John C. Dernbach

John C. Dernbach is an environmentalist, lawyer and distinguished professor of law at Widener University. He currently teaches environmental law, property law, international law, international environmental law, sustainability and the law, and climate change.

John Dernbach, since graduating from law school at the University of Michigan, has centered his career on environmental and legal issues. Over the course of his career, Dernbach has held several important positions and has written a large body of work that has had significant influence on issues relating to the law and the environment. His work with environmental law and sustainability has been widely praised by academics and politicians alike. He began his environmental work in Pennsylvania where he regulated coal and non-coal mining and served as Pennsylvania's director of the Advanced Science and Research Team. Later, Dernbach was a member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law and served as the chair of the American Bar Association's Committee on Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems. He also worked with the National Academy of Sciences Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability.

Dernbach has been the author of several important legal texts, most notably, A Practical Guide to Legal Writing & Legal Method which is widely considered to be the classic text on the subject and is currently in its fourth edition. Dernbach is also the editor of Agenda For a Sustainable America, a highly influential collection of essays on environmental sustainability that has received praise from several leading academics and politicians including Russ Feingold, Fred Krupp, James Gustave Speth, Paul R. Ehrlich and Donald Kennedy. Stumbling Towards Sustainability, Dernbach's 2002 book, sought to map U.S. progress regarding environmental policy. Dernbach also coauthored the amicus brief for the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark case Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency.

• The “Cash for Clunkers” Program: A Sustainability Evaluation, 42 TOL. L. REV. 467 (2011) (with Marianne Tyrrell).
• Creating the Law of Environmentally Sustainable Economic Development, 28 PACE ENVTL. L. REV. 614 (2011).
• Energy Efficiency and Conservation: New Legal Tools and Opportunities, Natural Resources and Environment, Spring 2011, at 7 (with Robert B. McKinstry, Jr. & Darin Lowder).
• The Essential and Growing Role of Legal Education in Achieving Sustainability, 60 Journal of Legal Education 489 (2011).
• Making the States Full Partners in a National Climate Change Effort: A Necessary Element for Sustainable Economic Development, 40 Environmental Law Reporter (Envtl. L. Inst.) 10539 (2010) (with Robert B. McKinstry, Jr. and Thomas D. Peterson).
• The Ethical Responsibility to Reduce Energy Consumption, 37 Hofstra Law Review 985 (2009) (with Donald A. Brown).
• An Agenda for Sustainable Communities, 4 Houston Environment & Energy Law & Policy Journal 170 (2009).
• Navigating the U.S. Transition to Sustainability: Matching National Governance Challenges with Appropriate Legal Tools, 44 Tulsa Law Review 93 (2008).
• Achieving Early and Substantial Greenhouse Gas Reductions Under a Post-Kyoto Agreement, 20 Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 573 (2008).
• Federal Climate Change Legislation as if the States Matter, Natural Resources and Environmental Law, Winter 2008, at 3 (with Robert B. McKinstry, Jr. & Thomas D. Peterson).

• B.S. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
• J.D. University of Michigan