Cross-cutting Issues

483 posts

Using the Inflation Reduction Act to Combat Urban Heat

By opening up new tax credits for tax-exempt entities, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provides a vehicle to fund smart surface projects while increasing solar electricity generation. Smart surfaces are ones that combat the effects of excessive sunlight, rainfall, and heat, especially in the urban heat islands, that pose particular […]

The Clean Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC): Direct Pay Claimants’ Race Against Time

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is chock-full of tax incentives for climate and clean energy projects. This year, 2023, marks the first tax year in U.S. history during which entities that do not have federal tax liability – including local and state governments and agencies, nonprofit organizations, tribes and municipal […]

Sabin Center Launches Report with Summaries of the Briefs and Statements Submitted to the ITLOS on The Advisory Opinion on Climate Change

On September 29, 2023, a report titled “ITLOS Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: Summary of Briefs and Statements Submitted to the Tribunal” was published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. This report offers an overview of the briefs and statements submitted to the International Tribunal for the Law […]

Understanding Unsuccessful Climate Litigation: The Spanish Greenpeace Case

On June 20, 2023, the Spanish Supreme Court handed down its final ruling in the case of Greenpeace v. Spain II, widely known as the trial for climate (“el juicio por el clima”). The decision, formally communicated to the parties on July 27, marks a pivotal moment in climate litigation. […]

Photo of Offshore Oil and Gas Facility

Decommissioning Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure in the Face of Climate Change and the Energy Transition

On August 31, 2023, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), as part of their broader Climate Law and Finance Initiative, published two reports analyzing legal and contractual regimes governing decommissioning of offshore oil and gas infrastructure projects and identifying decommissioning-related risks […]

New York Cap and Invest should think twice before linking to the Western Climate Initiative

    In January, when Governor Kathy Hochul announced the creation of New York Cap and Invest–a regulatory program through which the state will set a continuously-decreasing cap on economy-wide emissions and issue emission credits in accordance with this cap– she touted the program’s potential for linkage with cap-and-trade programs […]

New California Legislation Would Be a Major Step Forward for Climate Disclosure

This piece previously appeared in the CLS Blue Sky Blog. The Securities and Exchange Commission regulations on climate disclosure, first proposed in March 2022 and likely to be issued in final form in October 2023,[1] have drawn considerable controversy and face an uncertain fate in the inevitable litigation.[2] Much less attention has […]