The green economy is coming.
The first-ever Sustainable Business Symposium will take place all day tomorrow at the School of Law. Its purpose is to educate students on the link between successful business and sustainable practices.

The symposium is an effort of the Law Students for Sustainable Business, an 80-member student group with the primary goal of training law students about how to support the rapidly growing “green economy.”
University law student Casey Whelan is one of four co-chairs of the LSSB, and he thinks Oregon is the perfect place to facilitate discussion about sustainable business.
“Oregon itself is well-suited to embrace this new economy,” Whelan said. “We’ve always been very pro-environment here and also very pro-small business.”
The green economy is where business and environmental consciousness collide. Businesses are discovering there is money to be made in sustainable practices, and the positive environmental impact of implementing those policies is an added bonus.
Whelan said that from what he has seen, neither benefit outweighs the other for businesses.
“There’s a lot of people who feel good about saving the environment and making a buck at the same time,” Whelan said. “The reason this is so successful is that everybody cares more about the environment than they think. With the help of environmental technology, making (lifestyle) sacrifices becomes much, much easier.”
Assistant professor Rob Illig, who teaches business law courses and serves as faculty adviser to the LSSB, said business and sustainability are inevitably connected – undoubtedly in the state of Oregon, which includes two of the five most sustainable cities in the nation, according to Popular Science’s recent “America’s 50 Greenest Cities” report. Illig also said sustainable business practices are invaluable to both parties.
“As we talk to each other and think about the future, I see the future of business, at least in Oregon, as intertwined with the emerging green economy,” said Illig. “Climate change at some point starts to be an economic opportunity – at least remediating climate change. And thus it gets the attention of both the environmentalists, but it also gets the attention of business people.”
The symposium – free of cost to students of any major – will feature a series of panels on topics such as renewable energy, sustainable development and green building, and carbon policy. The College of Business this year didn’t conduct its annual Sustainable Advantage Conference, so it donated those funds and resources to the LSSB symposium. Whelan said the symposium would not have been possible without that boost.
Among the symposium panelists will be government officials, business executives, attorneys and University professors.
Lucy Brehm, senior manager of business development at The Climate Trust, will speak on the carbon policy panel at the symposium. The Climate Trust is a nonprofit, Portland-based organization that educates and advises people on the role of carbon emission offsets in climate change policy.
“I think sustainable practices are really important, and sustainability is really a combination of economics and social equity and environmental impact,” Brehm said. “You have to look at all three of those things to be a healthy, sustainable business. They’re all interwoven and extremely important.”
Brehm said the symposium will be a good opportunity to convey that message to business students.
“I think it’s probably the most important thing we can do,” said Brehm. “People who are coming out of universities and business schools and law schools have an opportunity to create change and come at things with a fresh eye, and find ways to integrate sustainability and environmental friendly practices at whatever organization they join.”
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