The first 100 days of the second Trump administration have proved volatile for local governments working to advance ambitious climate action. We have seen the freezing or termination of federal grants and other financial assistance, executive orders seeking to usurp state and local authority, the initiation of extensive deregulatory efforts, […]
Cities & Local Governments
37 posts
Texas’ Third Court of Appeals will hear arguments tomorrow, April 23, 2025, in a case that cuts to the core of how state and local governments coexist. In Texas v. City of Houston, City of San Antonio, and City of El Paso, a group of Texas cities is challenging one […]
On April 8, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach,” which directs the U.S. attorney general to work with department and agency heads to “identify all State and local laws, regulations, causes of action, policies, and practices (collectively, State laws) burdening the identification, […]
Last week, building electrification secured an important victory in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. In Association of Contracting Plumbers of The City of New York, Inc. et al v. City of New York, plumbing and building trade groups challenged New York City’s Local […]
As expected, a newly sworn-in President Donald Trump spent the afternoon following his inauguration signing executive orders (EOs), many of them intended to unwind climate and environmental initiatives enacted by former President Joe Biden. In the EOs, President Trump orders federal agencies and personnel to take certain actions – or […]
Last Friday, December 20, 2024, the Sabin Center submitted an amicus brief to the New York State Court of Appeals – the state’s highest court – in support of the City of New York in Glen Oaks Village Owners, Inc., et al. v. City of New York. At issue in […]
Over the last five years, at least 25 states have expressly preempted local governments from enacting requirements, or even incentives, to construct new buildings that do not rely on natural gas as a fuel source. On December 6, 2024, two local governments finally fought back in court. Seattle and King […]
Cities have a unique and significant role to play in responding to climate change. Many are already doing so by adopting legal and policy tools to encourage the use of smart surfaces—a group of technologies and design strategies that mitigate the effects of climate change in urban environments, especially extreme […]