Tess Mackey, Virginia Sea Grant Correspondent
Garrett Gee enrolled in the Virginia Coastal Policy Clinic this fall, hoping to follow his passion for transportation and energy policy through the lens of environmental law. Gee worked for the Department of Transportation last summer and sees the Clinic as a unique opportunity at William & Mary to focus on issues under local jurisdiction, such as land use.
During his time with the Clinic, Gee will write a memorandum for the Chesapeake Bay Commission on how communities in other states have passed laws to adapt to sea level rise and the implications such laws have for property.
“I am excited to work hand in hand with the Chesapeake Bay Commission to help advance legislative best practices that protect the Bay, the climate, and the economic health of Virginia,” says Gee.
The Commission is a tri-state legislative consortium that brings together policymakers from Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania to combine efforts to conserve the Bay. The Commission successfully advocated for the incorporation of climate change language in the new Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and is now looking for ways to continue to encourage comprehensive planning in the region. Gee’s research will help the Commission build laws modeled after the platform of legislation on sea level rise in other states.
Gee completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Oklahoma with a dual major in political science and economics. As a third year law student at the William & Mary Law School, he is a member of the Student Environmental and Animal Law Society and writes for the Environmental Law and Policy Review. Outside of class, he is externing with Norfolk Southern Railroad, focusing on environmental property and land use issues.
