Enviromental Defense

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

It’s the government’s job to protect us and the environment from harmful chemicals in plastic…and they need to get on it While the plastics industry claims its products are sanitary and safe, the truth is much more complicated. Governments around the world, including in Canada, are caught up in the powerful plastics industry.

Fossil Fuels

Law Columbia

MARCH 27, 2025

City of New York , plumbing and building trade groups challenged New York Citys Local Law 154 of 2021 , a piece of legislation that prohibits fossil fuel combustion in most new buildings. This blog post discusses Local Law 154, unpacks Judge Abrams decision, and ends with a refresher on California Restaurant Association v.

Law

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 19, 2025

Because the whole of the Earth’s climate system is subject to the laws of thermodynamics: energy in = energy out. In the 1960s, it started to become clear, with the help of climate models and theory, that fossil fuel use would warm the planet. government was warned about global warming as early as 1965 ).

Atmosphere

Law Columbia

JULY 29, 2025

Echoing the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its Advisory Opinion 32/25 , on July 23, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) unanimously held that this right constitutes a binding norm of international law. First, what are States’ obligations, under international law, to protect the climate system for present and future generations?

Fossil Fuels

A Greener Life

JULY 27, 2025

United Nations: The fossil fuel industry is engaging in disinformation campaigns to slow the transition to clean energy What does the Paris Agreement say? They help clarify and develop international law by defining member states’ legal obligations. Even fossil-fuel subsidies can be illegal.

Paris Agreement

Law Columbia

NOVEMBER 4, 2024

Crucially, the funding would also go towards social science, governance, and systems research – an acknowledgment from the NASEM committee that public engagement on emerging technologies, and whether we can govern them effectively, must be an integral part of assessing whether they should move forward. Methane has contributed 0.5°C

Atmosphere

Law Columbia

JULY 2, 2025

This suggests that courts should afford substantial deference to agencies in the context of standalone NEPA claims that do not implicate the agency’s obligations under the substantive statutory framework governing the action. Most of these NEPA decisions entail mixed questions of law and fact.

Fossil Fuels

PA Environment Daily

JULY 29, 2025

Join Food & Water Watch’s Municipal Ordinance Project August 5 for a webinar on how Pennsylvania communities can harness the power of local zoning laws to stop dangerous and unnecessary fossil fuel projects before they start.

Fossil Fuels

Law Columbia

JANUARY 24, 2025

Planning law has proven to be a useful tool for climate activists seeking to block or challenge new fossil fuel developments. Ireland has been a particular victim of this latter problem, with developers citing concerns over current planning laws as a reason for delays in constructing onshore wind farms, among other facilities.

Renewable Energy

Law Columbia

JANUARY 21, 2025

Factoring climate impacts and obligations into government decision-making : Courts assessing how government actions account for the impacts climate change will have and governmental obligations to mitigate and respond to climate change. Read the 2024 report here.

2024

Law Columbia

OCTOBER 24, 2024

Background For more than a century, American fossil fuel companies have extended their operations offshore to exploit the vast oil and gas reserves that lie under the seafloor. The post Enforcing Legacy Environmental Liabilities for Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure first appeared on Climate Law Blog.

Fossil Fuels

Law Columbia

MARCH 12, 2025

Part 1 focused on discussions on applicable law, and the no-harm rule. Vanuatu and the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) asserted that these legal consequences are governed by the general law of State responsibility. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas (ITLOS) published its advisory opinion in May 2024.

Climate Change

Union of Concerned Scientists

JANUARY 17, 2025

As fossil-fueled fires get worse, tap water contamination concern grows. For residents of LA County, the UCLA LA County Water System Governance Map , shows the service areas for more than 200 systems in the county, and is available in Spanish or English.

Fossil Fuels

Law Columbia

MAY 30, 2025

Last Thursday, May 22, the New York State Court of Appeals the States highest court issued a decision upholding New York Citys Local Law 97 of 2019. Local Law 97 is one of the countrys most ambitious municipal climate policies, requiring the Citys largest buildings to comply with increasingly stringent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limits.

Law

Law Columbia

DECEMBER 19, 2024

Factoring climate impacts and obligations into government decision-making : Courts assessing how government actions account for the impacts climate change will have and governmental obligations to mitigate and respond to climate change. Read the 2024 report here.

2024

Enviromental Defense

APRIL 24, 2025

Governments, financial experts and regulators (including the Bank of Canada and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions ) have long warned about the existential nature of climate risks for companies and Canadas financial system. They are also critical for investors and companies to prepare for climate disruption.

Climate Change

A Greener Life

JULY 6, 2025

However, recent efforts have focused on reversing this trend, with the government implementing stricter enforcement of environmental regulations and bolstering sustainable initiatives, such as promoting conservation efforts and enforcing land-use restrictions. This decline marks a notable shift after years of rising deforestation rates.

2025

PA Environment Daily

JUNE 13, 2025

Shapiro [PaEN] Lead Counsel On Court Cases Striking Down Provisions In Act 13 To Preempt Local Regulation Of Oil & Gas Operations Raises Concerns About Proposed Legislation Establishing A RESET Board To Site Large Energy Projects [PaEN] Gov.

Fossil Fuels

Enviromental Defense

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

In 2023 for the first time, CO2 emissions produced from Canada’s fossil fuel exports surpassed a billion tonnes, at 1,030 million tonnes, significantly eclipsing the country’s domestic emissions estimate of 702 million tonnes for the same year.

Fossil Fuels

Vermont Law

APRIL 9, 2025

Studies conducted in New Jersey indicate that many residents believe the government is not doing enough to regulate. This legislation is underwhelmingly referred to as New Jerseys Environmental Justice Law. Critics argue that this law, and others like it, could threaten the economy, especially in the communities it aims to protect.

Ozone

Law Columbia

DECEMBER 19, 2024

laws governing atmospheric methane removal (AMR) via soil amendments. Reductions in certain methane emissions, particularly from the fossil fuel sector, can be implemented cheaply and efficiently. law, especially federal environmental law. converting it to carbon dioxide).

Atmosphere

Law Columbia

MARCH 18, 2025

The burning of fossil fuels and other human activities are continuing to cause rapid temperature rise. At a high level, liability rules hold actors responsible when they breach a law or legal duty in a way that harms other people or the public at large. judge-made) law. As the report released today shows, a number of U.S.

Carbon Dioxide

A Greener Life

JANUARY 2, 2025

Conclusion The law of physics underlines that at some point, coal usage will drop and ultimately end. This, as there, of course, as with all fossil fuels, is a finite amount. Key factors will be how aggressive policy-makers are in crafting low-carbon policies and to what degree governments insist on implementing them.

2027

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 16, 2024

In the past year, weve seen significant victories that inspire hope, like the Swiss KlimaSeniorinnen case, which called for an improved government climate action plan; Held v. This tensionbetween exciting breakthroughs and persistent delaysunderscores the complexity of litigation’s role in climate governance. In the U.S.,

2025

Vermont Law

DECEMBER 24, 2024

The law authorized specifically two categories of response actions by the government: short-term removals to address a prompt release of a hazardous substance; and long-term response actions to permanently reduce releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. The enactment of S.259, The Climate Change Superfund Act (S.02129)

Climate Change

Law Columbia

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

In Switzerland, an association of senior women filed a case against the government of Switzerland before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) based on the impacts of the heat waves on the health of these older women. The question we ask in this blog is what litigation can do in these situations. Source or company which has caused.

Climate Change

Law Columbia

JUNE 2, 2025

Our new report documents the history of legacy liabilities on the BLM-managed land, highlights key gaps in the MLAs legacy liability rules, and recommends reforms to the laws governing well-plugging and other clean-up on federal land. Background The federal government is the largest landowner in the United States.

Law

Law Columbia

JULY 15, 2025

transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables) too slowly or too quickly. States must adopt “binding measures” to achieve the mitigation target, apply the maximum available resources, avoid reliance on unproven technologies, and target the main sources of emissions (fossil fuels, agriculture and deforestation).

Climate Change

Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) committed billions of dollars to EV purchase incentives, charging programs, and manufacturing. While the investments have been slow to materialize, it is nonetheless a landmark federal commitment with the potential to guide a wide swath of government programs.

Fossil Fuels

Legal Planet

AUGUST 13, 2025

That catch phrase from Season 1, Episode 1 where Trump officials lied about the size of his inauguration crowd has now metastasized into a governing philosophy for how federal agencies plan to ignore, and ultimately exacerbate, the climate crisis. government position. Remember alternative facts? is pushing alternative science.

Fossil Fuels

Vermont Law

MARCH 25, 2025

Further, agroecology recognizes that these communities heavily depend on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity and services for both livelihood and sustenance, requiring community-level governance with stakeholders. The situation is not lost to the windsoil is regenerative.

Waste

Legal Planet

OCTOBER 24, 2024

They involve reduced protection for endangered species, eliminating energy efficiency rules, blocking new transmission lines, changing electricity regulation to favor fossil fuels, weakening air pollution rules, and encouraging sale of gas guzzlers. #1. Abolish energy markets or adjust them to favor fossil fuels.

2025

PA Environment Daily

OCTOBER 30, 2024

Degnan Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, will give the talk, “Repurposed Energy,” at 4:00 p.m. These obstacles include governance structures, political economy, decision-making dynamics and environmental justice concerns. By Penn State News As part of Penn State’s EarthTalks series , Alexandra Klass, the James G.

Clean Energy

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 6, 2025

Although the US government knew the risks of radiation to humans, many Navajo miners were still sent into mines with poor ventilation and safety regulations skirted. And with the fossil fuel-related pollution that comes with mining, climate change and air quality will be worsened as well for multiple communities in the region.

Radiation

Legal Planet

APRIL 24, 2025

It’s a tribute to the significance of state climate policies that Trump devoted an entire executive order to excoriating them as “fundamentally irreconcilable” with his own, fossil-fuel promoting, energy policy. A new law requires new buildings to provide EV charging stations for off-street parking.

Fossil Fuels

Legal Planet

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

After taking office, Bush embraced fossil fuels, opposed climate action, and weakened environmental regulations. we learned that government experts and civil service have some leverage even under the most ideological leaders. But we’ve been here before, and we know what needs to be done.

Fossil Fuels

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Billionaires funding science is not new, and it certainly isn’t all bad, but President-elect Trump’s calls to downsize government and privatize science should ring alarm bells across the nation. Uniquely, the US federal government has an obligation to steward taxpayer dollars toward state-of-the-art research that serves public interests.

Fossil Fuels