Q&A with Professor Alexandra Klass, Environmental and Energy Law Concentration Chair

Professor Alexandra Klass, faculty chair for the environmental and energy law concentration at Minnesota Law, discusses the strengths, benefits, and experiential impact of participating in the program.

Can you please describe your teaching and scholarship in the environmental and energy law field?

I teach energy law, public lands and natural resources law, and first-year Torts. My recent scholarship focuses on regulatory challenges to integrating more renewable energy into the nation’s electric grid, efforts by states to electrifying the nation’s transportation system, and the use of eminent domain to expand the nation’s energy transport infrastructure – oil pipelines, natural gas pipelines, and electric transmission lines.

What are some of the key advantages of enrolling in the concentration?

There has never been a more exciting time to study environmental and energy law. These two historically separate fields have converged in the last ten years around efforts to address climate change through state and federal energy policy. In the past decade, rapid technological developments have resulted in abundant supplies of domestic oil and gas due to hydraulic fracturing as well as increasing availability of low-cost wind and solar energy resources. These changes in energy resources, technology, and economics provide a wealth of material for analysis in the classroom and through scholarship, particularly as the role of environmental regulation and energy development are in the spotlight in Congress, state legislatures, and in the courts. Participating in the E&E concentration puts you at the center of these changes by working directly with faculty on research and scholarship and through the wealth of classroom curricular opportunities.

How is the Minnesota Law Environmental and Energy concentration different from programs elsewhere?

The E&E program takes full advantage of its Twin Cities location in the middle of a thriving and diverse business community, with easy access to all branches of the state government (state legislature, state agencies, and state courts), federal trial and appellate courts, environmental nonprofit organizations, and two major city and county government centers, all of which are filled with Minnesota Law alumni who act as adjunct faculty and mentors to students in the E&E concentration who wish to pursue careers in environmental and energy law. Beyond these local resources, our students regularly spend summers working at the U.S. EPA, other federal environmental and energy agencies, and state environmental protection agencies in New York City, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, and other cities around the as well as national nonprofit groups. This has marked Minnesota Law as a known commodity for producing talented students with expertise in environmental and energy law. The University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment and the cutting-edge Energy Transition Lab provide unparalleled opportunities for interdisciplinary research and collaboration with other graduate students within a major academic research institution beyond the walls of the Law School.

What type of practical experience do students get?

Students in the program represent real clients in the Environmental and Energy Law Clinic through a partnership with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. Students can also gain valuable skills participating in the Law School’s environmental law moot court program as well as the competition team that travels to the Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition in New York each year. Upper-level courses in environmental and energy law provide opportunities for students to meet with members of the state legislature, public utility commissioners, administrative agency heads, and energy and utility executives both in the classroom and in the field as well as participate in simulated courtroom and agency proceedings and contract negotiations.

Anything else you would like to let prospective students know about the Environmental and Energy Law concentration?

Students in the concentration participate in the student Environmental and Energy Law Society, which provides social networking and service opportunities focused on environmental and energy law and policy issues. Students also serve as research assistants for faculty, allowing for longer-term relationships with thought leaders outside the classroom. It is a collegial and exciting environment and we look forward to welcoming you to the Environmental and Energy Law program at Minnesota Law!