While climate policy typically focuses on future decarbonization 10 to 20 years out, temperatures continue to rise. Greenhouse gases emitted upfront from the materials fabrication, construction, and renovation of our physical environment—embodied emissions—accelerate the rate of global warming now. They increase atmospheric carbon before our buildings and infrastructure are even used.
The collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex in Surfside, Florida, raised questions about how climate change and environmental impacts may cause damage to coastal buildings. Independent structural issues are suspected to be a major factor in the collapse, but scientists and legal researchers posit that environmental factors also played a role. On December 20, 2021, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts that explored the climate risks to coastal communities and buildings in Florida, California, and elsewhere.
A district court granted states’ motion to preliminarily enjoin federal agencies from implementing the Biden Administration’s interim estimates on the social costs of greenhouse gas emissions. The states argued the president lacked authority to promulgate and enforce the estimates or to consider...
The Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court’s order remanding to state court a climate liability lawsuit against fossil fuel companies. Municipalities in Colorado argued in state court that they faced substantial and rising costs from the threat of climate change, to which the companies had substa...
The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed, 3-2, a lower court's dismissal of a climate liability lawsuit brought against the state of Alaska. Alaskans argued the state's natural resource development was contributing to climate change and adversely affecting their lives. The lower court dismissed the suit, c...