Climate Law Blog

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 […]

By Katee Kline, Law Intern On June 12, 2012, North Carolina’s Senate passed, by a vote of 34 to 11, a bill forbidding the use of sea level rise predictions which incorporate the expected impacts of climate change in the creation of any state or municipal policy.  Though the state’s House of Representatives voted on […]

The Town of New Castle, New York has adopted a comprehensive green building law that is designed to create a more sustainable community by incorporating green building measures into the design, construction, and maintenance of buildings. The New Castle Town Board voted unanimously to adopt the law on December 13, 2011. The green building law […]

Columbia Law School’s Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL) has prepared a first draft of a model small-scale solar-siting ordinance.   The model ordinance offers a framework that can enable municipalities to implement and enforce the effective and efficient use of solar energy resources. The ordinance would govern all new solar energy systems of up to […]

by Michael B. Gerrard This article first appeared on the Asia Society’s blog, ReAsia. Cities have at least four central roles in the fight against climate change. In most countries: 1. Cities write and enforce building codes, which, by determining energy efficiency standards and heating types, help determine greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. According to […]

By Marne Sussman Within the past two years, two cities in the U.S. have passed ordinances mandating that existing buildings benchmark their energy usage. Benchmarking requires a building owner to report energy use data which can then be compared to data from buildings of a similar size and function and to past data from the […]