Public Interest Environmental Law Internship - Summer 2009 (Sioux Falls, SD)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) is seeking to hire a law student intern in our Sioux Falls, South Dakota office for Summer 2009. This legal intern will support ELPC’s state and federal litigation, regulatory and policy advocacy work in the Great Plains. The law intern may spend part of his/her summer in ELPC’s Chicago office, as well as in the Sioux Falls office
ORGANIZATION: ELPC is the Midwest’s/Great Plains’ leading public interest environmental legal advocacy and eco-business innovation organization. ELPC is headquartered in Chicago and has additional offices and staff in Des Moines, Iowa; Jamestown, North Dakota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Madison, Wisconsin. ELPC’s major program areas include: promoting clean energy development strategies that solve global warming problems and reduce environmental degradation by encouraging renewable energy development and energy efficiency alternatives to conventional power plants; promoting innovative transportation approaches that will lead to cleaner air and more jobs; and protecting and preserving critical natural resources and improving the quality of life in our communities. One of ELPC’s premises is that environmental progress and economic development can be achieved together. ELPC’s multidisciplinary professional staff includes 40 attorneys, M.B.A.s, public policy advocates and communications specialists. ELPC was established in 1993 and has an annual budget of $6 million. Please see ELPC’s website for more information at www.elpc.org.
RESPONSIBILITIES: Work with ELPC attorneys and other program staff on litigation, policy development and overall advocacy issues including: (1) Regulatory interventions to support better policies for interconnection of renewable energy resources to the electric grid; (2) Implementation and promotion of the Rural Energy for America Program to increase wind and biomass projects on farms and ranches and in rural communities; and (3) Natural resources protection cases. ELPC law interns engage in legal and policy research, litigation and pre-litigation support, developing case strategies, legislative drafting and other projects. Interns may attend meetings with state and federal agencies, legislators and citizen groups.
QUALIFICATIONS: Strong academic record, excellent writing and analytical skills, and a demonstrated interest in and commitment to public interest and environmental advocacy.
INTERN STIPEND: $400 per week for ten weeks. ELPC encourages law student intern applicants to seek partial or full funding through law school PIN grants and other such programs.
APPLICATION PROCESS: Applicants should send a cover letter, resume and professional references by regular mail or email to: Meleah Geertsma and Brad Klein, Staff Attorneys, Environmental Law & Policy Center, 35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60601, Email: mgeertsma@elpc.org, bklein@elpc.org. The Environmental Law and Policy Center is an equal opportunity employer and is continually seeking to diversify its staff.
