John  Dernbach in Bali,
2007, participating as a
panelist at the United
Nations Climate Change
Conference.
John C. Dernbach, Author on Sustainable Development & Climate Change Law
    About Dernbach



    John C. Dernbach is a Distinguished Professor of Law at Widener University Law School
    in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  He has divided his career between teaching and government
    service.  

    In his teaching role, Dernbach has focused on sustainable development in the United
    States and on climate change.  He has edited the only two comprehensive
    nongovernmental assessments of U.S. sustainable development efforts.  He has written
    and lectured widely on sustainable development, climate change, and environmental
    law.            

    In two stints totaling near 15 years, he worked at the Pennsylvania Department of
    Environmental Resources (now the Department of Environmental Protection).  During this
    time, he helped drafted or help implement comprehensive and nationally recognized
    reforms to Pennsylvania’s mining and waste programs.  More recently, he directed the
    Department’s policy office.  

    In 2006 Dernbach was on of four lawyers to co-author an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme
    Court on behalf of 18 prominent climate scientists in Massachusetts v. EPA, a landmark
    case in U.S. climate change law.