Climate Law Blog

Jennifer M. Klein, Esq. Associate Director & Fellow Sea level rise is an “inevitable consequence” of global warming and requires innovative capital planning, according to a new Report by the Miami-Dade Sea Level Rise Task Force. The Task Force will present its recommendations to the Miami-Date County Commission on January 21, 2015. Southeast Florida is […]

By: Daniel P. Selmi* Visiting Scholar, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Fritz B. Burns Professor of Law, Loyola Law School In an emphatic opinion, a state appellate court has invalidated the environmental impact report for the first “sustainable communities strategy” prepared by a regional council of government in California. In Cleveland National Forest […]

Jennifer M. Klein, Esq. Associate Director & Fellow Sea level rise is a “pervasive and increasing threat” and should be evaluated as infrastructure projects are built or modified along San Francisco’s shorelines, according to Guidance adopted by San Francisco’s Capital Planning Committee (CPC) on September 22. San Francisco, bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the […]

By Isabelle Aubrun, CCCL Intern (Brown University) In 2013, President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force devised the Rebuild by Design Competition.  Applicants were to design a “fundable and implementable” infrastructure project to mitigate the dangers of rising sea levels and increasingly frequent extreme weather events in New York and New Jersey coastal regions.  In […]

By Hunter Book, Summer Legal Intern On June 3, 2013, a group of lawsuits that generated significant interest among environmental lawyers were abruptly withdrawn.[1]  The cases notably alleged a novel theory of liability and duty of care regarding climate change projections.  In Illinois Farmers Insurance Co. v. Metro Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago[2](and related cases […]

Ethan I. Strell, Associate Director & Fellow Columbia Center for Climate Change Law In a subtle but meaningful shift, the environmental impact review process in New York City is beginning to more systematically consider the potential effects of a changing climate on proposed projects, not just the effects that a project might have on the […]

Teresa Parejo Navajas Professor of Law Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) Mayor Bloomberg has declared war on polystyrene (Styrofoam), a material that is generally used for fast-food packaging, due to its “destructive” impact on the environment. Most forms of Styrofoam are, to some extent, recyclable, but there aren’t many facilities that accept this material […]

            CCCL has published a Hydraulic Fracturing Litigation Digest that summarizes litigation with underlying claims stemming from the hydraulic fracturing process and  provides an index of the cases organized by central legal issues. The Digest is structured to provide a view of litigation in each relevant State as well as a view of litigation at […]

By Rose Winer, Intern The severe heat wave that blanketed the U.S. mid-Atlantic and Northeast at the end of last week indicates a trend of heat-related climate change impacts that will intensify over the next century, according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On Thursday temperatures reaching the […]

By Sarah Goldmuntz, Intern New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced on June 13, that building owners will receive over $100 million in loans to switch to less polluting heat oil. The new funding, provided by various banks including Chase, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Hudson Valley Bank and the Community Preservation Corporation, will help buildings […]