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 […]
Cross-cutting Issues
485 posts
On Friday, June 27, the Supreme Court’s term closed and the Court handed down its final opinions, including in a case called Trump v. CASA. The CASA plaintiffs challenged President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, but the Court’s decision – which made no substantive holdings about citizenship or immigration […]
Earlier this month, on June 2, 2025, Atlanta’s City Council unanimously passed a state-of-the-art ordinance to require cool roofs throughout the whole city, immediately propelling Atlanta to the forefront of local climate adaptation measures. The new requirements will help make Atlanta cooler, improve its air quality, and lower residents’ energy […]
A plaintiff from the Global South. A carbon giant from the Global North. And a courtroom in a mid-sized German city. On May 28, 2025, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm issued its ruling in what has become Germany’s most high-profile climate lawsuit — Lliuya v. RWE. While the court […]
As of June 2025, Brazil had the third largest number of climate litigation cases of any country in the world. To date, a total of 135 climate cases have been brought in Brazil—surpassing other major jurisdictions and trailing only the United States and Australia. Remarkably, the vast majority of these […]
Note: The views reflected in the post are those of the author and the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sabin Center or anyone at the Sabin Center. At a colloquium co-sponsored at Columbia Law School by the Ira M. Millstein Center […]
As global efforts to tackle climate change intensify, attention is turning to carbon dioxide removal (“CDR”)—strategies that draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for long periods. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) has emphasized that CDR will be necessary, alongside deep emissions reductions, to limit global […]
Last Thursday, May 22, the New York State Court of Appeals – the State’s highest court – issued a decision upholding New York City’s Local Law 97 of 2019. Local Law 97 is one of the country’s most ambitious municipal climate policies, requiring the City’s largest buildings to comply with […]