Climate Law Blog

Each month, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law collect and summarize developments in climate-related litigation, which we also add to our U.S. and non-U.S. climate litigation charts.  If you know of any cases we have missed, please email us at columbiaclimate at gmail dot com. HERE ARE THE ADDITIONS TO THE […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has requested public input on regulations that may be appropriate for repeal, replacement, or modification pursuant to President Trump’s deregulatory agenda (as outlined in Executive Orders 13771 and 13777). The Sabin Center has submitted a comment letter urging EPA to preserve existing greenhouse gas emission standards. In the letter, […]

Michael Burger and Jessica Wentz Last week, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) published final guidance on implementing President Trump’s Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs, which directs all agencies to control regulatory costs by: (1) ensuring that the “incremental costs” of all new regulations that are finalized this year, […]

Around this time of year, back in 1859, the first oil well was drilled by Edwin Drake in north-west Pennsylvania. After a slow start – drilling initially progressed at a rate of just three feet per day – Drake struck it lucky and hit oil at a depth of 69.5 feet. The oil was brought […]

Michael Burger and Jessica Wentz Last week, we published a blog entry highlighting some of the fundamental legal problems with President Trump’s Executive Order on “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs.” As we noted then, the order – which instructs agencies to ensure that the cost of regulations promulgated this year are no greater than […]

Today, the Sabin Center published a new working paper discussing the possibility of federal and/or state regulation to increase fuel octane levels. Many readers may be wondering: what is octane? And why do we want to increase it? In simple terms, octane is a measure of a fuel’s ability to withstand compression in a vehicle […]

by Michael Burger and Justin Gundlach This morning the Sabin Center filed an amicus brief in support of EPA’s Clean Power Plan on behalf of a coalition of local government representatives including the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and 54 U.S. cities, counties, and mayors. (Check the end of the post […]

Jessica Wentz Associate Director and Fellow Tucked deep into the opening brief on procedural and record issues filed by opponents to the Clean Power Plan there is an important and under-reported development: The role of the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) in cost-benefit analysis is now before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Petitioners in […]

Patrick Parenteau Professor of Law, Vermont Law School Curbing methane is a key part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, which aims to cut emissions by 40 to 45% from 2012 levels by 2025. Methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas. Methane traps 86 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and […]

Michael B. Gerrard Faculty Director The Supreme Court’s unprecedented, unexpected and unexplained action yesterday staying implementation of the Clean Power Plan is one of the most environmentally harmful judicial actions of all time. However, the damage it does to the United States’ ability to meet its Paris pledge is less than it might seem. But […]