Richard L. Ottinger

  • Dean Emeritus

Education

BA, Cornell University
LLB, Harvard Law School

Dean Emeritus Richard Ottinger first came to Elisabeth Haub School of Law when he retired from Congress in 1984. As a professor he taught in the environmental law program from 1984-94, and he served as Dean from 1994-99. During his term as Dean, he raised funds for the construction of a new modern classroom building, which was later dedicated as Richard Ottinger Hall in 2013. He also was responsible for bringing to Pace the New York State Judicial Training Institute. As Dean, he established the Law School Board of Advisors, the annual fundraising dinner, and the Practice program.

Dean Emeritus Ottinger is co-director of the Pace Global Center for Environmental Legal Studies. He founded the Pace Energy & Climate Center, which advocates for climate change mitigation and promotion of clean energy resources. In his 16 years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he authored a substantial body of energy and environmental laws. He was one of the earliest environmentalists in Congress in 1965. As chairman of the Energy Conservation and Power Subcommittee of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, he was instrumental in adopting key energy and environmental legislation. Dean Emeritus Ottinger was a founding staff member of the Peace Corps, serving it during 1961-1964.

Currently, Dean Emeritus Ottinger continues to advise JD, LLM, and SJD students and involve them in national and international environmental and energy efficiency and renewable energy research and presentations. Recently, he helped guide an SJD student with her thesis and a China visiting professor with his one-year research projects. He also works with the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Academy of Environmental Law to encourage their members to advocate phasing out fossil fuels and terminating fossil fuel subsidies.

Honors & Awards:
Founder and Chair Emeritus, Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Founding Board Member of Friends of the Earth
Editor-in-Chief, UNEP Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Laws
Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy, American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy and Resources, 1974

Publications

SSRN

Books

Renewable Energy Law and Development: Case Study Analyses, Richard Ottinger with Pace Law School Research Assistants, Edward Elgar, UK 2013

UNEP Handbook for Drafting Laws on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Resources (Adrian Bradbrook, Richard Ottinger, Lal Kurukulasuriya, Mark Radka eds.) (Ottinger & Bradbrook co-authors w/contributing authors) (UNEP 2007)

Compendium of Laws on Energy for Sustainable Development (Richard L. Ottinger, Adrian Bradbrook & Wang Xi eds.) (with Nicholas Robinson and Victor Tafur) (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

The Law of Energy for Sustainable Development (Richard L. Ottinger, Adrian Bradbrook, Rosemary Lyster & Wang Xi eds.) (with Adrian Bradbrook, Rosemary Lyster, and Wang Xi) (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

Energy Law and Sustainable Development (Richard L. Ottinger & Adrian Bradbook eds.) (with Adrian Bradbrook) (IUCN, 2003).

The Law of Energy for Sustainable Development. Co-author, Richard Ottinger et.al eds (Cambridge University Press, November 2004)

Compendium of Sustainable Energy Laws. Richard Ottinger et.al eds (Cambridge University Press, 2004)

Energy Law and Sustainable Development. Co-author Richard Ottinger (et. al eds). IUCN, May 2003.

Social Costs and Sustainable Mobility. Klaus Rennings, Olav Hohmeyer & Richard Ottinger (Eds). 2000.

Social Costs and Sustainability: Valuation and Implementation in the Energy and Transport Sector. With Olav Hohmeyer and Klauss Rennings, editors. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1996.

Social Costs of Energy - Present Status & Future Trends: Proceedings of an International Conference, Held at Racine,Wisconsin, September 8-11, 1982. Edited With Olav Hohmeyer. Springer-Verlag, 1992.

External Environmental Costs of Electric Power. Olav Hohmeyer and Richard Ottinger. 1991.

Environmental Costs of Electricity. With others. New York: Oceana Publications, 1990.

Citizen Action, Vital Force for Change. Co-authored by William Michael Kitzmiller. Washington D.C.: Center for a Voluntary Society, 1971.

Break-Through to the Hudson River: A Plan for Yonkers to Peekskill. New York: 1964.

Copartnership in Business. Harvard Law School, 1953.

Chapters

The Future of Environmental Law, Prof. David A. Leary, University of New South Wales, Ed., UN University Press, chapter with Prof. Victor Tafur, Legal Frameworks for Emerging Technologies: Bioenergy. (2011)

From Silos to Systems: Issues in Clean Energy and Climate Change, A report on the work of the REIL Network, 2008-2010, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies 2010, chapter, Copenhagen Climate Conference – Success or Failure? (reprint courtesy of The Pace Environmental Law Review).

Bio Fuels, Merging Legal Horizons, L. Lakshmi, ed., Overview Chapter 1, Biofuels Potential, Problems & Solutions. Amicus Books, The Icrai University Press 2009-2010.

Beyond the Carbon Economy, Renewable Energy Chapter, Oxford University Press 2008

Introduction to Energy Efficiency, in UNEP Handbook for Drafting Laws on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Resources (2007).

Issues of General Application, in UNEP Handbook for Drafting Laws on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Resources (2007).

Framework for Energy Resource Management, in UNEP Handbook for Drafting Laws on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Resources (2007).

Professor Richard L. Ottinger and Adrian Bradbrook wrote the chapter, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, with Adjunct Professor Fred B. Zalcman, the Director of the Pace Energy Project, for Environmental Law and Sustainable Energy, published in June 2003.

Articles

Options for Climate Change Adaptation, with Pianpian Wang and Kristen Motel, APCEL Proceedings of the Workshop on Adaptation to Climate Change: ASEAN and the Comparative Experiences, National University of Singapore, July 17,19, 2014

Innovative Financing of Renewable Energy, with John Bowie, Proceedings of the IUCN Academy on Environmental Law Colloquium, Tarragona, Spain, July 3, 2014

"Assessing Environmental Governance of the Hudson River Valley: An Application of IPPEP Model," Pace Environmental Law Review, Fall edition, 2013

"Strategic Planning for Energy and the Environment," Vol 31, No. 2, 2011

"The Outcome from Copenhagen: Success or Failure?" 40 Environmental Policy and Law 22 (2010).

"Introduction: Copenhagen Climate Change Conference – Success or Failure," Pace Environmental Law Review Spring 2010, Vol. 27, Issue 2: International Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Post-Copenhagen.

"Bioenergy in Developing Countries: Potential and Risks," Pace Environmental Law Review 2010; Journal of Renewable Energy and Policy, June 2010.

"Biofuels: Potentials, Problems & Solutions," Fordham Environmental Law Review Vol 19.2 (2009).

"Energy Efficiency: The Best Immediate Option for a Secure, Clean, Healthy Future," 30 Natural Resources Forum 318 (2006).

"Energy Efficiency: The Best Option for a Secure, Clean, Healthy Future," Natural Resources & Environment, ABA Section on Environment, Energy & Resources, Volume 40, Number 3 (Winter 2005).

"Legal Measures to Promote Renewable and Energy Efficiency Resources," in Energy Law and Sustainable Development (Richard L. Ottinger, et al. eds.) (IUCN, 2003).

"Renewable Energy Sources for Development," with Rebecca Williams ’02, 32 Environmental Law 331 (2002).

"Global Climate Change Kyoto Protocol Implementation: Legal Frameworks for Implementing Clean Energy Solutions," Pace Environmental Law Review, vol. 18, No. 1 (Winter 2000) (with Mindy Jayne).

"Major Issues in Valuing and Incorporating Environmental Externalities," Proceedings of the European Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, 1993 Summer Study.

"The Environmental Implications of Energy Usage," Keynote Address for the Florida Energy Conference, Orlando, Florida, January 16, 1993.

"Energy and Environmental Challenges for Developed and Developing Countries," Natural Resources Forum, United Nations Department of Technical Cooperation for Development, February 1993.

"Social Costs of Energy Use - Major Issues," Congress of the U.S. Office of Technology, Assessment Worksheet on Social Costs of Energy Use, December 16, 1992.

Testimony, Hearings before the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation on behalf of Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation, December 14, 1992.

"Incorporating of Externalities - The Wave of the Future," New Energy Industrial Symposium, New Energy Foundation, Tokyo, Japan, October 21 - 22, 1992.

"Pollution Taxes -- The Preferred Means of Incorporation of Environmental Externalities," 2nd International Conference on External Costs of Electric Power, Racine, Wisconsin, September 8 - 11, 1992.

"Exporting a Solar Model to Other States," American Solar Energy Society - Solar '92 Conference, June 15, 1992.

Testimony, Hearings before the Subcommittee on Economic Stabilization of the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Second Congress, First Session, October 17 and November 6, 1991.

"Incorporating Environmental Externalities Through Pollution Taxes," World Clean Energy Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, November 1991.

"Energy and Environmental Challenges for Developed and Developing Countries," Keynote Address for the United Nations Meeting on Energy and Environment in the Development Process, Beijing, China, June 1991.

"Incorporating the Cost of Protecting the Environment Into Decisions About Electric Power," Perspectives in Energy, 1991.

"The Use of Law to Incorporate the Cost of Protecting the Environment into the Pricing of Electricity," Report of the Advanced Seminar on Economic and Legal Aspects of Pollution Abatement Strategies in Europe, September 17-23, 1990, Moscow, USSR, UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Technology for Europe.

"The Environmental Costs of Electric Utility Operations," Electricity Journal, 1990.

"Consideration of Environmental Externality Costs in Electric Utility Resource Selections Regulation," Proceedings of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, 1990.

"Regulatory Processes: Legal & Institutional Barriers," Proceedings of the National Conference on Environmental Externalities, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, September 1990.

"Incorporation of Environmental Externalities in the United States of America," Proceedings of German-American Conference on Environmental Externalities, The German Marshall Fund of the United States and The Daimler Stifung Foundation, Ladenburg, Germany (1990).

"Demand Side Management and The Environment," EPRI 4th National Conference on Utility DSM Programs-DSM-Strategy For The 90's, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 4, 1989.

"1989 Energy Predictions," Energy Daily, Vol. 17, #1 (January 2, 1989).

"Barriers To Change: Competitive Electricity - Why the Debate?" Elcon Annual Seminar, Washington, D.C., September 27-30, 1988.

"Strengthening of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in 1984: The Original Loopholes, the Amendments, and the Political Factors Behind Their Passage," Pace Environmental Law Review, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1985).

"Prospects For The Future In Environmental Laws," Pace University, April 22, 1985.

"Congressional Realities in Enacting Environmental Laws," Pace University, 1985.

"The Politics of Lawmaking on Acid Rain," Pace University, March 5, 1985.

"Should Congress Reverse Policies to Ease the Federal Budget Deficit?" Congressional Digest, February 1984.

"This is a Time for Change," Gannett Westchester Newspapers, January 11, 1984.

"Reagan Budget Fails the Majority," Patent Trader, Gannett Westchester Newspapers, January 11, 1984.

"Industry Must Avail Itself of Least-Cost Alternatives," Public Utilities Fortnightly, May 13, 1982.

"Renewable Energy Sources Could Compete in Free Market," Energy Users News, February 8, 1982.

"The Brutal Reality that is Apartheid," Suburbia Today, Gannett Westchester Newspapers, June 6, 1982.

"Getting Commuter Service Back on Track," Greenwich Time, September 30, 1982.

"Conservation's the Better Way," The Scarsdale Inquirer, July 16, 1981.

"Why We Need Area Primaries," The New York Times, August 31, 1980.

"Legislation and the Environment: Individual Rights and Government Accountability," 55 Cornell Law Review 666 (1970).