In this episode, Professor Paul Rink discusses Held v. Montana, the case brought by Our Children's Trust on behalf of sixteen Montana youths. The plaintiffs successfully pleaded their case that the Montana State Constitution guarantees them a right to a clean and healthy environment. Professor Rink worked for Our Children's Trust and shares his first-hand opinion on the case.
About Our Guest:
Professor Paul Rink is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. Prior to joining the Haub Law faculty in 2023, Professor Rink worked at the climate law firm, Our Children’s Trust, representing young people from around the world in strategic, legal efforts to secure their right to a safe climate system.
Although originally from Gaylord, MI – a.k.a. the top knuckle of your middle finger on the hand Michigan map – he has lived in many places around the United States and the world. After graduating with a BS from the University of Michigan in 2012, Paul spent a year and half teaching soil science and environmental science to Singaporean students at Ngee Ann Polytechnic as a Princeton in Asia Fellow. He then extended his fellowship for an additional year, working on policy advocacy at the International Water Management Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Immediately after earning his JD from Yale Law School and his Masters of Environmental Management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2019, he spent a brief stint in Australia working as a forest restoration consultant for Conservation International. Following this consultancy position, Paul researched the impact of business interests on international environmental law as a Fox Fellow in Mexico City before heading to Portland, Oregon for his position as a Global Staff Attorney at Our Children’s Trust. While at Our Children’s Trust, Paul co-implemented a successful campaign to enshrine 100% renewable energy targets in Florida law; drafted comments responding to the Office of Management and Budget’s draft Technical Support Document on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases; and co-developed third-party intervention filings before multiple tribunals including the Mexican Collegiate Court in Administrative Matters of the First Circuit, the European Court of Human Rights, and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.
In his scholarly endeavors, Professor Rink has written academic articles ranging from the household economic benefits of rainwater harvesting systems to a comparative analysis of the forestry policies in Indonesia and Brazil. He has also contributed chapters to the Oxford Handbook on International Environmental Law (2021) and the 2019 Yale University Press publication, A Better Planet: 40 Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future. His research interests all relate to climate law, more specifically human rights and climate change, sustainable investment and net zero policy, and administrative cost-benefit analysis in the midst of the climate crisis.