Sarah Light

Professor Light's research examines issues at the intersection of environmental law and business innovation. Her articles have addressed the regulatory implications of the rise of transportation platforms like Uber and Lyft; how business innovation, such as Microsoft's adoption of a private carbon fee, can be a form of private environmental governance; and the U.S. military's role in stimulating private technological innovation to reduce fossil fuel use in what Light has called The MilitaryEnvironmental Complex.

Education

JD, Yale Law School, 2000; M. Phil, Politics, Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar), 1997; A.B., Social Studies, Magna Cum Laude, Harvard University, 1995.

Academic Positions Held

The Wharton School, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, 2013present.

Previous appointments: Columbia University, Lecturer, Earth Institute; Brooklyn Law School, Visiting Assistant Professor; Fordham Law School, Adjunct Associate Professor.

Other Positions

Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Civil Division, 20012011.

Chief, Environmental Protection Unit, United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Civil Division, 20072011.

Law Clerk, Honorable John M. Walker, Jr., Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 20002001.

Pro Bono

Pro Bono Mediator, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Pro Bono Mediator, New York Peace Institute.

Eric Biber, Sarah E. Light, J. B. Ruhl, James Salzman (2017), Regulating Business Innovation as Policy Disruption: From the Model T to Airbnb (Forthcoming 2017), Vanderbilt Law Review, 70.

Sarah E. Light (2017), Advisory Nonpreemption (Forthcoming 2017), Washington University Law Review, 95.

Sarah E. Light and Eric W. Orts, “Public and Private Procurement in Environmental Governance (Forthcoming)”. In Policy Instruments in Environmental Law, edited by, (2017),

Sarah E. Light (2017), The MilitaryEnvironmental Complex and the Courts , J. Land Use & Envtl. L.

Sarah E. Light (2017), Precautionary Federalism and the Sharing Economy, Emory Law Journal , 66, p. 333.

Sarah E. Light and Michael Vandenbergh, “Private Environmental Governance”. In Environmental Decision Making, Encyclopedia of Environmental Law, edited by Lee Paddock, Nicholas Bryner, Robert Glicksman, (2016),

Sarah E. Light Foreword: Regulating Toxic Chemicals through Precautionary Federalism, Penn Undergraduate L.J. (forthcoming 2016).

Sarah E. Light (Forthcoming), Wrongful Benefit & Arctic Drilling (with Nicolas Cornell), 50 U.C. Davis L. Rev. (forthcoming 2017).

Sarah E. Light and Eric W. Orts (2015), Parallels in Public and Private Environmental Governance, Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law, 5, p. 1.

Sarah E. Light (2015), The MilitaryEnvironmental Complex (abridged), Environmental Law & Policy Annual Review.

LGST 215/815 Syllabus (Spring 2014):  https://syllabi.wharton.upenn.edu/?term=2014A&course=LGST215401

LGST 806 Syllabus (Spring 2014): https://syllabi.wharton.upenn.edu/?term=2014A&course=LGST806407

Past Courses

LGST215 ENVT'L MGMT LAW & POL

This course provides an introduction to environmental management by focusing on foundational concepts of environmental law and policy and how they affect business decisions. The primary aim of the course is to give students a deeper practical sense of the important relationship between business and the natural environment, the existing legal and policy framework of environmental protection, and how business managers can think about managing their relationship with both the environment and the law.

OIDD691 NEGOTIATIONS

Negotiation is the art and science of creating good agreements. In this course we will work on both, studying economics and psychology for the science, and practicing actual negotiations for the art. Throughout we think of negotiation in general terms, relevant not only to salary negotiations and home buying, but performance evaluations, speeches, group collaborations and interpersonal relationships. We practice these kinds of negotiations in 2, 3, 4, and 6person exercises. Potential reasons to skip this particular negotiation course: 1) We have a strong attendance policy, 2) We have strong nocomputers/phones policies, 3) the course is very discussion oriented, 4) We survey your work colleagues about your influence tactics, and 5) you have a short assignment due almost every class. Beginning with the second week of class, if you miss one class you lose a letter grade. If you miss two classes you fail. We have this policy because it is an experiential class, and because your attendance directly affects classmates you are paired with. For some weeks you can attend another section if necessary. Crosslisted with MGMT691 and LGST806.

Winning article, Land Use and Environment Law Review (annual peerselected compendium of leading articles in environmental law), Parallels in Public and Private Environmental Governance (2017)

Excellence in Teaching Award in the MBA Program, 2017 Academy of Legal Studies in Business Outstanding Proceedings Paper, for Precautionary Federalism and the Sharing Economy, 2016 People’s Choice Award, Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS), for Precautionary Federalism and the Sharing Economy, 2016 One of ten faculty nominated by the MBA student body for the Helen Kardon Moss Anvil Award, 2016 Description

The Helen Kardon Moss Anvil Award is awarded annually at Commencement to the one faculty member "who has exemplified outstanding teaching quality during the last year." A list of nominees is generated through a vote by MBA students and nominations from academic departments. The Anvil Award Selection Committee, comprised of student leaders, administrators and past Anvil Award winners, selects the recipient.

Haub Environmental Law Distinguished Junior Scholar, 2015 Description

The Haub Environmental Law Distinguished Junior Scholar Award is presented annually to an emerging junior environmental law professor who exhibits scholarly excellence and promise at an early stage in his/her career. The Haub School invites the award recipient to present his/her recent scholarship to the Haub community. The Haub Environmental Law Faculty solicits nominations from law professors throughout the country and selects a recipient from that pool of nominations.

Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review (2015) Winning Article, 2014 Description

Sarah E. Light, The MilitaryEnvironmental Complex, 55 B.C. L. Rev. 879 (2014) was selected as one of the year’s “best law and policyrelevant ideas on the environment from the legal academic literature,” (one of four winners selected from over 400 articles), with abridged version to be reprinted in the Environmental Law & Policy Annual Review (2015).

Connecting Business Innovation to Policy Disruption, University of Oxford 07/10/2017 Precautionary Federalism (Guest Sarah Llight), Oral Argument (podcast) 06/24/2016 From Peerby to SnappCar: How Europe’s Sharing Economy Is Driven by Efficiency, KNOWLEDGE@WHARTON 06/21/2016 New Toxic Chemical Legislation Fails on Federalism, Penn Program on Regulation Blog 06/09/2016 Why the Worst Isn’t Over Yet for Volkswagen, KNOWLEDGE@WHARTON 01/08/2016 Reasons for Optimism in the Paris Agreement, Penn Program on Regulation 12/24/2015 Green Evolution: How Business Is Joining the Environmental Vanguard, Knowledge@Wharton 12/10/2015 Climate Change and National Security, Penn Program on Regulation 12/07/2015 Winning Hearts and Minds, The Magazine of the Green Economy 10/13/2015 Description

The military is setting an example as an unequivocal supporter of technologies and strategies that address energy, water and transportation efficiencies.

What Shell’s Arctic Exit Means for Future Energy Exploration, KNOWLEDGE@WHARTON 10/05/2015 Description

Sarah Light and Lori Snyder Bennear on Shell’s Arctic Exit

Not the Only Game in Town: The Complementary Roles of Public and Private Environmental Governance, PENN WHARTON Public Policy Initiative 10/01/2015 Will the U.S. Seize the High Ground in Curbing Emissions?, Knowledge@Wharton 08/05/2015 The New Insider Trading: Environmental Markets within the Firm, The CLS Blue Sky Blog 05/19/2015 Forum discusses potential impacts of military’s energy initiatives, E&ENEWSPM 04/10/2015 Energy Resiliency & Earth Day, OEI News 03/01/2015 UNCLE SAM WANTS YOU…TO STOP DENYING CLIMATE CHANGE, onEarth 11/01/2014 Description

The military is planning for global warming. Why can’t lawmakers follow its charge?

GREEN GO! – THE MILITARY’S SUSTAINABILITY MISSION, Lex Jotwell 10/20/2014 Drop and Give Me Efficiency: Can the Military Change American Minds on Climate?, CLIMATE CONFIDENTIAL 08/20/2014 The Surprising Role the Military Plays in Environmental Protection, Knowledge@Wharton 07/29/2014 Fracking: Do the Economics Justify the Risks?, KNOWLEDGE@WHARTON 01/23/2014 Penn Wharton PPI Takes on Fracking, Wharton Magazine 01/07/2013

Knowledge @ Wharton

How Business Can Take the Lead on Combating Climate Change, Knowledge @ Wharton 06/16/2017 Wrongful Benefit: Should Companies Profit from the Past?, Knowledge @ Wharton 03/03/2017 From Peerby to SnappCar: How Europe’s Sharing Economy Is Driven by Efficiency, Knowledge @ Wharton 06/21/2016 Appreciating the Value of Sustainability in Health Care, Knowledge @ Wharton 05/11/2016 Why the Worst Isn’t Over Yet for Volkswagen, Knowledge @ Wharton 01/08/2016 Green Evolution: How Business Is Joining the Environmental Vanguard, Knowledge @ Wharton 12/10/2015 What Shell’s Arctic Exit Means for Future Energy Exploration, Knowledge @ Wharton 10/05/2015 Will the U.S. Seize the High Ground in Curbing Emissions?, Knowledge @ Wharton 08/05/2015 The Surprising Role the Military Plays in Environmental Protection, Knowledge @ Wharton 07/29/2014 Fracking: Do the Economics Justify the Risks?, Knowledge @ Wharton 01/23/2014