Cross-cutting Issues

466 posts

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 […]

Four Solar For All Lawsuits: Two Distinct Forums and Legal Theories

In 2022, the United States Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), appropriating an unprecedented amount of money for climate spending programs. One of the IRA’s flagship investments was the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), a $27 billion program comprised of the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF), the Clean Communities […]

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 […]

State AG Attacks on Climate Alliances Still Lack Coherent Antitrust Theories

A now-familiar playbook for climate-denying state attorneys general is to launch burdensome investigations of climate-minded corporate enterprises based on inchoate antitrust claims (often conspicuously lacking a profit motive for the alleged antitrust violations). These enforcement tactics crystallize two challenges for corporate climate initiatives seeking to steer clear of antitrust liability. […]