Join The Grad Network and Columbia Law Professor, David Schizer, for Passover Lunch & Learn. Lunch will be served 12:10 p.m. Thursday, April 21 at the Law School Room JGH 646.

Register here. All food provided will be Kosher for Passover.

Professor Schizer will discuss "Energy, National Security, and Climate Change."

On Passover, we are reminded of our responsibility to fight tyranny and protect vulnerable people. Since Passover is the spring festival, we also celebrate the beginning of the agricultural season. Passover exemplifies two important values in Judaism. We must protect human life and resist dangerous regimes. At the same time, we also must care for the planet.

Unfortunately, when governments make decisions on energy policy, these responsibilities sometimes cut in different directions. For example, when Western Europe chose to rely more heavily on Russian natural gas--a choice made largely for environmental reasons--its leaders strengthened Vladimir Putin's hand in ways that proved disastrous for Ukraine. More recently, when the Biden Administration withdrew its support for Israel's plan to supply natural gas to Europe--again, a choice the Biden Administration made for environmental reasons--it underestimated the importance of weaning Europe off Russian natural gas. These are two examples of a broader pattern: efforts to protect national security sometimes weaken the environment, and vice versa. How should we balance these competing goals? How can we advance both at the same time?