Environment & Land Use

212 posts

BLM Falls Short on Obligations to Consider Climate Change: Sabin Center Files Comments on Draft EIS for Oil & Gas Leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

By Dena Adler Earlier this month, the Sabin Center submitted a public comment on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), stressing the document’s insufficient consideration of climate change impacts. At the end of […]

A Scientific Perspective on EPA’s Proposal to Weaken Performance Standards for New Coal-fired Power Plants

This week, the Sabin Center and a group of scientists with expertise on carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”) technologies submitted comments on EPA’s proposal to weaken the CO2 performance standards for new coal-fired power plants.  As discussed in a previous blog post, the current standards, which were promulgated in 2015, […]

Sabin Center Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of National Local Government Associations in California Counties’ Lawsuit Against Fossil Fuel Companies

The Sabin Center, in partnership with the Columbia Environmental Law Clinic, today filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the International Municipal Lawyers Association in County of San Mateo v. Chevron Corporation—a […]

Breaking the Cycle of “Flood-Rebuild-Repeat”: New White Paper from the Sabin Center and the Natural Resources Defense Council

By Dena Adler Since September 2017, Congress has kept the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) afloat with a series of short-term extensions, repeatedly punting on a valuable opportunity to issue a long-term reauthorization and reform the program to better protect communities from the increased risks of flooding spurred by climate […]

Will New Litigation Pressure Energy & Industrial Infrastructure to Prepare for Climate Change?

By Dena Adler The escalating costs of damages from extreme weather events, many exacerbated by climate change, makes poignant a question with a serious price tag: who will be on the hook to pay for climate damages? In 2018, a host of lawsuits wound their way through the courts seeking […]

California Adopts CEQA Guidelines Aimed at Improving Consideration of GHG Emissions and Climate Change Impacts in Environmental Reviews

By Jessica Wentz On December 28, 2018, California adopted comprehensive amendments to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, which include a suite of provisions aimed at improving the analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change impacts in state environmental reviews. These provisions touch on both climate change […]

Four Important Points About EPA’s Revised New Source Performance Standards for Electric Generating Units

By Jessica Wentz and Romany Webb On Thursday, December 6, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published proposed revisions to its New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for electric utility generating units (2015 NSPS). The proposal affects new, modified, and reconstructed fossil fuel-fired steam generating units, most of which use coal to […]