Municipal Activity

40 posts

California Appellate Court Holds that Regional Planning Agency Must Examine the Long-Term Impacts of Its Transportation Plan on Reduction of Greenhouse Gases

By: Daniel P. Selmi* Visiting Scholar, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Fritz B. Burns Professor of Law, Loyola Law School In an emphatic opinion, a state appellate court has invalidated the environmental impact report for the first “sustainable communities strategy” prepared by a regional council of government in […]

Sea level rise risk should be evaluated for coastal infrastructure projects, according to San Francisco capital planning guidance

Jennifer M. Klein, Esq. Associate Director & Fellow Sea level rise is a “pervasive and increasing threat” and should be evaluated as infrastructure projects are built or modified along San Francisco’s shorelines, according to Guidance adopted by San Francisco’s Capital Planning Committee (CPC) on September 22. San Francisco, bordered by […]

In Sandy’s Wake, BIG U Promises Lower Manhattan Upped Coastal Protection

By Isabelle Aubrun, CCCL Intern (Brown University) In 2013, President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force devised the Rebuild by Design Competition.  Applicants were to design a “fundable and implementable” infrastructure project to mitigate the dangers of rising sea levels and increasingly frequent extreme weather events in New York and […]

Farmers Insurance Withdraws Class Action Alleging Failure to Adapt to Climate Change

By Hunter Book, Summer Legal Intern On June 3, 2013, a group of lawsuits that generated significant interest among environmental lawyers were abruptly withdrawn.[1]  The cases notably alleged a novel theory of liability and duty of care regarding climate change projections.  In Illinois Farmers Insurance Co. v. Metro Water Reclamation District […]

Environmental Impact Statements Addressing Resiliency and Adaptation

Ethan I. Strell, Associate Director & Fellow Columbia Center for Climate Change Law In a subtle but meaningful shift, the environmental impact review process in New York City is beginning to more systematically consider the potential effects of a changing climate on proposed projects, not just the effects that a […]

Digest of Hydraulic Fracturing Cases

            CCCL has published a Hydraulic Fracturing Litigation Digest that summarizes litigation with underlying claims stemming from the hydraulic fracturing process and  provides an index of the cases organized by central legal issues. The Digest is structured to provide a view of litigation in each relevant State as well as […]

Heat Wave in Northeast Provides Glimpse of What Awaits Us in a Warmer World

By Rose Winer, Intern The severe heat wave that blanketed the U.S. mid-Atlantic and Northeast at the end of last week indicates a trend of heat-related climate change impacts that will intensify over the next century, according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). […]