Bill Snape

William (Bill) J. Snape, III is a practitioner in residence and director of adjunct faculty at American University’s Washington College of Law,. Snape is also senior counsel with the Center for Biological Diversity, where he works on endangered species, public lands and energy issues, and serves on the Board of the Endangered Species Coalition as Chairman Emeritus. He is co-producer of “Hot Air,” a radio podcast show on global warming policy and regulation. Previously, Snape was vice president and chief counsel at Defenders of Wildlife for over a decade. Snape has litigated a number of environmental and related cases in federal court, and argued Center for Biological Diversity v. Interior (D.C. Cir. 2009), which rejected the federal government’s plan for oil and gas drilling off the coast of Alaska in part because of climate change concerns. Snape is the author of numerous articles on natural resource issues, including the book Biodiversity and the Law published by Island Press. He presently serves on the President’s Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee. He is a magna cum laude graduate of the Honors College at the University of California, Los Angeles, and received his law degree from George Washington University. Snape is a masters’ swimmer and water polo player, has coached at both the Division I and Division III levels of college swimming, and was named the 2011 world swim coach of the year by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf. He has two teenage boys.