Jessica A Wentz
Jessica Wentz joined the Sabin Center in September 2014 as an Associate Director and Postdoctoral Fellow. Jessica is now a non-resident senior fellow at the Sabin Center. She also works as the contracts officer and business operations manager at a climate science research firm in California. Her work at the Sabin Center has spanned a variety of topics related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable development, and environmental justice. Much of her research has focused on how existing U.S. laws and common law doctrines can be used in conjunction with climate science tohold governments and private actors accountable for contributions to climate change as well as failures to prepare for the impacts of climate change. She has also written on the nexus between climate change and human rights law.
Jessica previously worked as a Visiting Associate Professor and Environmental Program Fellow at the George Washington University Law School. She is a 2012 graduate of Columbia Law School, where she was awarded the Alfred S. Forsyth Prize for “dedication to the advancement of environmental law.” She also has a B.A. in international development from the University of California, Los Angeles and an LL.M. in Energy and Environmental Law from the George Washington University Law School.
Selected Publications
- Amicus Brief on Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies, North Dakota v. EPA, No. 15-01381 (D.C. Cir., filed Dec. 21, 2016) (co-authored with Michael Burger)
- Submission to the Philippines Carbon Majors Investigation, Case No.: CHR-NI-2016-0001 (Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, filed Dec. 16, 2016) (co-authored with Michael Burger)
- Climate Attribution Science and the Endangered Species Act, Yale Journal on Regulation (Forthcoming 2022) (pre-publication version)
- The Law and Science of Climate Change Attribution, 51 Envtl. L. Rep. 10646 (2021) (co-authored with Michael Burger and Radley Horton)*
- Climate Science in Rights-Based Advocacy Contexts, Open Global Rights (2020) (co-authored with Michael Burger and Daniel Metzger)
- The Law and Science of Climate Change Attribution, 45(1) Columbia Journal of Environmental Law 57 (2020) (co-authored with Michael Burger and Radley Horton)
- Evaluating the Effects of Fossil Fuel Supply Projects on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change Under NEPA, 44(2) William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review 423 (2020)
- Persistent Regulations: A Detailed Assessment of the Trump Administration’s Efforts to Repeal Federal Climate Protections (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, June 2019) (co-authored with Michael Gerrard)
- Holding Fossil Fuel Companies Accountable for their Contribution to Climate Change: Where Does the Law Stand? 74(6) Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 397 (2018) (co-authored with Michael Burger)
- Human Rights and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement: Ensuring Adequate Protection of Human Rights in the SDM and ITMO Frameworks (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, May 2018) (co-authored with Romany Webb).
- Fossil Fuel Projects and NEPA Reviews: Two New Decisions on the Proper Scope of Analysis for Indirect and Cumulative Greenhouse Gas Emissions, 38(5) Westlaw Journal Environmental 3 (2017)
- The Price of Climate Deregulation: Adding Up the Costs and Benefits of Federal Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, August 2017) (co-authored with Nadra Rahman)
- Downstream and Upstream Greenhouse Emissions: The Proper Scope of NEPA Review, 41 Harvard Environmental Law Review 109 (2017) (co-authored with Michael Burger)
- Planning for the Effects of Climate Change on Natural Resources, 47 Environmental Law Reporter 10220 (March 2017)
- Trump’s Executive Order On Regulatory Costs Undermines Congressional Authority, Huffington Post, February 16, 2017 (co-authored with Michael Burger)
- Managing a Forgotten Greenhouse Gas Under Existing U.S. Law: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, 67 Environmental Science and Policy 44 (2017) (co-authored with David Kanter, James N. Galloway, William R. Moomaw, and Wilfried Winiwater)
- Using Online Databasing to Unlock the Full Value of Environmental Impact Assessments (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, November 2016)
- Considering the Effects of Climate Change on Natural Resources in Environmental Review and Planning Documents: Guidelines for Agencies and Practitioners (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, September 2016)
- Survey of Climate Change Considerations in Federal EISs, 2012-2014 (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, February 2016)
- Climate Change and Human Rights (United Nations Environment Programme, December 2015) (co-authored with Michael Burger)
- Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on the Built Environment: A Framework for Environmental Reviews, 45 Environmental Law Reporter 11015 (2015)
- Designing a Climate Change Displacement Coordination Facility: Key Issues for COP 21 (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, September 2015) (co-authored with Michael Burger)
- Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on the Built Environment under NEPA and State EIA Laws: A Survey of Current Practices and Recommendations for Model Protocols (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, August 2015)
- Balancing Economic and Environmental Goals in Distributed Generation Procurement: A Critical Analysis of California’s Renewable Auction Mechanism (RAM), 5(2) Geo. Wash. J. Energy & Envtl. L. 30 (2014)
- Climate Change and Forced Displacement (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law 2014)
- The Policy Implications of Livestock’s Contribution to Climate Change, GW Environmental and Energy Law Perspectives (Spring 2013)
- Assisted Migration: A Viable Conservation Strategy to Preserve the Biodiversity of Threatened Island Nations? (Columbia Center for Climate Change Law, May 2011)
- The EPA’s Proposed Transport Rule: Implications for Climate Change Regulation (Columbia Center for Climate Change Law, July 2010)
- Climate Science and Human Rights: Using Attribution Science to Frame Government Mitigation and Adaptation Obligations" in Litigating the Climate Emergency: How Human Rights, Courts and Legal Mobilization Can Bolster Climate Change (César Rodríguez-Garavito ed. forthcoming 2022) (co-authored with Michael Burger and Daniel Metzger)
- "Environmental Impact Assessment" in Global Climate Change and U.S. Law, 3rd Ed. (Michael B. Gerrard, Jody Freeman, Michael Burger, eds., forthcoming 2022).
- "Implementing Section 115 through the SIP revision process" in Combating Climate Change with Section 115 of the Clean Air Act (Michael Burger ed. 2020) (co-authored with Jared Snyder)
- “Corporate Social Responsibility and Climate Change” in Corporate Social Responsibility – Sustainable Business: Environmental, Social and Governance Frameworks for the 21st Century (Rae Lindsay and Roger Martella eds., 2020) (co-authored with Michael Burger)
- “Climate Change and Human Rights” in Human Rights and the Environment: Legality, Indivisibility, Dignity and Geography (James R. May and Erin Daly eds., Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law series, Vol. 7, 2019) (co-authored with Michael Burger)
- “Climate Change and Public Health Impact Assessments,” in Climate Change and Public Health Law (Michael Burger & Justin Gundlach eds., 2018)
- Technical Contributor, "Reducing Risks Through Adaptation Actions" in the Fourth National Climate Assessment (U.S. Global Change Research Program 2018)
- “Nitrous Oxide,” in Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization (Michael Gerrard & John Derbach eds., 2019)
- “Scaling Up Local Solutions: Creating an Enabling Legal Environment for the Deployment of Community-Based Renewable Microgrids,” in Energy, Governance and Sustainability (Jordi Jaria i Manzano et al., eds., IUCN Academy of Environmental Law 2016) (co-authored with Chiara Pappalardo)
- “Climate Change and Environmental Impact Assessment,” in Decision Making in Environmental Law (LeRoy Paddock et al., eds., Edward Elgar 2016)
- “Debunking Revisionist Understandings of Environmental Cooperative Federalism: Collective Action Responses to Air Pollution,” in The Law and Policy of Environmental Federalism: A Comparative Analysis (Kalyani Robbins & Erin Ryan, eds. 2015) (co-authored with Robert Glicksman)
- Next Generation Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (ELI Press 2014) (co-edited with LeRoy Paddock)
- “The Netherlands,” in International Environmental Law: The Practitioner’s Guide to the Laws of the Planet (Brett Grosko & Roger R. Martella, Jr. eds., Chicago: ABA Book Pub. 2014) (co-authored with LeRoy Paddock)
- “Emerging Regulatory Frameworks for Hydraulic Fracturing and Shale Gas Development in the United States,” in The Law of Energy Underground (Donald N. Zillman et al. eds., Oxford University Press 2014)