It is increasingly clear that lawyers—as lawyers—have a significant role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate change, and furthering sustainable development. As I have explained in a prior blog, both lawyers and lawyer organizations are necessary to this effort. It is just as clear that […]
Environment & Land Use
219 posts
New York’s Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) has generated opposition from rural and agrarian communities where renewable energy infrastructure is proposed. Some of that opposition is fueled by misinformation about the impacts of renewable energy projects on wildlife, farmland, and property values, among other issues. This blog rebuts […]
As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, I dug out an article that I wrote two months after the event, “The Birth, Death, and Rebirth of the World Trade Center and the Fate of New York.” Here it is. Reading it for the first time […]
On August 20, 2026, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) published a proposal to repeal the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (“Roadless Rule”), which prohibits new road construction, commercial timber harvests and other activities on 58.5 million acres of undeveloped public lands. As detailed in the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]