Environmental Law Society’s 2026 Spring Climate Conference: A Recap

By: Mark Bank

On February 27, the Environmental Law Society hosted its second annual Spring Climate Conference. The theme, “Demand and Supply,” covered three panel discussions regarding energy policy and electricity generation. Our eight speakers discussed clean energy tax incentives; solar and microgrid projects in Painesville and Euclid; community energy legislation under consideration at our statehouse; and data center costs, policies, and community responses. I am deeply grateful to officers Colin Morrissey, Abigail Murray, and Daniel Wise, who made the three-CLE event possible. 

  The conference began with an introduction by Dean Brian Ray who highlighted that organizing and hosting forums are an integral part of living up to CSU|Law’s motto: Learn Law, Live Justice. The first panel featured Cuyahoga Green Energy Administrator, Mike Foley; Thompson Hine Partner, Alexis Kim; and the City of Painesville’s Electric Superintendent, Joe Price. This panel spoke on the local developments of publicly owned renewable energy across northeast Ohio, as well as the funding sources and tax implications of implementing renewable energy. 

  The second panel featured State Representatives Sharon Ray of District 66 and Tristan Rader of District 13. The representatives were joined by Kurt Princic, the Senior Project Development Manager of CEP Renewables. These panelists spoke on the legislative developments concerning renewable energy such as House Bills 15 and 303, with some proposed bills creating a positive outlook for the growth of renewables. The panelists spoke of growing prospects for renewable energy sources through community energy programs and through private solar energy developments by CEP Renewables. 

  The final panel featured attorneys Addison Caruso, of Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services and Helena Volzer, the Senior Source Water Policy Manager with the Alliance for the Great Lakes. These speakers focused on the implications of the rise of data centers across Ohio and across the country from increased energy demands to the consumption of water for cooling the centers. The conference ended with closing remarks by the Environmental Law Society’s faculty advisor, Dr. Heidi Gorovitz Robertson. 

  A recording is available online: search for “CSU 2026 climate conference” or follow the URL below. Similar to last year’s conference, the Friday morning conference dovetailed with programming for Juris Doctor Online (JDO) students visiting campus that weekend. We intend to schedule the 2027 conference likewise, and we intend to focus it more on federal policy. Ohio is a dynamic backdrop for climate policy, but we expect that a national topic could draw even more of the JDO students into the Moot Court Room, so bright and early before class. 

  The Environmental Law Society began its annual conference on climate change because it is a “wicked problem”—one that eludes solutions due to its scale and complexity. It impacts virtually every natural system we depend upon. Our first conference reviewed harmful changes to our water system and decades of decline in biological diversity. We must monitor such effects for new developments. That data is necessary to craft appropriate policies and better laws. 

  Our first conference also featured local efforts underway to change our energy portfolio. Transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy is critical to slow our production of the greenhouse gases driving climate change. But fixating on the global scale of climate change, its causes and effects, is often overwhelming, not pragmatic. 

  We all have spheres of influence from which to approach this problem. Only after entering CSU|Law did I learn of Cuyahoga County’s brilliant, effective sustainability department, which has partly morphed into the utility service Cuyahoga Green Energy. That group—administered by our only two-time conference panelist and a CSU|Law alumnus, Mike Foley—exemplifies how much can be done at the municipal level to fight climate change. I urge you: look up our Brooklyn Solar Farm and the Euclid Microgrid, because the ambition of these projects is astounding. The microgrid features 4.5 minutes into this year’s conference. 

  It is important to thread local efforts like those into the conference to show our students and community that real change is accessible. It takes determination, but we can build the expertise required to develop meaningful, sophisticated solutions right in our backyard. Development of that expertise remains a core goal of the Environmental Law Society, and it is something we target with our other annual event, a career-paths panel. 

  The career panel discussion occurs in the middle of the fall semester. Over lunch, law and policy students connect with area professionals offering career advice and discussing internship programs. Since 2024, we have hosted panelists from the Ohio EPA, Western Reserve Land Conservancy, Thompson Hine, Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services, Ohio Environmental Council, Hubay Dougherty, and Cuyahoga County. 

  These events, along with lunch-and-learns and nature hikes, are central to our platform: to equip our students with the knowledge and connections to launch careers protecting our state and nation’s air, land, and water. Our Cleveland State University stands along the shores of Lake Erie, a world heritage resource. It is incumbent upon our law school to field attorneys that are able to protect our Great Lake and our vibrant communities. CSU|Law graduates are renowned for their service to Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. The Environmental Law Society aims to channel that spirit to the most fundamental service, environmental practice. 

Mark Bank, President, Environmental Law Society 

Recording of the 2026 Climate Conference can be found at https://www.law.csuohio.edu/newsevents/second-annual-spring-climate-conference.