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Former Environmental Protection Agency General Counsel Avi S. Garbow visited IU McKinney on October 30 to discuss the gap between rhetoric from the Trump administration and the reality of current EPA practices and enforcement.

Despite promises by the Trump campaign to eliminate the EPA, and a “slew of executive orders” aimed at deregulation, Garbow (left, with IU McKinney Professor of Practice Janet McCabe) said that there is “mismatch” between those promises and actions. There have been no significant changes in federal environmental laws so far, he noted.

Yet, after less than two years, it is premature to conclude that a Trump administration won’t have significant impact on the future of environmental protection in the United States, Garbow said. He pointed to still unknown factors such as guidance to EPA field offices, enforcement actions, appropriations, and people in leadership as having significant future impact.

Using a sports analogy, Garbow noted that “a lot happens in the second half. A lot happens in the fourth quarter.”

Garbow is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He is a Co-Chair of the Environmental Litigation and Mass Tort Practice Group, and a member of the White Collar Defense and Investigations, Administrative Law and Regulatory, and Crisis Management Practice Groups.

He joined the firm after serving as General Counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Mr. Garbow was nominated by President Obama, confirmed with the unanimous consent of the Senate, and was EPA's longest-serving General Counsel, from 2013 through 2017. Before assuming that position, he served as EPA Deputy General Counsel, held positions in EPA's enforcement office, and was a distinguished federal prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Garbow was honored by the National Law Journal as an Energy and Environmental Trailblazer in 2017. His tenure as EPA's General Counsel occurred during the most advanced efforts of the federal government to address climate change, both domestically and internationally. While serving as EPA General Counsel, Mr. Garbow twice led the EPA delegation to the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue and participated in the U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group.

During his talk, he praised his former EPA colleague and IU McKinney Professor of Practice Janet McCabe as a “model and leader in environmental protection.” Professor McCabe, who is also Assistant Director for Policy and Implementation at IU’s Environmental Resilience Institute, served as Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation at the United States Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration.

Mr. Garbow received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Public Service. He received a Masters Degree in Marine Affairs from the University of Virginia Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.