US Climate Law & Policy

30 posts

Reading the Appellate Tea Leaves of a Recent Federal Funding Order

Under the second Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has radically altered its priorities. Whereas it previously championed climate spending legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), its new leadership, headed by Administrator Lee Zeldin, promptly moved to roll back implementation of IRA programs. Indeed, as part of those […]

Trump Administration’s Unified Agenda Suggests Major Reversals on Climate Safeguards

On July 3, the Office of Management and Budget released the Trump Administration’s Unified Agenda for 2026. The document, typically released once or twice a year, compiles all regulatory actions that an administration plans to take during the covered period. Consistent with President Trump’s aim of downsizing government, a large […]

The Impact of New York’s 2026 Climate Law Retreat – New Sabin Center White Paper

Today, the Sabin Center published a new white paper, The Impact of New York’s 2026 Climate Law Retreat. The paper examines the implications of the State’s 2026 Amendments to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), including how the changes will affect planning, permitting, implementation, and litigation. Over the last […]

Considering Climate Change in State Hazard Mitigation Plans: New Sabin Center & NRDC White Paper

Climate change is fueling an unprecedented number of extreme weather and climate disasters with dire consequences for human life and property. In the last decade, most counties across the United States have experienced multiple disaster events, including at least one federally declared disaster. States and local governments have a responsibility […]

Unpacking New York State’s Rollback of its Landmark Climate Law

On May 26, as part of the FY 2026-27 budget, New York State enacted significant revisions to its 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA or Act). The amendments amount to a substantial rollback of the Act’s ambition. For the last seven years, the Act has served as the […]

Data Center Regulation: What Local Governments Should Know about Large-Load Tariffs and Clean Transition Tariffs

The proliferation of data centers across the United States represents new “loads” (i.e., sources of demand) on the electrical grid. Data centers require enormous amounts of energy to power and cool their computing systems that operate continuously or near-continuously. To meet this demand, new energy infrastructure—both generation and transmission—will need […]

Moving Sustainable Proteins Beyond Marketplace Bottlenecks: White Paper Release

Climate advocates may hope to see dramatic commercial breakthroughs over the next several decades that reshape emissions-intensive components of our everyday lives, such as our dietary choices, household energy use, and transportation habits. Yet transforming these consumer sectors will require not only scientific ingenuity and entrepreneurial ambition, but also nimble […]

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 […]