrated its 32nd anniversary this year. With over 3,000 attendees, ranging from activists to attorneys, this conference is also the nation’s largest environmental law conference to date.
The conference consists of several panel discussions, keynote speakers and workshops.
The speakers alone represent over 50 countries worldwide. This year, the conference had presentations from the Papuan tribe members to speakers from Pakistan and China.
“I am most thankful for the people that came here from a long way away,” Nathaniel Gurol, one of the co-directors who coordinated this year’s conference. “I specifically had to coordinate with the Papuan tribal members, and they came all the way across the Pacific Ocean to come tell their story, so I thought that was really powerful and I thought it made PIELC that much stronger.”
Bruce Myers representing Washington DC, and Jay Austin of Portland, Oregon, both senior attorneys with the Environmental Law Institute, were among the speakers at the 2014 conference as well.
“If you look at the field of Public Interest Environmental Law, specifically the citizen groups and the lawyers who represent them, it is the oldest conference that focuses on that, and is the best established,” said Austin, who has been attending the conference since 1994.
Myers agrees.
“The conference bills itself, I think, as the premier annual gathering for environmentalists in the world, and I really haven’t seen anything that would make me disagree with that,” Myers said. “I don’t think there’s anything else quite like it.”
PIELC is put on by Land Air Water, a UO student law society that focuses on environmental issues and plots annual events. The conference is also entirely funded by the ASUO, which, according to co-director Cooper Brinson, has been extremely helpful over the years.
The festivities began with five co-directors, several LAW gurus and officers that were elected in April. These students collaborate throughout the year to host PIELC, which takes place in March.
Every other year, PIELC joins forces with the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, also known as ELAW, which represents the international spectrum of environmental consciousness.
This collaboration is valuable for all attendees, according to Brinson.
“You just have this massive awesome international presence,” Brinson said. “I think when the conference falls on those years it’s beneficial for everyone.”
One issue that the co-directors of the 2014 conference noted was capacity. The conference fills both the law school and the EMU with panels, speakers and guests, but LAW still seeks more space.
Myers however feels that this hurdle contributes to the success of the conference and is pleased with the fact that so many guests are keen to attend.
“I think you want as many people (in one room) as you can possibly fit there,” Myers said. “It kind of adds to, rather than detracts from what’s going on at the conference, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”