Environmental Justice

Workshop Description: This workshop will teach students about: 1) the meaning of environmental justice, 2) the origins of the environmental justice movement and how law has impacted the movement, and 3) the Wisconsin constitutional climate lawsuit, Dunn v. PSC, in which 15 Wisconsin youth (including two West High School students!) are suing the Wisconsin Legislature and Public Service Commission to protect their right to a stable climate. Students will also learn how they can get more engaged with environmental causes in their community, and how they can support the youth plaintiffs in the Dunn v. PSC lawsuit. 

Participants can expect: Discussion, Advocacy / Action, Verbal Presentation / Lecture, Q&A

This workshop is offered: AM, sessions 1 & 2

Content Level: beginner

Speaker Bio: Skylar Harris is the Climate Justice Fellow at Midwest Environmental Advocates, a Madison-based nonprofit environmental law center that combines the power of law with the resolve of communities facing environmental injustice to secure and protect the rights of all people to healthy water, land, and air. Since joining MEA in 2024, Skylar's litigation work has included opposing the construction of the Line 5 Reroute project, a 40-mile oil pipeline that would completely surround the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, as well as a constitutional climate lawsuit in which 15 youth plaintiffs are suing the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and Wisconsin Legislature for violating their right to a stable climate. Skylar earned her J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 2024, and gained experience in environmental law through clerkships with the U.S. Department of Justice - Environment and Natural Resources Division, Earthjustice's Toxic Exposure & Health program, and Los Angeles Waterkeeper.