Biography
Michael Vandenbergh is a Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University. His research explores the relationship between formal legal regulation and informal social regulation of individual and corporate environmental behavior. His work with Vanderbilt’s Climate Change Research Network involves interdisciplinary teams that focus on the reduction of carbon emissions from the individual and household sector. His corporate work explores the influence of social norms on firms’ behavior and the ways in which private contracting can enhance or undermine public governance. Before joining Vanderbilt’s law faculty, Vandenbergh was one of the nation’s foremost environmental lawyers. He served as Chief of Staff of the Environmental Protection Agency from 1993-95.Media Appearances
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Trump's EPA rewrote the rules on air, water energy. Now voters face a choice on climate change issues
Coupled with market forces and more consumer support for renewable energy, the private sector is decarbonizing on its own. But that is "not a substitute for government action,” said Michael Vandenbergh, a Vanderbilt University professor who is director of the Climate Change Research Network.October 29th, 2020
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Companies Are Making Major Climate Pledges. Here’s What They Really Mean.
“The public sector has failed to take as much leadership as many, many people think we need to take,” said Michael Vandenbergh, co-director of the Climate Change Research Network at Vanderbilt Law School. “I think these efforts, overall, are essential.”October 7th, 2020
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Government action isn’t enough for climate change. The private sector can cut billions of tons of carbon
With President Trump’s announcement to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement, many other countries around the world – and cities and states within the U.S. – are stepping up their commitments to address climate change.June 21st, 2017
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US exit from Paris climate accord makes discussing how and whether to engineer the planet even harder
The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement has invoked condemnation and consternation from many commentators, including many of the United States’ strongest allies.June 7th, 2017
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Activism and Regulation in Global Commerce
Summit panelists identified other threats to government influence. Vanderbilt Professor Michael Vandenbergh noted that the United States has passed no new environmental legislation since 1990 despite the growing threat of climate change. Last, corruption in many countries has resulted in a laissez-faire approach to business. Phil Radford observed, "In much of the world, bribery is so prevalent that regulation is nonexistent."...March 6th, 2014
Education
J.D., University of Virginia School of Law
B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Additional Resources
Household actions can provide a behavioral wedge to rapidly reduce US carbon emissions
A comparison of carbon calculators
Carbon-Neutral Individual, The
The new Wal-Mart effect: the role of private contracting in global governance
Inside the administrative state: A critical look at the practice of presidential control
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