Cornell professor gives talk on intersection of constitutional law and climate change
Ithaca College and its Department of Legal Studies celebrated Constitution Day by inviting Leehi Yona, assistant professor of law at Cornell Law School, to discuss the United States Constitution and its intersection with climate legislation.
This year’s talk featured an in-depth discussion of how the Constitution and its articles affect both the ability of the U.S. to pass climate legislation and its ability to join international efforts and treaties. Yona, who has a background in both policy studies and environmental science, began by giving an overview of climate legislation in the U.S. before diving into specific articles in the Constitution that impact the government’s ability to legislate greenhouse gas emissions.
Yona shared some alternatives to traditional climate legislation, like spending bills and earmarking, which is the process of setting aside government funds for a specific purpose. She pointed out the success that has been seen with bills like the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which was one of the largest climate bills in American history.
Earmarking has allowed often divisive climate legislation to gain some bipartisan support in Congress. Yona said the U.S. is often seen as a key international player because it is such a large polluter.
“We need the U.S., in order to successfully address climate change,” Yona said. “And in order to be able to understand how to get that to happen, we have to understand the constitutional constraints and powers that we have in this country to address the problem.”
Since Congress passed a law in 2004, any school that receives federal funding is required by the government to host some sort of Constitution Day event for its students. Michael Trotti, coordinator of legal studies and professor in IC’s history department, said that while there are no requirements for how elaborate the programming has to be, IC and the legal studies department have leaned into the holiday as a chance to open a dialogue with students.
“This year we have someone from the other hill who is in Cornell’s law school, who is an expert both on climate change and the law,” Trotti said. “[Which is] a great combination, talking about the sort of legal restraints and opportunities that are there in terms of one of the biggest issues that’s facing all of humanity, but this generation [especially].”
Earlier this month, the United Nations said in a press release that the target to stop global warming has been missed, and countries must now move to limit the damage as much as possible.
Studies have shown that Gen Z is particularly vulnerable to climate anxiety, with a GlobeScan study finding that nearly 49% feel they are personally impacted by climate change in some way. Yona said she hopes students will come away from her talk feeling empowered.
“Ideally, [students have] a sense of realism about the world as it currently is, along with a sense of optimism and hope about what it could be,” Yona said.
Students who attended asked a variety of questions after the talk, including how to have conversations about climate change in their own lives. Eli Hajjar, a sophomore documentary studies major, said the discussion left him with a better sense of how the government can realistically make progress.
“I think it really comes down to our day-to-day communication with each other, and it’s important to inform [others about] what we learn,” Hajjar said.
With midterm elections approaching in November, Trotti said he feels that Constitution Day programming offers a chance to gain a better relationship with the country’s foundational document.
“This is a wild moment in terms of American politics and in terms of even American law,” Trotti said. “The Constitution is what drives our legal system. That’s more important now than ever, and having everyone have a good understanding of what the Constitution allows, what the Constitution protects and what the Constitution’s limits are … all of those things are essential right now.”