Online Articles

Texas street covered with snow after a storm.

Renewable Energy Framed as the Culprit of Texas Blackouts

April 20, 2021 by Lawrence Corbeille Climate change Energy Environmental Law Review Syndicate Fossil Fuels Renewable Energy

By Blake Ellis, Staff Contributor
In February 2021, the state of Texas experienced unprecedented power outages caused by severe winter storms. Conservative politicians and media were quick to blame the use of renewable energy as the culprit of the outages. The facts present a different explanation.

Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

We're Falling into a Ring of Fire: Taking Stock of Wildfire Liability Regimes from Varying Perspectives in the United States

March 31, 2021 by Drew Robertson Air Climate change Litigation Public Lands State and Local

By Alec Williams, Managing Editor

After a record-breaking wildfire season in 2020, lawsuits are likely to flood the dockets of federal and state courts across the United States. Wildfire liability determinations at either level can be complex, typically implicating many parties and exorbitant damage awards. However, in light of the projected impact of climate change on wildfire frequency and severity, such lawsuits may become increasingly commonplace.

The effects of climate change, including sea level rise and intense heat, threaten to make places like the island nation of Tuvalu uninhabitable within the next several decades.

The United States Needs a Plan for Climate-Driven Migration

January 29, 2021 by Alec Williams Climate change International Oceans Water

By Eleanor Hildebrandt, Staff Contributor

The effects of climate change will make swaths of the planet uninhabitable, displacing millions of people. How can the United States’ legal system facilitate an equitable, humanitarian response to those seeking safe resettlement within its borders?

The United States may finally ratify the Kigali Amendment—with potential implementing legislation already underway

January 15, 2021 by Lawrence Corbeille Air Chemicals Climate change

Sara Zaat, Staff Contributor

Hydrofluorocarbons, an alternative to the ozone-depleting substances that damage the Earth’s protective ozone layer, are potent greenhouse gases that exacerbate climate change. These chemicals are scheduled for reduction under international law: the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Will the United States join the majority of U.N. Member States in committing to phasing down its hydrofluorocarbon production and consumption in accordance with international law in a Biden administration?

A group of grape pickers. Photo by Tomas Castelazo, licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

Workers Among Most Vulnerable to Climate Change

January 12, 2021 by Scott Fletcher Climate change

By Shannon Twiss, Staff Contributor

Policymakers should take a closer look at the way the effects of climate change are taking their toll on our most essential workers in agriculture, manufacturing, and emergency response.

Imagining a Greener Future for Post-COVID-19

October 25, 2020 by Brooke McClain Delaney Air Chemicals Climate change Fossil Fuels International

By Hyunjin Kim, Staff Contributor

"Normal was a crisis." When we say we want to "go back to normal," do we really mean the world exactly as we left it? Or, could we use COVID as a means of building something better than what we had, perhaps greener?

Newsom addressing California's constituents about the purpose of his recent executive order, an effort by the State to mitigate the on-going consequences of climate change. Image by Daniel Kim/The Sacramento Bee.

California’s Ban on Gasoline-Powered Vehicles - Will it Take Effect?

October 20, 2020 by Alec Williams Air Climate change Fossil Fuels State and Local

By Camden Douglas, Staff Contributor

On September 23, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newson issued an executive order[1] that is expected to reduce the impact of climate change by drastically transforming the State's transportation industry. California experiences many unique climate change-related problems. For instance, as a result of climate change, the duration of California's wildfire season has more than doubled since 1980.[2] Indeed, this year, California is experiencing a record-breaking burn,[3] with wildfires scorching millions of acres of land.[4] The executive order, in an attempt to attenuate some of these climate change-related impacts on the State, requires all new passenger vehicles sold in California to be zero-emission by 2035, effectively banning the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles in just fifteen years.[5]