ELS Symposium 2019 | Deconstructing Waste | March 15th 2019 Under the natural law of conservation of mass, matter is neither created nor destroyed; everything we have ever thrown away is still here with us on planet Earth. In light of evolving California climate and environmental policy focused on air quality, water quality, and environmental justice, this year’s Environmental Law Symposium at UC Davis focuses on the human-made law of waste management. Leaders in government, non-profit and private sectors will discuss the ways we manage organic waste, hazardous waste, agricultural waste and other waste streams, opening the doorway to dialogue about the impacts of dumping on vulnerable landscapes and populations, and how our society can shift from disposal to regeneration in the era of climate change. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Panel Four "Local Solutions: Resident Power in Transforming Waste to Energy" Although waste-to-energy technology in its many forms is being actively explored by university researchers and supported by the state for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, local resident communities who struggle with the worst impacts of industrial waste dumping and facility siting are hard at work building solutions that improve local health outcomes and build community resilience to climate change. In this panel, we discuss issues of access to the benefits of waste-to-energy technologies in California’s most polluted areas and explore alternative local projects that mitigate the impacts of climate change and relieve communities of local pollution burdens. 1. Martha Guzman Aceves, Commissioner, California Public Utilities Commission 2. Dan Noble, Director, Association of Compost Producers 3. Madeline Stano, Energy Equity Counsel, Greenlining Institute 4. Kassandra Hishida, Director, Community Alliance for Agroecology Moderator: Phoebe Seaton, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Closing Plenary: Jose Gurrola, Mayor of Arvin Presented by the Environmental Law Society, Environs: Environmental Law & Policy Journal, and the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies at UC Davis School of Law, in partnership with the UC Davis John Muir Institute of the Environment, the UC Davis Center for Regional Change, and California Environmental Law & Policy Center.