Amy Turner

25 posts
Amy Turner is the Director of the Cities Climate Law Initiative at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.

A Missed Opportunity to Decarbonize Municipal & Nonprofit Buildings: Section 179D Tax Deduction

Two years into the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the several tax credits that are eligible for “elective pay” are starting to catalyze investment in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and EV charging by nontaxable entities like local governments and nonprofit organizations. Slower to develop is a robust, cohesive response by nontaxable […]

So Your CPRG Application Didn’t Get Funded

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the 25 successful applicants for a shared $4.3 billion in implementation funding under the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program. The grants will enable investments in solar projects, building energy-efficiency upgrades, the buildout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, […]

In a Devolving Legal and Political Landscape, Cities are the Federal Government’s Secret Weapon on Climate

Cities are often considered a niche focus for those who work in climate policy – a third level of government not directly captured in our country’s federal-state dichotomy, one occasionally commended for “stepping up” or showing “leadership” in the absence of climate action by Congress or in many states. There […]

Cities, E-commerce & Public Health: 3 Legal Pathways to Limiting Freight Vehicle Emissions

A new Sabin Center white paper is linked here. In recent years, cities have become increasingly defined by e-commerce – the sprawling network of goods delivery from central warehouses to neighborhood distribution centers to residents’ front doors. This growing network of warehouses and the freight vehicles that serve them contribute […]

Cities and the IRA’s Green Banks: Strategies for Engagement

In April 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced funding recipients for its National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA), two programs established by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The NCIF and CCIA awards are a step towards implementing the “third leg of the […]

Inflation Reduction Act: Final Elective Pay Rules & Takeaways for Cities

Yesterday, March 5, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released final regulations for their elective pay program, which allows many non-taxpayers, including local governments and their agencies and instrumentalities, to recoup the value of certain climate and clean energy tax credits as […]

Many pedestrians walking on a sidewalk

The Legal Case for Equity in Local Climate Action Planning

Last month, the Fordham Urban Law Journal published a paper I wrote titled The Legal Case for Equity in Local Climate Action Planning. In the last several years, cities’ climate action plans, or CAPs, have increasingly incorporated equity and justice objectives and metrics alongside more traditional greenhouse gas reduction measures […]