BOOK REVIEW: INSTREAM AND ONSHORE, TWO AUTHORS DIVE INTO WATER LAW, POLICY AND HISTORY

Written by Sara Dudley¹

INTRODUCTION: THE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW BOOK CLUB AND DIVERSIFYING THE CANON

The California Lawyers Association, Environmental Law Section Book Club began in April 2020 as a free and fun way for members and the public to connect and expand their knowledge of environmental law and adjacent topics from the safety of their homes during the global pandemic. Authors who have joined Book Club for lively discussions have included literary luminaries Kim Stanley Robinson, Terry Tempest Williams and, in collaboration with the Sacramento County Bar Association, Mark Arax.

To remain vibrant and relevant as a profession, environmental law practitioners must take every "opportuni[ty] to expand knowledge about diversity in environmental law and law-adjacent professions."² Book Club has been part of that effort since its inception, with selections including Carolyn Finney’s Black Spaces, White Faces: Reimagining the Relationship of African-Americans to the Great Outdoors³ and Dina Gilio-Whitaker’s For As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice from Colonization to Standing Rock.⁴ As our immediate past section Chair (and Book Club founding Chair) Jessi Fierro frankly stated in her article, Motivated, Active, and Learning: On Improving Diversity in the Practice of Environmental Law in California, "the historical color of ‘green’" was one of "whiteness, privilege and white supremist sentiments."⁵