US Climate Law & Policy

23 posts

One Year of Trump 2.0: Updates from the Climate Backtracker

Last week marked the one year anniversary of President Trump’s second inauguration, and of the Sabin Center’s Climate Backtracker. We launched the Backtracker on inauguration day, January 20, 2025, to record actions taken by the Trump-Vance Administration to scale back or wholly eliminate federal climate mitigation and adaptation measures. The […]

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 […]

Court of Appeals Sets Aside Preliminary Injunction in GGRF Litigation

This is part of a blog series that examines the impact of federal grant termination litigation on the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). The first post in the series, which covers recent Supreme Court orders that have shaped the D.C. Circuit’s consideration of the GGRF case, can […]

Supreme Court Signals Challenges to Federal Grant Terminations are Contract Disputes

*This is the first post in a blog series that examines the impact of federal grant termination litigation on the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). At the time of this post, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit had issued a decision in Climate United […]