Climate Litigation

232 posts

Cities Nationwide File Motion to Join Clean Power Plan Litigation

Michael Burger, Executive Director This morning the Sabin Center filed a motion for leave to participate as amici in the Clean Power Plan litigation on behalf of a nationwide local government coalition that includes the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities and the cities of Baltimore, MD; […]

December 2015 Update to the Climate Litigation Charts

Each month, Arnold & Porter and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law collect and summarize developments in climate-related litigation, which we also add to our U.S. and non-U.S. climate litigation charts.  If you know of any cases we have missed, please email us at columbiaclimate at gmail dot com. Here are the additions […]

Failure To Take Climate Action Is Not Only Morally Wrong, It’s Illegal

Michael Burger Executive Director Today marks the official beginning of the long-anticipated 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, in Paris, France. As in the past—Copenhagen in 2009, Kyoto in 1997—hopes are high that government leaders will sign an international agreement that puts the planet on course to avoid […]

Washington State Court Affirms that Climate Change Affects Public Trust Resources but Denies Relief

On November 19, the Washington State Superior Court issued a decision in which it affirmed that climate change affects public trust resources in the state, but ultimately held that the state was fulfilling its public trust obligations by engaging in rulemaking to establish more comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) standards. The […]

Rep. Lamar Smith Accuses NOAA of Potentially Violating Its Own Scientific Integrity Policies, And Threatens “Compulsory Process”

Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) is continuing his campaign for internal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documents, including new claims from an unnamed whistleblower that NOAA scientists “potentially violat[ed] NOAA’s scientific integrity policies.” Rep. Smith has also now threatened to use an unspecified “compulsory process” to obtain the desired documents […]