climate action
GLOBAL LEADERS GATHER AT U.N. CLIMATE AMBITION SUMMIT
09/25/2023
Update Volume
53
Update Issue
27

Last week, heads of state and business leaders convened in New York City for the United Nation’s (U.N.’s) Climate Ambition Summit. Hosted by U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, the event aimed to build momentum for countries to strengthen climate targets ahead of the COP28 Summit in Dubai (Reuters). The U.N. outlined specific criteria for leaders and entities to be selected to speak on climate issues.

Climate Compliance Versus Action 2023
Author
Madison Calhoun, Bill Caplan, Chris Kardish, Keith Killpack, Fatou Jabbie, and Ken Berlin
Author Bios (long)

Madison Calhoun is Senior Manager of Educational Programs at the Environmental Law Institute. Bill Caplan (moderator/presenter) is the author of Thwart Climate Change Now: Reducing Embodied Carbon Brick by Brick. Chris Kardish is an Industrial Fellow at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. Keith Killpack is Technical Director of Environmental Certification Services at SCS Global Services. Fatou Jabbie is Chief Executive Officer and Founder of USL Technology Inc. Ken Berlin is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.

Date
June 2023
Volume
53
Issue
6
Page
10435
Type
Dialogue
Summary

The Inflation Reduction Act and Federal Buy Clean Initiative have each inspired states and municipalities to regulate embodied carbon (Scope 3) using “Buy Clean” policies and legislation. Reducing embodied carbon has become mainstream, and environmental product declarations (EPDs) have surfaced as the tool. Are EPDs alone enough? Is the compliance timeline sufficient? On February 1, 2023, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts that provided an update on Buy Clean policy, green funding, the status of carbon emissions, and a primer on EPDs. Below, we present a transcript of that discussion, which has been edited for style, clarity, and space considerations.

How Local Governments Can Learn From Generation Z
Author
Ella Stack, Linda Breggin, Oscar Fox, Keala Minna-Choe, Brendan Hyatt, and Lily Morse
Author Bios (long)

Ella Stack is a Research Associate at the Environmental Law Institute. Linda Breggin (moderator) is Director of the Center for State, Tribal, and Local Environmental Programs at the Environmental Law Institute. Oscar Fox has served on the Mayor’s Youth Council for the city of Nashville. Keala Minna-Choe leads the Climate Reality Project Youth Environmental Action Pod in the San Diego Green New Deal Alliance. Brendan Hyatt is a Research Fellow for Human Trafficking Search. Lily Morse is Executive Director of the Green Schools Campaign.

Date
February 2023
Volume
53
Issue
2
Page
10087
Type
Dialogue
Summary

Young people are leading the fight against climate change in the United States and around the world. Thirty-two percent of Gen Zers—more than any other generation—have taken concrete actions to address climate change in the last year. Local governments and officials can work with young leaders in their communities to advance climate action by providing resources and enacting change through ordinances, policies, programs, and infrastructure development. On November 15, 2022, the Environmental Law Institute and the Local Government Environmental Assistance Network hosted a panel of youth climate leaders who shared insights about how to engage youth in climate action and their climate action priorities. This Dialogue presents a transcript of that discussion, which has been edited for style, clarity, and space considerations.

The Acceleration of Climate Creep: The Court Crashes, Congress Surges
Author
Cinnamon P. Carlarne
Author Bios (long)

Cinnamon P. Carlarne is Associate Dean for Faculty and Intellectual Life and the Robert J. Lynn Chair in Law, Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University.

Date
October 2022
Volume
52
Issue
10
Page
10778
Type
Comment(s)
Summary

This Comment takes up two recent conflicting developments: the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, which was designed to undercut present and future federal climate action, and Congress’ surprising countermove passing climate legislation in the form of the Inflation Reduction Act, which has dramatically accelerated development of the rule of law around climate change in the United States. It suggests that climate creep has taken hold, and that we have entered a new era in the development of climate law that not only limits the ability of the Court to obstruct legal progress, but also creates a firmer foundation for systemwide change.

Democracy Defense as Climate Change Law
Author
Craig Holt Segall
Author Bios (long)

Craig Holt Segall is an attorney for the state of California, and previously worked for an environmental nonprofit organization.

Date
February 2020
Volume
50
Issue
2
Page
10115
Type
Comment(s)
Summary

In 1990, when the Clean Air Act (CAA) was last substantially amended, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels stood at about 350 parts per million (ppm). Now they are close to 414 ppm, and the U.S. Congress has not amended the CAA despite broad public support for action.The law of democracy and the law of climate change are fundamentally intertwined: how politics and law will be able to adjust to the future turns on who decides the law, and so on the health of our democracy. So far, the prognosis is mixed: a vital protest movement, active state responses, and growing economic pressure for action are balanced against powerful political actors seeking stasis and a sclerotic jurisprudence that limits democratic responsiveness. This Comment discusses the ways inequities in climate change risk and in democratic representation mirror each other, addresses the U.S. Supreme Court’s inconsistent and unhelpful jurisprudence on democracy and agency action and how it tends to reinforce this crisis of democracy, suggests alternate theories of judicial action that would better reinforce democratic responsiveness, and reflects on a broadened conceptual framework for climate law—as a legal framework fundamentally concerned with preserving equity and democracy in the face of climate change, and as a foundation for climate action.

H. Res. 589
Update Type
Committee Name
Committees on Energy and Commerce, Foreign Affairs, Natural Resources, and Science, Space, and Technology
Sponsor Name
Bonamici
Sponsor Party Affiliation
D-Or.
Issue
11
Volume
49
Update Issue
27
Update Volume
49
Congress Number
116
Congressional Record Number
165 Cong. Rec. H7989

would express the need for immediate climate action in response to the report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change entitled “Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.”

S. Res. 342
Update Type
Committee Name
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Sponsor Name
Markey
Sponsor Party Affiliation
D-Mass.
Issue
11
Volume
49
Update Issue
27
Update Volume
49
Congress Number
116
Congressional Record Number
165 Cong. Rec. S5706

would express the need for immediate climate action in response to the report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change entitled “Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.”

H. Res. 1145
Update Type
Committee Name
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Committee on Foreign Affairs
Sponsor Name
Quigley
Sponsor Party Affiliation
D-Ill.
Issue
1
Volume
49
Update Issue
33
Update Volume
48
Congress Number
115
Congressional Record Number
164 Cong. Rec. H9510

would express the need for bold climate action in response to the release of the United Nations report titled "Global Warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty."

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