News | Firm Attorneys Involved in Climate Change and the Endangered Species Act; Ruhl to Provide Keynote Address :: Smith|Robertson

Firm of counsel attorney JB Ruhl will deliver a keynote presentation on Climate Change and the Endangered Species Act at the CLE International www.cle.com Endangered Species Act (ESA) conference in Austin on November 1 and 2, 2007. Mr. Ruhl is a professor of law at the Florida State University School of Law and has written extensively on the Endangered Species Act and the law of ecosystem management. The firm is beginning to advise clients on issues arising out of the complex interaction between anticipated global climate change and the strictures of the ESA. While some might view this interaction as more of a train wreck, we are striving to anticipate and address potential legal conflicts and to find opportunities for productive long-range planning and cooperation as stakeholders begin to struggle with the ESA implications of anthropogenic climate change. We recognize that consideration of climate change will permeate essentially all ESA programs, from listing to recovery planning to interagency consultation to incidental take permitting. We will work closely with scientific experts and agency personnel to develop procedural and analytical frameworks for addressing climate change in each of these programs. For more information regarding developments on this topic, contact Alan Glen or JB Ruhl.