Energy

303 posts

Sabin Center Files Amicus Brief to Support States and Local Governments in Federal Funding Freeze Case

Last Friday, July 25, the Sabin Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) in support of the Plaintiff States in the case New York v. Trump. The case, brought by twenty-two states and the District of Columbia in the U.S. District Court for […]

The Transmission, Distribution, and Interconnection Crises Blocking New York’s Climate Goals

At a July 10, 2025 meeting, Commissioner Judy Chang of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) argued that the United States needs to rapidly build more transmission capacity to bring new sources of electricity online. She explained that “transmission is the network that needs to support both generation and load, […]

Local Laws and Lawsuits Targeting Renewables Becoming More Prevalent in the US

While federal policy can have a significant impact on renewable energy development, local policy—and local sentiment—can be just as consequential. Between 2018-2023, at least 30% of utility-scale wind and solar projects were cancelled during the siting process, largely because of community opposition, local ordinances, and zoning. For the last five […]

Decommissioning Offshore Oil & Gas Infrastructure: May 2 Workshop

In U.S. coastal and offshore waters, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, tens of thousands of oil and gas wells pose a growing environmental and financial liability. Of these, more than 7,300 offshore wells remain idled and await decommissioning, which could cost as much as $70 billion. Without cleanup, these […]

Single oil and gas well

Legacy Liabilities for Oil and Gas Wells under the Mineral Leasing Act: New Sabin Center Report

The Sabin Center’s newest publication, Legacy Liabilities for Oil and Gas Wells under the Mineral Leasing Act, examines the laws and regulations that allow the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) to pursue the prior owners and operators of oil and gas wells on federal land for the costs of plugging those […]

Interior Clears a Path for Fossil Fuel Development without Environmental Review

Yesterday, the Department of the Interior published a press release announcing the establishment of emergency permitting procedures to facilitate the rapid development of fossil fuel resources. Interior takes this action to fulfill a White House directive to rely on any and all emergency authorities to spur domestic energy production in […]

Michigan Court of Appeals Considers Challenge to New Process for Siting Renewables

Over the last five years, several states, including New York (2020), California (2022), Illinois (2023), and Michigan (2023) have adopted comprehensive permitting reforms that curtail the power of local governments to block development of large-scale renewable energy projects. In two states, New York and Michigan, local governments have sued to […]