Former Assistant Attorney General Lois Schiffer spoke at the University of Wisconsin Law School Wednesday night about the last presidential term, the U.S. Supreme Court and its environment-related decisions.

Schiffer, who worked for the Environment and Natural Resources division of the United States Department of Justice under President Clinton, was critical of the Bush Administration’s environmental policy. She said the United States has taken a step backward during the last presidential term.

“There is no one on the Supreme Court standing up for grass and trees,” Schiffer said, a founding member of the American Constitution Society, which sponsored Wednesday’s talk.

“The environment is the passion nearest and dearest to my heart,” Schiffer said.

Schiffer devoted a strong portion of her talk to six major environmental cases that the Supreme Court reviewed within the last year. Only one out of six of the cases Schiffer considered pro-environment.

“There were no green ribbons in this past year,” Schiffer said. “These environmental cases showed a clear statement in the direction the judiciary may be going.”

One such case involved engine manufacturers, or big auto companies.

California, which Schiffer called the dirtiest state in terms of air quality, attempted to pass legislation making it mandatory for residents to purchase the most environmentally efficient cars or trucks on the market. Schiffer said big auto companies did not like this progressive idea, but a district court ruled in California’s favor.

Congress became fearful of the idea of each state creating its own standard, Schiffer said.

She added the Supreme Court overruled the district court’s decision, declaring that no state sovereignty exists that would allow California to reduce pollution caused by automobiles.

Schiffer also spoke of judicial selection and how it has become a “battle ground in politics.”

She said that many judges in the lower federal courts, and possibly some of the older judges in the Supreme Court, will likely leave vacancies during the next presidential term, making the election more critical.

Not all UW students, however, agreed with Schiffer’s stance on Bush’s environmental policies.

Nicole Marklein, chair of the UW College Republicans, said that while Schiffer is merely a one-issue advocate, as president, Bush has to deal with several competing issues at once.

“[Bush] has to look at the bigger issues — education, jobs, health care and the economy,” Marklein said. “He has brought the country forward.”

Marklein added Bush also has several initiatives regarding the environment.

Schiffer has also worked on the general council for National Public Radio, served as vice president for the National Audubon Society and been an active delegate in the American Bar Association for many years.

The ACS is a non-profit national organization of law students, law professors, practicing lawyers and others. One of its goals is to help revitalize and transform legal debate.

ACS’s mission is “to ensure that the fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice are in their rightful, central place in American law,” according to its webpage.