The Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Center at the University of Houston Law Center links energy issues with impacts on environment and natural resources. Building on the academic excellence of the faculty in these areas and the complex and multi-faceted energy and environmental issues in Houston, the Center provides a forum for education and discussion of the most important issues of the day, such as climate change, air pollution, clean coal and renewable energy.
The International Energy Lawyers Program (IELP) is a dual program sponsored by the University of Houston Law Center and the University of Calgary Faculty of Law. The program allows participating law students to earn both American and Canadian law degrees in 4 years. Students will spend two years at each school and take courses that will enable them to apply for admission to bars in the United States and Canada.
Houston is the energy capital of the world – the perfect location to pursue an LL.M. in Energy, Environment and Natural Resources (EENR) Law at the University of Houston Law Center. Our EENR Center remains at the forefront in linking our growing need for energy with its impact on nature and natural resources. The Center provides a forum for education and discussion of the most important issues of the day such as climate change, air pollution, clean coal, and renewable energy. Our energy curriculum ranks among the best in the nation, and our LL.M. program has earned an international reputation for excellence.
With an EENR curriculum that ranks No. 30 in the nation, the Law Center attracts strong interest from students attending other law schools. To accommodate these students, the Law Center offers a "Semester in Houston" program that allows visiting students to enroll in a number of EENR-related courses and benefit from conferences, symposia and direct access to a wide energy network in the Houston area.
The EENR Center offers a selection of professional programs on environmental, energy and natural resources issues. The range of topics includes the most relevant global issues to satisfy the industry and government requirements on theoretical and practical approaches.
The purpose of the conference is to discuss the "New Technology and Regulatory Challenges for Offshore Oil and Gas Regulation" given the growing number of offshore activity in the hydrocarbons sector in the region. The event aims to provide an opportunity for exchanges among regulators, companies, and universities around the new challenges and concerns created by the implementation of new offshore technology that requires the agreement of players and regulators for its implementation.
June 17, 2025 – University of Houston Law Center research scholar Qaraman Hasan recently co-edited an issue of the Business and Human Rights Journal, which is a part of the Cambridge University Press.
April 28, 2025 - Electricity use is expected to increase dramatically over the next few decades as new data centers, artificial intelligence and expanded electrification come online. But speakers at the University of Houston Law Center’s 9th annual North American Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Conference said the nation’s ability to meet that demand has been complicated by tariffs, the wider threat of a trade war, supply chain constraints and growing unpredictability.
April 24, 2025 — A thought-provoking conversation unfolded at the “Anti-Democratic Rights of Nature” hosted on Wednesday by the University of Houston Law Center’s Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Center. The central question: Should the rights of organism and ecosystems — like marshes or streams and the creatures living there — hold legal rights that may supersede human development and use?
Thursday, July 17, 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Central
via Zoom
2025 North American Conference
2024 North American Conference
2023 North American Conference
2022 North American Conference
2021 North American Conference
2020 North American Conference
2019 North American Conference
The UH EENR Center along with the Universite de Lyon III has received a three year grant from the EU to work on the Energy Transition in Governance and Law Project. The 3 year project seeks to examine the role of non-state actors in reaching the Paris goals outside of official government channels.
Energy Insights is a publicly available repository for cutting-edge student-authored, scholarship on environment, energy, and natural resource related research.
Tracy Hester, co-Director
Co-Director, Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Law Center
Founding Co-Director, University of Houston Center for Carbon Management in Energy
Instructional Professor of Law
tdheste2@central.uh.edu
CV
SSRN
Gina S. Warren, co-Director
Professor of Law
A.L. O'Quinn Chair in Environmental Studies
Co-director of EENR
CV
SSRN
Chinonso Anozie
Assistant Professor of Law
CV
Jessica Bregant
Assistant Professor of Law
jbregant@central.uh.edu
CV
Julian Cardenas Garcia
Research Assistant Professor and Director, Center for U.S. & Mexican Law
jcardena@central.uh.edu
CV
Dr. Qaraman Hasan
Research Scholar
qhasan@central.uh.edu
Chris Mirasola
Assistant Professor of Law
cmirasol@central.uh.edu
CV
Susan L. Sakmar
slsakmar@Central.UH.EDU
CV
Joseph Sanders
A.A. White Professor of Law
JSanders@central.UH.edu
CV
SSRN Author Page
Elizabeth Trujillo
Mary Ann & Lawrence E. Faust Professor of Law
Founding Director, Initiative on Global Law and Policy for the Americas
SSRN
CV
Bret Wells
Professor of Law
John Mixon Chair
Director, Tax Program
bwells@central.uh.edu
CV
SSRN
Denney Wright
Professor of Practice
dlwrigh2@central.uh.edu
Kellen Zale
Associate Professor of Law
Baker Botts LLP Professor in Law
kbzale@central.uh.edu
CV
SSRN
