Cross-cutting Issues

469 posts

New Article on Climate Science and Natural Resource Litigation

  Climate change has major implications for the sustainable use and conservation of natural resources. Rapid and unprecedented changes in bioclimatic conditions can significantly affect the integrity, productivity, and carrying capacity of ecological systems that provide essential resources such as food, timber, and fresh water. Many natural systems are already […]

Greenwashing on Trial: The Paris Tribunal Finds TotalEnergies Misled Consumers with Its Carbon Neutrality Claims

Introduction On October 23, 2025, the Judicial Tribunal of Paris (Tribunal judiciaire de Paris) found in Greenpeace France and Others v. TotalEnergies SE and TotalEnergies Electricité et Gaz France that TotalEnergies and its French subsidiary engaged in misleading environmental advertising. For the first time, a court has held a major […]

Climate Skeptics Rush to Misuse Texas v. BlackRock

Texas v. BlackRock (E.D. Tex.) (BlackRock), a case in which 13 states claim that the institutional-investor defendants colluded to profit through coordinated output reductions at coal companies they partially owned, remains in its early stages, with discovery continuing through 2027. Already however, opponents of climate-risk mitigation have rushed to extract […]

Looking Back at U.S. Climate Litigation During the Biden Years—and Some Thoughts on Emerging Trends During the Second Trump Administration

Today the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law published a report analyzing climate change lawsuits filed in United States courts while President Joseph R. Biden was in office. During the Biden administration, the federal government reversed course on the first Trump administration’s climate deregulation and embarked on a “whole-of-government approach […]

To Implement or Not to Implement: New York State’s Climate Law in 2025

It is a basic principle of administrative law that, even after a jurisdiction enacts legislation, full implementation of the law typically depends on regulatory and other actions by executive branch agencies. This is particularly true in the context of environmental and climate change legislation, which are often especially complex and […]

Sabin Center Files Amicus Brief Supporting New York City’s Building Electrification Law in Second Circuit Appeal

Last week, the Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National League of Cities (NLC) and the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM) in the case Association of Contracting Plumbers of the City of New York v. City of New York, No. 25-977 (2d Cir. Apr. 21, […]

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 […]