Winter / Spring 2022 A Summary of the Key Activities of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
A Summary of the Key Activities of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
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Contents Summary . . Projects . . Events . .
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Media Mentions and Interviews . Awards and Recognition .
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Earth Institute /Columbia Climate School . Who We Are . .
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Since its creation in 2009, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School has been known as a center of expertise, providing timely information and resources on key topics and promoting advances in the interrelated fields of climate law, environmental regulation, energy regulation and natural resources law. The core mission of the Sabin Center is to develop and promulgate legal techniques to address climate change, and to train the next generation of lawyers who will be leaders in the field. The Center is both a partner to and a resource for public interest legal institutions engaged in climate change work, and is an affiliate of the Earth Institute and the Columbia Climate School. The Center’s activities are spearheaded by Michael Gerrard, Faculty Director and Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Law School, and Michael Burger, Executive Director and Senior Research Scholar at Columbia Law School.
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Winter/Spring 2022
Summary The Sabin Center continues to conduct independent research to produce publications and useful resources; advances new techniques and direct engagement; and partners with agencies, NGOs, and the private sector to promote climate action. The Sabin Center also continues to track the BidenHarris administration’s efforts through our Climate Reregulation Tracker, alongside our numerous online resources and our Climate Law Blog. The Sabin Center is committed to mainstreaming our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism (DEIA) plan into all areas of our work.
Cross-cutting Issues & Initiatives
Energy Law
Environmental & Land Use Law
International & Foreign Law
A Summary of the Key Activities of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
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Projects The Sabin Center currently focuses its work within four programmatic areas: Cross-cutting Issues & Initiatives, Energy Law, Environmental & Land Use Law, and International & Foreign Law. The Center’s thought leadership and direct engagement operate at the international, national, state and local levels.
Cross-cutting Issues & Initiatives Climate change cuts across law and policy domains, engaging governments, courts, businesses, scientists and others in multiple and overlapping ways. Our current cross-cutting efforts track and assess climate litigation, provide legal pathways to deep decarbonization, engage with cities to find legal answers to questions raised by policy innovations, provide pro bono legal representation to supporters of utility-scale renewable energy projects, and stand up for climate science and environmental justice. Climate Change Litigation The Sabin Center tracks and analyzes U.S. and global climate change litigation and submits amicus briefs in certain cases. Talks
• Michael Gerrard moderated an Environmental Law Institute webinar about the Supreme Court’s oral arguments in West Virginia v. EPA and spoke to the Diligent Corporate Director Climate Leadership Program on climate litigation. • Michael Burger spoke about the state of global climate ligation at a conference on corporate accountability at the University of Utrecht. He spoke about the role of attribution science in rights-based litigation at a seminar hosted by the Supreme Court of Mexico. • Michael Gerrard and Maria Antonia Tigre spoke on a panel titled “Climate Change Law, Policy & Litigation,” sponsored by the Columbia Law & Political Economy Society.
• Maria Antonia Tigre gave lectures on global climate litigation at Sciences Po Paris, the Climate Law Research Institute (ClimLaw), University of Graz; and the Jean Monnet Module on Multilevel, Multiparty and Multisector Cross-Border Litigation in Europe, Università degli Studi, Milan. • Maria Antonia Tigre spoke about rightsbased climate lawsuits and trends in climate litigation at numerous conferences, including at a conference on Biodiversity Litigation in the Global South at the University of Antwerp, at a conference co-organized by Hasselt University and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) and at a conference on Human Rights and Climate Change at Leiden University; she spoke on the global status of climate litigation at UNEP’s 2022 Judicial Colloquium. • Korey Silverman-Roati gave a presentation on a report on climate litigation during the Trump administration to the climate change working group within the ABA International Law Section and Civil Rights and Social Justice Section’s International Human Rights Committees. Korey also spoke about the relevance of climate denial to the wave of litigation against fossil fuel companies in state courts around the country on a panel at the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology 2022 Symposium.
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Winter/Spring 2022
Engagement
• In December 2021, the Sabin Center launched the Peer Review Network on Global Climate Litigation. The Network includes volunteers from across the globe, who help keep the climate litigation database regularly updated and comprehensive. The Network currently includes 70 rapporteurs across 56 jurisdictions and international/ regional adjudicatory bodies. Publications
• “La ciencia del clima y los derechos humanos. El uso de la ciencia de la atribución para enmarcar las obligaciones de mitigación y adaptación de los gobiernos,” by Michael Burger, Jessica Wentz and Daniel Metzger, in Litigar la Emergencia Climática (Siglo Veintiuno Editores) • Maria Antonia Tigre, Melanie Murcott, Nesa Zimmerman published Climate Change Litigation:What the ECtHR Could Learn from Courts in the Global South on Volkerrechtsblog and Verfassungsblog for the co-edited blog series on Comparative Climate Litigation in North-South Perspective (Mar. 22, 2022) Defending Climate Science The Sabin Center, partnering with the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, has documented 500 attacks on science since the launch of our joint database, the Silencing Science Tracker. Since the Biden-Harris administration has taken office this year, we continue to catalog the new administration’s efforts to undo the Trump administration’s anti-science actions.We are also continuing to track anti-science actions at the state and local levels.
Publications
• The Biden administration’s first year: Slow and steady does not win this race, op-ed by Lauren Kurtz and Romany Webb, The Hill, January 20, 2022 • Politics v. Science: How President Trump’s War on Science Impacted Public Health and Environmental Regulation, by Romany Webb and Lauren Kurtz in Molecular Biology and Clinical Medicine in the Age of Politicization, 2022 Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization (LPDD) The Sabin Center and Widener University’s Commonwealth Law School’s Environmental Law & Sustainability Center maintains the Model Laws for Deep Decarbonization in the United States website, which provides policy makers at the federal, state and local levels with the legal tools needed to transition away from fossil fuels. More than twenty pro bono law firms are at work drafting additional model laws as part of this project. The Sabin Center is cooperating with legal scholars in Brazil and Australia who are undertaking similar projects in those countries. Talks
• Michael Gerrard spoke about the Model Laws for Deep Decarbonization project to a webinar of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment and Energy Resources, Pro Bono Task Force. Publications
• “Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the Fields of Land Use and Zoning” (Michael B. Gerrard, Jordan Gerow and John C. Dernbach), 45 Zoning and Planning Law Report No. 2 at 1 (February 2022)
A Summary of the Key Activities of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Negative Emissions Reducing or even eliminating future greenhouse gas emissions will not, by itself, be sufficient to avoid catastrophic climate change. It will also be necessary to remove previously emitted greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, and store or utilize them in some way. This can be done using a range of so-called “negative emission technologies.”The Sabin Center conducts research on legal issues associated with the development and use of negative emissions technologies. Talks
• Romany Webb presented in a webinar on ocean carbon dioxide removal hosted by the OA Alliance and Ocean Foundation. Engagement
• The Sabin Center continued its participation in a four-year study, funded by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, to develop an integrated negative emissions system that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using direct air capture technology and permanently sequesters it in sub-seabed geologic formations. Publications
• Using the Oceans to Store C02 Could Help Avoid Climate Catastrophe, article by Romany Webb and Michael B. Gerrard, Bloomberg Law, December 30, 2021 • Removing Carbon Dioxide Through Artificial Upwelling and Downwelling: Legal Challenges and Opportunities, by Romany Webb, Korey Silverman-Roati and Michael Gerrard, May 2022 Cities Climate Law Initiative This Initiative helps U.S. cities achieve their climate mitigation commitments by addressing critical gaps or obstacles to advancing implementation.
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Talks
• Amy Turner spoke at a meeting of the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network and Florida Sustainability Directors Network about state preemption of local climate action in Florida. • Amy Turner spoke at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Oregon on a panel titled Local Governments Can Regulate Gas Infrastructure in Oregon. Engagement
• Amy Turner, Michael Burger and Jennifer Danis submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the National League Cities, League of California Cities, and California State Association of Counties in California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. • Amy Turner gave a briefing to elected officials and sustainability staff members of a major U.S. city on legal pathways for new building electrification. • Amy Turner has been advising the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships local government cohort on building energy labeling and disclosure policies, as well as advising Stand.Earth’s local government cohort on local climate policy coordination. Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative (RELDI) The Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative (RELDI) provides pro bono legal representation, and where appropriate works with partnering law firms to do so, to community groups and local residents who support renewable energy development in their communities.
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Talks
• Michael Gerrard spoke to the Roosevelt Policy Hackathon about community involvement in building renewable energy facilities at the scale needed to meet the climate crisis. • Michael Gerrard spoke about the growth of the wind and solar industries in New York at the annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association’s Business Law Section. Engagement
• RELDI wrote a letter urging a local government in Michigan to reject an ordinance that would substantially limit the development of wind energy. Publications
• The Sabin Center partnered with Urban Ocean Lab to provide up-to-date research on offshore wind, available here. • Opposition to Renewable Energy Facilities in the United States: March 2022 Edition, by Jacob Elkin, Hillary Aidun, et al. Initiative on Climate Risk and Resilience Law (ICRRL)
ICRRL is a joint initiative of the Sabin Center, Environmental Defense Fund, the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law, and Vanderbilt Law School. The partnership was formed to drive legal solutions that address societal and economic risks from climate change and to improve climate resilience in the electricity sector, and through financial regulation and risk management. The Sabin Center undertakes individual and joint actions related to the Initiative.
Talks
• Romany Webb gave opening remarks at a webinar on “climate risk disclosures” hosted by the Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources. • Romany Webb presented on “preparing for the impacts of climate change on the electricity system” at the University of Oklahoma Oil and Gas, Natural Resources and Energy Journal’s annual symposium. Engagement
• The Center co-hosted the first meeting of the Forum on Climate Risk in the Electricity Sector. The Forum is a joint project of the Sabin Center, Environmental Defense Fund, and Initiative on Climate Risk and Resilience Law. It aims to connect academic researchers and representatives of advocacy organizations working on issues relating to electricity sector climate risk and resilience. Publications
• Evaluating Climate Risk in NEPA Reviews: Current Practices and Recommendations for Reform, by Romany Webb, Michael Panfil, Stephanie H. Jones, and Dena Adler, February 2022 • Electricity operators must wake up to climate change—or brace for summer outages, The Hill, op-ed by Romany Webb, May 2022 Environmental Justice Climate change has made clear that diversity increases the power of potential solutions and the resilience to adverse impacts – for ecosystems, social systems, economic systems and their various hybrids and combinations.As part of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Plan, the Sabin Center is committed to developing content and engaging in environmental issues faced by vulnerable communities.
A Summary of the Key Activities of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Talks
• Michael Gerrard spoke to the 34th Annual Health Law Symposium of the St. Louis University Center for Health Law Studies, where discussed environmental justice and climate change. • Michael Gerrard spoke about climate change and climate justice to the University of Richmond Public Interest Law Review Symposium. Publications
• Helping New Jersey State Agencies and Departments Align Their Actions with GHG Reduction Mandates and Environmental Justice Principles, by Jennifer Danis and Zoe Makoul (May 2022)
Environmental & Land Use Law Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing resilience to climate impacts involve use of existing environmental, natural resource, and land use laws.They also demand creation of new approaches. Our current efforts focus on federal, state, and local laws and regulations related to air pollution; environmental impact assessment; public lands management; and zoning and land use controls. Clean Air Act In the absence of new federal legislation on climate change, the Clean Air Act (CAA) has provided the primary basis for federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The Sabin Center conducts legal research on how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can use this statute to achieve nationwide emission reductions consistent with our policies and international commitments. Our work focuses on using CAA sections 111 and 115 to control greenhouse gas emissions.
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Engagement
• The Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in West Virginia v. EPA, a case that is currently before the United States Supreme Court. The case concerns the scope of EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel power plants under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Environmental Assessment One of our programmatic goals is to advance the use of environmental impact assessment (EIA) as a tool for climate change mitigation and adaptation planning. We monitor how decision makers account for climate changerelated considerations in EIA documents and develop recommendations on how to evaluate a proposal’s greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts of climate change on the proposal. Engagement
• Submitted comments on the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project Environmental Impact Statement Draft Scoping Document. • Submitted comments on the Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Hackberry Storage Project. Publications
• Incorporating Climate Change in NEPA Reviews: Recommendations for Reform, by Michael Burger, Romany M. Webb, and Jessica Wentz (May 2022)
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US Policy Talks
• Michael Gerrard spoke at the American Law Institute’s annual environmental law program; moderated a webinar about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for the American College of Environmental Lawyers; delivered the keynote address to the State Bar of Texas’s Climate Symposium; and spoke about state climate action to Wisconsin International Law Journal symposium on Climate Change and Law.
Energy Law The Sabin Center seeks to advance the decarbonization of the energy sector and to encourage a more rational accounting of climate change-related impacts of energy use in the U.S. and elsewhere. Our current efforts focus on federal, state, and local laws and regulations related to clean energy development and integration, public utility regulation, and the extraction, transport, and consumption of fossil fuels.
• Jennifer Danis filed comments, together with EDF and NJCF, in NJBPU’s Gas Capacity proceeding. Publications
• Biden’s Climate Promises Require Oil and Gas Leasing Reform, op-ed by Romany Webb, The Hill (February 2022) • A Pause on Proof-of-Work: The New York State Executive Branch’s Authority to Enact a Moratorium on the Permitting of Consolidated Proof-of-Work Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities, by Jacob Elkin (March 2022) • Spire STL’s legacy: Notes on updated FERC infrastructure certification policy, by Jennifer Danis (April 29, 2022)
International & Foreign Law Climate change is a global problem that demands a global response. The Sabin Center provides legal support for and participates in international efforts to address the causes and effects of climate change. We also track how foreign jurisdictions are addressing climate change through legal reforms and litigation.
Clean Energy
Human Rights and Climate Change
Engagement
Climate change poses a very real threat to the enjoyment of human rights: sea level rise, heat waves, floods, drought, and other effects can cause death and injury, displace people from their homes, undermine food and water security, and otherwise interfere with the lives, health, and well-being of millions of people. The Sabin Center’s research explores how international human rights law can be used to enhance mitigation ambition and protect people from these effects.
• The Sabin Center co-hosted virtual meetings of the International Regulatory Futures Forum. The Forum, which is now in its 7th year, brings together top energy regulators from the U.S., Europe, and Australia to discuss emerging issues in energy system decarbonization. Fossil Fuels Engagement
• The Center filed comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding its draft policy statements on the certification of natural gas infrastructure and consideration of greenhouse gas emissions in infrastructure reviews.
A Summary of the Key Activities of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Talks
• Maria Antonia Tigre spoke at two side-events at the First meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Escazú Agreement (COP1), “The GNHRE Implementing Principles for The Escazú Agreement” organized by the Global Network of Human Rights and the Environment and “Human Rights Law and the Convention on Biological Diversity,” organized by the Raoul Wallengerg Institute. • Maria Antonia Tigre spoke at an expert seminar on the “UN Recognition of the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment: Past Developments and Future Prospects, Roundtable discussion 1: UN recognition of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment: The benefits of a right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment at regional and national levels: a case study (Apr. 12, 2022)” with the former and current special rapporteurs on the right to a healthy environment, John Knox and David Boyd. • Michael Gerrard spoke to the Columbia Law School Society for Immigrants and Refugee Rights Spring Symposium about climate-induced migration.
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Engagement
• The Sabin Center co-hosted the consultation on the right of the children and climate change to inform the General Comment on Children’s Rights and the Environment with a Special Focus on Climate Change (General Comment No. 26), along with Terre des Hommes and Child Rights Connect. Threatened Island Nations Climate change poses a substantial risk to many small island nations. These nations may be partially or completely submerged by rising sea levels in the coming decades, and are also vulnerable to other disruptions caused by increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns. We have worked with threatened island nations since 2009 to develop legal strategies to address these problems. Talks
• Michael Gerrard spoke on a Tortoise Media program, “Disappeared nations and flooded cities; what happens when a country drowns?”
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Winter/Spring 2022
Events From December 2021–May 2022, the Center sponsored, co-sponsored and participated in numerous online events and conferences. Here are some highlights:
• Sabin Center-UNEP Annual Conference on Global Climate Litigation: The Sabin Center and UNEP held the first Annual Conference on Global Climate Litigation on April 19-20, 2022. It addressed key themes on climate litigation and included several members of the Peer Review Network, who discussed climate litigation in their jurisdictions. A few keynote speakers and judges were also invited to join the panels. The full program is available here.
• Discussion with Professor Gerrard, President Santos, Justice Linares: On April 11, the Sabin Center, Columbia Climate School and Columbia Law School’s Environmental Law Society co-sponsored a discussion with Justice Alejandro Linares-Cantillo of the Constitutional Court of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, the former President of Colombia and Professor Michael Gerrard, on the topic of “Politics, Courts and Environmental Protection.”
• Compensation for a Just Energy Transition
• Argentina’s Hydrocarbon Border Expansion:
to a Zero-Carbon World: Practices and Principles in International (Investment) Law and Domestic Law: On April 14, the
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and the Sabin Center co-hosted a 90 minute webinar focusing on legal approaches to compensation for a just energy transition. Michael Burger moderated the panel.
The rise of climate litigation claims against offshore fossil fuel exploitation: On April 5,
the Sabin Center hosted a webinar on Greenpeace et al. v. Argentina et al. and its implications for climate litigation in Argentina. This webinar, moderated by Maria Antonia Tigre, featured a discussion with four climate litigation experts from Argentina. Rafael Colombo and Lucas Micheloud are lawyers from the Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers and have brought the claim against the State of Argentina.
A Summary of the Key Activities of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law María Valeria Berros and Gastón MediciColombo are the national rapporteurs for Argentina for the Sabin Center’s Peer Review Network on Global Climate Litigation.
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co-sponsored a panel discussion on the legal and policy considerations stemming from the Public Power proposal. Christian Harned, Samantha Peltz, Lauren Phillips, and Rachel Ramirez-Guest—authors of a NYCELLI whitepaper on this topic— moderated the panel.
• The Australian Sharma decision: using tort law to establish a novel duty of care for climate change: On February 22, the Sabin
Center held its first webinar as part of the Peer Review Network on Global Climate Litigation’s monthly webinar series. This webinar was moderated by Maria Antonia Tigre and featured three Australian experts on climate litigation: Clare Schuster, Jack McLean and Matt Floro. • Public Power: Examining legal challenges facing the movement for publicly-owned utilities in New York: On February 7,
the Sabin Center, the New York City Environmental Law Leadership Institute Other events
• The Sabin Center, the Earth Institute and Sive-Paget & Riesel LLP co-sponsored the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law’s annual climate change symposium.
• Ecocide: A Discussion of Law and Ethics: On January 20, the Sabin Center, the Center for Earth Ethics, the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law, and the Wildlife Justice Commission co-sponsored an event which assembled international lawyers and scholars to discuss the Panel’s efforts to define ecocide as well as to examine the significance of shifting to eco-centric framework. Michael Burger delivered opening remarks.
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Publications The Sabin Center produces papers, surveys and other legal resources, and its members edit and co-author books with other climate law and energy experts from around the globe. Our website at climate.law.columbia.edu contains landing pages for each of our program areas, which include links to relevant projects, publications, and other resources. In addition, the Center publishes the Climate Law Blog and maintains a growing presence on social media, including on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, as well as a YouTube channel. Highlights Law Journal Articles
• Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan, “New York Environmental Legislation in 2021,” New York Law Journal (January 13, 2022) • Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan, “Regulation of Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals in New York,” New York Law Journal (March 9, 2022)
• Maria Antonia Tigre, Exploring the Bedrock of Earth Jurisprudence, 22 Rutgers Journal of Law & Religion 223-313 (2022) • Maria Antonia Tigre, Natalia Urzola & Victoria Lichet, Reframing Global Biodiversity Protection after COVID-19: Is International Environmental Law up to the task?, 23 Vermont Envt. L. J. 123 (2022)
Sabin Center Papers
• Evaluating Climate Risk in NEPA Reviews: Current Practices and Recommendations, by Romany Webb, Michael Panfil, Stephanie H. Jones, and Dena Adler (February 2022) • Opposition to Renewable Energy Facilities in the United States: March 2022 Edition, by Jacob Elkin, Hillary Aidun, et al. (March 2022) • A Pause on Proof-of-Work: The New York State Executive Branch’s Authority to Enact a Moratorium on the Permitting of Consolidated Proof-of-Work Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities, by Jacob Elkin (March 2022)
• Incorporating Climate Change in NEPA Reviews: Recommendations for Reform, by Michael Burger, Romany M. Webb, and Jessica Wentz (May 2022) • Helping New Jersey State Agencies and Departments Align Their Actions with GHG Reduction Mandates and Environmental Justice Principles, by Jennifer Danis and Zoe Makoul (May 2022) • Removing Carbon Dioxide Through Artificial Upwelling and Downwelling: Legal Challenges and Opportunities, by Romany Webb, Korey SilvermanRoatio and Michael Gerrard (May 2022)
A Summary of the Key Activities of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
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Highlights from the Climate Law Blog • Key Elements of the SEC’s Proposed Climate-Related Disclosure Rule, by Romany Webb • With Two New Policy Statements, FERC Recommits to Ensuring Gas Infrastructure Projects Serve the Public Interest, by Jennifer Danis and Romany Webb • Federal Oil and Gas Leasing in the Courts: Why Recent Losses Could Actually be Good News for the Biden Administration, by Romany Webb • In a first for climate nuisance claims, a Hawai‘i state court allowed Honolulu to proceed with its case against fossil fuel companies, by Korey Silverman-Roati • Local Government Associations File Brief to The Supreme Court in Support of EPA’s Clean Air Act Authority, by Jacob Elkin • Cooperative Federalism, As Applied: Building Electrification, by Amy Turner • Local Government Associations File Brief to Ninth Circuit in Support of Berkley, California’s Natural Gas Restriction, by Amy Turner, Michael Burger and Jennifer Danis
• Guest Commentary: Brazil will have first climate litigation trials in the Supreme Court, by Isabela Soares Bicalho, Gabriel Mantelli, Maria Antonia Tigre and Carmem Añon Brasolin • Guest Commentary: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ first resolution on the climate emergency: implications for climate litigation, by Pedro Cisterna-Gaete and Maria Antonia Tigre • Australian Federal Court dismisses the novel duty of care previously found in Sharma: what does it mean for future climate litigation in Australia?, by Maria Antonia Tigre • New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Should Join New York and Other States Engaging in Long Term Planning to Get Off of Gas, by Jennifer Danis
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Media Mentions and Interviews Sabin Center experts were interviewed and/ or quoted directly or mentioned via one of the products produced by the Center in approximately 50 media and news items. Highlights • How an Electric Truck Factory
• Brookline wants a fossil-free future. With
Became a Lightning Rod in Georgia, The New York Times
latest ruling, the AG says: Not yet (again), Boston Globe
In this article, Michael Burger underlines the question of trade-off in the electric vehicle factory discussion as well as with respect to renewable energy all across the country, stating it’s “always going to be a case-by-case question of whether the trade-off is viable.”
Amy Turner comments on the Attorney General Maura Healey’s ruling that the town of Brookline’s efforts to use zoning bylaws to stop fossil fuels in new buildings violated state law.
• New Biden NEPA regs won’t stop legal war over Trump overhaul, Politico Pro Michael Gerrard and Jennifer Danis comment on the Biden administration’s new environmental regulations and what that means for climate litigation and the future of agency rulemaking. • As economists warn of mounting climate change costs, Biden seeks to price damages, PBS News
Romany Webb weighs in on the Biden administration’s potential impact of imposing a cost on climaterelated damages. • A busy stretch in climate litigation, Axios Korey Silverman-Roati is quoted on the implications of a 10th circuit ruling in a climate nuisance case against fossil fuel companies. • Decision on Finger Lakes crypto mine is Gov. Hachul’s ‘fracking moment’, Syracuse.com Jacob Elkin’s paper on crypto mining facilities is mentioned in this article, in a bid to press New York to impose a moratorium on crypto mining power plants.
• The Supreme Court v. a Livable Planet, Sierra
In this article, Michael Gerrard weighs in on the Supreme Court’s decision to take the West Virginia v. EPA case, stating it is “extremely unusual to take a case at this procedural stage.” • Rattling comfort zones: How judges are responding to climate litigation, The Wave This article highlights Dr. Maria Antonia Tigre’s analysis of the significant decisions in climate litigation in 2021. • How FERC, courts may change pipeline industry in 2022, E&E News In this article, Jennifer Danis explains FERC’s capacity in regulating new pipeline projects. • Date set for first youth-led climate trial in U.S. history, NBC News In this article, Michael Burger comments on legal recourse when “other systems fail.” It also cites the Sabin Center’s climate case chart website to demonstrate that climate lawsuits around the world are increasing.
A Summary of the Key Activities of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
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Awards and Recognition • Michael Gerrard was an awardee at WE ACT’s (West Harlem Action for Environmental Justice) annual gala. • Michael Gerrard received the Environmental Education Visionary Award at the South Fork Natural History Museum. • Michael Gerrard was named as one of “Energy and Environment Power 100” by the City & State of New York. Online Resources
• New York City Climate Law Tracker The New York City Climate Law Tracker monitors New York City’s progress in implementing the Climate Mobilization Act, a suite of local laws that were enacted in 2019. The most prominent of these is Local Law 97, which places limits on the amount of greenhouse gases that large buildings may emit.
• New York State Climate Law Tracker The New York State Climate Law Tracker monitors New York’s progress in implementing its path-breaking Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, Environmental Justice Law, Community Risk and Resiliency Act, and Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act.
• Climate Attribution Database The Climate Attribution Database, developed in collaboration between the Sabin Center and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, is a repository of scientific infomation relevant to climate litigation and policy-making. Climate attribution science plays a central role in climate litigation and policy-making. The science is central to legal debates on the causal links between human activities, global climate change, and impacts on human and natural systems.
• Carbon Dioxide Removal Law Database The Sabin Center and the Center on Global Energy Policy maintain the Carbon Dioxide Removal Law Database, an annotated bibliography of legal materials related to carbon dioxide removal and carbon sequestration and use.
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• Climate Change Litigation Databases The Center maintains U.S. and global climate litigation charts. (The US database is maintained in collaboration with Arnold & Porter.) To subscribe to the Center’s monthly update, contact: columbiaclimate@gmail.com.
• Climate Reregulation Tracker The Sabin Center launched the Climate Reregulation Tracker to follow the Biden administration’s progress reinstating and expanding on climate policies that had been rolled back under the previous administration.
• Climate Change Laws of the World The Sabin Center and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment have collaborated to create an online database of the laws, regulations, policy statements, and other directives issued by national governments, with links to the Sabin Center litigation charts.
• Model Laws for Deep Decarbonization in the United States
The Model Laws for Deep Decarbonization in the United States website provides policy makers at the federal, state and local levels with the legal tools needed to transition away from fossil fuels. The website is based on the book, Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States, co-edited by Michael Gerrard and John C. Dernbach.
• Silencing Science Tracker The Silencing Science Tracker is a joint initiative of the Sabin Center and the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund. It tracks government attempts to restrict or prohibit scientific research, education or discussion, or the publication or use of scientific information, since the November 2016 election.
A Summary of the Key Activities of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
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Earth Institute /Columbia Climate School The Sabin Center is a member center of the Earth Institute/Columbia Climate School, and frequently collaborates with Earth Institute scientists on cutting edge interdisciplinary research. Center faculty and staff are deeply involved in the development of the Climate School at multiple levels.
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About Us
Michael B. Gerrard Faculty Director
Michael Burger Executive Director
Amy Turner Senior Fellow Cities Climate Law Initiative
tel: 212-854-3287 mgerrard@law.columbia.edu
tel: 212-854-2372 mburger@law.columbia.edu
Romany Webb Senior Fellow
Jennifer Danis Senior Fellow
Jessica Wentz Non-Resident Senior Fellow
tel: 212-854-0080 rwebb@law.columbia.edu
tel: 212-854-4585 jdanis@law.columbia.edu
tel: 212-854-0106 jess.wentz@gmail.com
Ama Francis Non-Resident Fellow
Korey Silverman-Roati Climate Law Fellow (2020–22)
Tiffany Challe Communications Associate
tel: 212-854-0106 arf2167@columbia.edu
tel: 520-906-1359 kgs2133@columbia.edu
tel: 212-854-0594 tc2868@columbia.edu
Kemi Adetayo Program Coordinator
Jacob Elkin Climate Law Fellow (2021–22)
Maria Antonia Tigre Global Climate Litigation Fellow
tel: 212-854-8213 aadetayo@law.columbia.edu
tel: 212-854-7794 jacob.elkin@columbia.edu
mb4913@columbia.edu
tel: 212-854-3268 aturner@law.columbia.edu
W E B . L AW. C O LU M B I A . E D U / C L I M AT E - C H A N G E Columbia Law School Jerome Greene Hall, Room 525 435 West 116th Street New York, New York 10027 tel: 212-854-3287 fax: 212-854-8213
