Olivia Guarna

17 posts
Olivia Guarna is the Climate Justice Fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.

New Sabin Center Report and Online Resource: Navigating State Law in Local Climate Action

Local governments are leaders in the fight against climate change: they reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions, promote renewable energy resources, and otherwise advance climate mitigation and adaptation goals. But even as many local governments have already demonstrated their capability to tackle the climate crisis, state governments can hinder those efforts […]

Appropriated, but Unobligated: Impounding Climate Funds

The Trump administration has undertaken a comprehensive effort to prevent the distribution of mandatory federal funding, including billions for climate programs. Attempts to cancel already-obligated federal funding awards have been among its most notable actions and have been met with a slew of lawsuits by aggrieved grantees, states, and other […]

Court of Federal Claims: Jurisdiction, Remedies, and Unsuitability to Adjudicate the GGRF Lawsuit

Amid the Trump administration’s cancellation of billions in federal funding for climate action, the Sabin Center has covered the numerous cases that have been brought in federal district courts to challenge federal grant cancellations. Among those cases is Climate United Fund v. Citibank, a challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s […]

Court of Appeals Sets Aside Preliminary Injunction in GGRF Litigation

This is part of a blog series that examines the impact of federal grant termination litigation on the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). The first post in the series, which covers recent Supreme Court orders that have shaped the D.C. Circuit’s consideration of the GGRF case, can […]

Sabin Center Submits Comment Letters on EPA’s Proposed Repeal of Power Plant GHG Emission Standards

On June 17, 2025, EPA published a proposed rule to either repeal entirely, or significantly revise, a rule issued in 2024 which set performance standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants to limit their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This week, the Sabin Center filed three comment letters opposing the proposal. First, […]

Examining the Remarkable Rise of Ultra Vires Claims Against the Executive Branch

Since 2016, presidents and their administrations have increasingly drawn lawsuits arguing that they are overstepping their authority. In these ultra vires claims, litigants contend that presidential actions—including, for example, executive orders, proclamations, or memoranda, as well actions by executive agencies done at the President’s behest—exceed the scope of the authority […]