By Dena Adler Last month the Midwest faced historic floods that devastated rural communities, drowned farms, contaminated water supplies, and resulted in billions of dollars in damages. As climate change exacerbates the risk of these catastrophic flooding events in the Midwest and throughout the U.S., a growing number of citizens […]
Publications
24 posts
By Romany Webb It is well known that, to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we must reduce the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. Most carbon dioxide emissions result from the burning of fossil fuels – i.e., coal, oil, and natural gas – in electricity generation, transport, […]
by Justin Gundlach What is green infrastructure (GI) and why does New York City need more of it? Green roofs, bioswales, and porous pavers are all examples of GI (see images at right), which one article defines as “a network of approaches and technologies that mimic, maintain, or restore natural […]
In a new working paper, Executive Director Michael Burger presents a “Mitigation-Based Rationale for Incorporating a Climate Change Impacts Fee into the Federal Coal Leasing Program.” The paper makes several key points about the rationale for introducing such a fee, most notably, that the federal government has a duty to […]
by David Markell David Sive Visiting Scholar, fall 2016 The legal environment for local government in Florida is beginning to change when it comes to sea-level rise (sometimes referred to as SLR). Innovations in institutional structure and governance strategies are underway in the State as well. This paper, Sea-Level Rise […]
Michael Burger, Executive Director Jessica Wentz, Associate Director and Fellow Today, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report that we co-authored on Climate Change and Human Rights, with forewords from UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and John Knox, the Independent Expert on Human Rights and Environment. The release […]
Mitigating climate change is going to require unlocking new sources of finance to fund the innovative technologies that will take us to a low-emissions future. Program related investments (PRIs), investments that support charitable activities while also offering the potential return of capital, are one vehicle that could help unlock these […]
A comprehensive 602-page survey of state climate change laws has been posted as a supplement to GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND U.S. LAW, 2d ed. (Michael B. Gerrard and Jody Freeman, editors). The survey was prepared by Kelly Nishikawa, Benjamin Lowenthal and other students at Pace Law School’s Global Center for […]