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Adjunct Professor Eleanor Stein is bringing a new perspective to students taking Law of Climate Change: Domestic & Transnational, her longtime course at Albany Law School.
In early November, Prof. Stein earned an LL.M. in Climate Change Law and Policy from Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland, having graduated with distinction. The Master of Laws program is the first in the world to focus exclusively on climate change law.
“It is fascinating to see how differently Europe approaches the topic,” she said.
Prof. Stein — a former administrative law judge — recently retired after 27 years with the New York State Public Service Commission, where she last served as project manager for Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), an initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build a cleaner, greener, and more affordable energy system for N.Y.
Aside from teaching at the law school and UAlbany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, Prof. Stein plans to work with the Government Law Center at Albany Law School on various climate change projects.
"I believe all of us learn by practice and my classes are always a discussion of both sides of issues, with students playing roles for and against," Prof. Stein said in a recent profile in the Albany Times Union, adding that that she aims “to have an open discourse and open exploration of this incredibly important issue ... we can agree to disagree."
Prof. Stein earned her J.D. from City University of New York Law School. Her article titled “Ignorance/Denial/Fear/Paralysis/Engagement/Commitment: Reflections on a Decade Teaching Climate Change Law” was published this past summer in Radical Teacher.
"Many of my core beliefs are essentially unchanged," Prof. Stein, who was an antiwar and civil rights activist in the 1960s and ‘70s, told the Times Union. "Forty years ago, I was concerned about war, racism and the second-class status of women. Now, I also see how central environmental issues are — especially climate change. I have always strongly believed that collective action can make change, and I still do. But I have to admit, it takes much longer than I thought it would in 1968!"
