Romany Webb

98 posts
Romany Webb is a Research Scholar at Columbia Law School, Adjunct Associate Professor of Climate at Columbia Climate School, and Deputy Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

Widespread Local Opposition, Often Driven by Misinformation, Continues to Hamper Renewable Energy Development

Two major new reports, published today by the Sabin Center’s Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative (RELDI), highlight key challenges facing renewable energy development in the United States. The 6th edition of Opposition to Renewable Energy Facilities in the United States identifies nearly 900 state laws and local ordinances that restrict […]

Uncertain Remedies for Frozen Federal Climate Funding

Update: On March 9th, the D.C. Circuit ordered the parties to file simultaneous supplemental briefs addressing “whether, in light of Section 60002 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the Appellees’ claim that violations of the IRA and/or the constitution provide a basis for a preliminary injunction “continues to provide a […]

The Energy Wars Come to Louisiana: Carbon Capture, Removal, and Storage Projects Face New Hurdles in the Pelican State

Until recently, Louisiana was the darling of the carbon capture, removal, and storage industry. Due to its history of oil and gas production, the state has a fairly extensive carbon dioxide pipeline network, and ideal geology for storing carbon dioxide. For those reasons, federal incentives to advance point source capture […]

Climate Governance under the London Convention and Protocol: Lessons from Sub-Seabed Carbon Sequestration

At the Sabin Center, we have been writing about international legal guidelines that should guide governance discussions of marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) under the London Convention and Protocol. We published a white paper, and followed that up with two blogs (see here and here) summarizing the findings of that […]

Decommissioning Offshore Oil & Gas Infrastructure: May 2 Workshop

In U.S. coastal and offshore waters, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, tens of thousands of oil and gas wells pose a growing environmental and financial liability. Of these, more than 7,300 offshore wells remain idled and await decommissioning, which could cost as much as $70 billion. Without cleanup, these […]

Single oil and gas well

Legacy Liabilities for Oil and Gas Wells under the Mineral Leasing Act: New Sabin Center Report

The Sabin Center’s newest publication, Legacy Liabilities for Oil and Gas Wells under the Mineral Leasing Act, examines the laws and regulations that allow the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) to pursue the prior owners and operators of oil and gas wells on federal land for the costs of plugging those […]

100 Days of Trump 2.0: Carbon Management and Negative Emissions

The second Trump Administration’s first 100 days dealing with carbon management and negative emissions can be summed up in one word – incoherence. The administration has shown some signs of support for efforts to capture carbon dioxide at power plants and other industrial facilities and remove carbon dioxide directly from […]

UPDATED: OMB’s Pause on Climate Grants, Loans, and Other Financial Assistance: Legal Issues and Next Steps for Federal Awardees

On Monday, January 27, 2025, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Memorandum-25-13 relating to a “Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs.” The memo references several of President Trump’s January 20 executive orders (EOs), including the “Unleashing American Energy” EO. It directs federal […]