December Climate Leader: Cale Jaffe

Cale Jaffe is director of the Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law. Through his work with the clinic, Cale has represented a diverse array of public-interest clients, from a community group working to preserve an early 20th-century black schoolhouse to local governments filing amicus briefs in the Supreme Court of the United States. Prior to joining the faculty at UVA, Cale was an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Cale also serves on the board of directors for the Virginia Conservation Network and the advisory board for Generation180. And in 2020 he was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam to serve on the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, a position he still holds. He is married to Katie Jaffe, an internal medicine physician at the University of Virginia. Together, they’re raising three wonderful children and keeping tabs on two poorly trained dogs.  

1.     How did you get involved and passionate about the environment?

 The 20th anniversary of Earth Day, April 1990, fell during my junior year of high school. I had the incredible luck to spend that semester as a student at the Mountain School, a program for high-school juniors set on a farm in rural Vermont. The capstone experience in the school’s environmental sciences class was a three-day solo in Groton State Forest. It was actually the first time in my life I had ever gone camping.

2.     Tell us what exciting work that UVA is doing to advance climate solutions?

 There’s a lot going on at UVA on climate – research, advocacy, and student action on grounds.  But what I’m most proud of are the community-engaged projects I’ve developed within the Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic, which is a program I direct at the Law School.

Our has clinic partnered with a wide array of local nonprofits just over the last year. I’ve had law students teaming up with Generation180 to work on policies to promote EV adoption. And over the years I’ve had students working with the Southern Environmental Law Center on litigation projects related to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and coal ash clean-up. The Clinic has also filed several friend-of-the-court briefs in federal appellate courts and in the Supreme Court of the United States to defend some of the nation’s bedrock environmental laws.

 I’m continually amazed by the incredible work our law students complete each semester, and I’m hopeful that it inspires at least a few of them to go into careers in public interest environmental advocacy.

3. In view of the major political changes in Virginia's government leadership, some climate advocates are concerned that "Virginia’s energy transition hit a roadblock". What are your thoughts?

One of the most significant climate-related achievements was the enactment of the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020. I remain optimistic that it will remain in force.

Much of the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) is mandated by a statute. The Virginia Code, for example, requires the State Air Pollution Control Board to establish regulations to eliminate carbon dioxide pollution from power plants by 2050. The State Air Pollution Control Board, whose members are appointed by the Governor in staggered terms, does not have much discretion there.

A future Air Board might try to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), but that would be complicated by the requirements of the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act. And even if successful, leaving RGGI would not remove the VCEA’s statutory mandate to transition to a zero-carbon electricity grid.

4. What is one thing that you think is holding (or that might hold, as a consequence of the change in Virginia's government leadership) the state or local community back from greater progress on implementing climate solutions?

 I think one problem we all face is the perception that if you aren’t doing everything, you aren’t doing anything.  And that’s just not true. The New York Times recently reported on the city of Carmel, Indiana, which adopted a policy to replace traffic lights with roundabouts. Each roundabout is saving about 20,000 gallons of fuel every year because vehicles don’t have to sit idling at red lights.

Is Carmel’s effort so wonderful that we can now declare victory in the fight against climate change?  Of course not.  But it is making a difference, and we should make sure we pause to celebrate daily victories like these.

Climate scientist Hannah Ritchie penned an essay for Wired Magazine last month on the importance of climate optimism. As the parent of teenagers, I see a need for activists and policymakers to do a lot more than just reduce greenhouse gas pollution as fast as possible. We also have to give Gen Z the confidence that they will adapt – and even thrive – in a rapidly changing world.

5. What is a climate action personally or professionally that you are proud of?

Is it enough to say that I loved the TV show, The Good Place, and hope that my actions are putting more “good” than “bad” into the universe?

I guess I would say that I’m proud of my role as a law professor in nudging others to join the challenge of tackling climate change. Former law students of mine have taken jobs with the Southern Environmental Law Center, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, the Rocky Mountain Institute, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and the U.S. Department of Justice.

And I’m also proud of the relationships I’ve been building with clients. Through the UVA Clinic, I’ve been counsel to Appalachian Voices and the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council in climate-related dockets before the State Corporation Commission. I’ve learned so much from the board members, staff, and volunteers at all of the organizations with which I’ve worked.

Collectively, my students and clients are doing so much more to build a more resilient world than I could ever accomplish on my own.

6. What are you hopeful about when it comes to climate?

I am most hopeful about the growing, bipartisan interest in addressing climate change. The United States Climate Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of governors who have signed on in support of reducing greenhouse gas pollution to net-zero levels by 2050. It includes twenty-four states and Puerto Rico.  

At George Mason University, former South Carolina Congressman Bob Inglis has established the Energy and Enterprise Initiative, which is working on free-enterprise responses to climate change. Utah Representative John Curtis has founded a Conservative Climate Caucus on Capitol Hill. Just recently, researchers at Florida Atlantic University published survey data documenting that 88 percent of self-identified Republicans in Florida – nearly 9 out of 10 – recognize climate change as a threat.

Now, none of this means we’ve found bipartisan agreement on the solutions to climate change. But these data points do suggest that there is – finally! -- no longer much of an appetite for denying the existence of the problem.

7. This is challenging work.  What is your favorite way to recharge and rejuvenate?

The best discovery my family made during the pandemic was learning about the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club and the cabins that they maintain throughout Shenandoah National Park and on adjacent properties. The cabins have dramatically increased our ability to get outside.

My wife, Katie, usually takes the lead in convincing the rest of us to set aside work, soccer games, and other obligations for an entire weekend. She is much better than I am at stepping back and anticipating how restorative these trips will be. I’m so thankful for her ability to do that. 

We especially love the primitive cabins that require a bit of a hike-in.  I’m not going to share which cabin is my absolute favorite, because it’s hard enough to get a reservation as it is! But suffice it to say that I love the old moonshiner’s or homesteader’s cabins. Just a simple wooden floor and a roof over your head.

The cabins we’ve visited also have had a wood-fired stove to keep you warm  -- if you can figure out how to get a fire going.  Over the last year or so I’m batting about .500 on that score.  So if you’re camping with me, you’ll want to pack an extra fleece and a wool hat.

Thank you, Cale, for your dedication and leadership on this issue AND for answering our spotlight questions so thoughtfully!