Climate Law Blog

Jessica Anne Wentz Associate Director and Postdoctoral Fellow In the early morning of February 28, 2010, storm Xynthia hit the French Atlantic coast, overwhelming coastal defenses and flooding over 50,000 hectares of land. The storm caused over one billion euros of damage and 47 fatalities in the Vendée Department of France.[1] Over half of these […]

The Sabin Center has published “Electricity Sector Adaptation to Heat Waves” by Sofia Aivalioti, a student in the Joint European Master in Environmental Studies – Cities & Sustainability program and a Visiting Scholar at the Center last fall. The white paper takes an up-close look at the impacts of extreme heat events on the electricity generation, transmission and […]

Jennifer M. Klein, Esq. Associate Director & Fellow On Monday the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a report describing its plan to adapt to the impacts of Climate Change. The DOD views climate change as an immediate threat based on its potential to undermine the capacity of military installations and to “intensify the challenges of […]

By Alyssa Kutner, Summer Legal Intern President Barack Obama made an announcement on Wednesday, July 16th introducing a plan to improve the nation’s ability to adapt to climate change through investing in and planning a more climate-resilient infrastructure. Included in the announcement were new programs designed to increase the adaptive flexibility of the country, such […]

By Isabelle Aubrun, CCCL Intern (Brown University) On June 2, Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan announced the Rebuild by Design Competition’s six winners. Created by President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force in 2013, ‘Rebuild by Design’ awards HUD funding to infrastructure projects in locations hardest hit by […]

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On June 3, 2013, a group of lawsuits that generated significant interest among environmental lawyers were abruptly withdrawn.[1]  The cases notably alleged a novel theory of liability and duty of care regarding climate change projections.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, CCCL Associate Director and Fellow On March 21, 2014, President Obama signed into law the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 (2014 Act), whose stated purpose is to “delay the implementation of certain provisions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Texas Hurricane Damage (photo credit: FEMA) Act of 2012, and for […]

A new paper by Katherine Carey looks at the different actions that state utility commissions in the Southeast have taken to ensure that their electric utilities are prepared for tomorrow’s storms. The Gulf Coast region in the Southeastern United States is at especially high risk of more severe hurricanes and tropical storms, but there are […]

Ethan I. Strell, CCCL Associate Director & Fellow In an historic decision that will serve as a nationwide model, the New York State Public Service Commission on February 20 unanimously approved a settlement requiring Con Edison to implement state-of-the-art measures to plan for and protect its electric, gas, and steam systems from the effects of […]

Ethan I. Strell, Esq. Associate Director & Fellow Columbia Center for Climate Change Law Earlier this week, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a massive 1582-page, over $1 trillion consolidated appropriations bill.  On page 706 of the current version of the bill, a one-sentence rider was inserted that would delay through next September implementation of […]