Law Commons^™

Sink Or Swim: In Search Of A Model For Coastal City Climate Resilience, Sarah Adams-Schoen

Scholarly Works

New York City, like other major cities around the world, has acknowledged the problem of climate change, undertaken a comprehensive risk assessment, created a suite of adaptation and mitigation planning initiatives, and begun to implement policies to decrease the city’s contribution to the problem and to make the city less vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This detailed analysis of the city’s climate change resilience initiatives concludes that, although many of the city’s initiatives provide a model for other coastal communities, the initiatives likely still fall short of what is required to sufficiently moderate harm from dangerous interference with …

Electricity Sector Adaptation To Heat Waves, Sofia Aivalioti

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Electricity is very important for human settlements and a key accelerator for development and prosperity. As heat waves become more frequent and intense the reliability and efficiency of the electricity systems is threatened. Increased temperatures have adverse effects on electricity generation, transmission, distribution and demand. The high temperatures cause intentional or unintentional brownouts and blackouts, which come at high costs for people and economies. The case studies in this analysis highlight the importance of heat wave impacts to the electricity sector and the need for adaptation. The electricity sector requires a holistic approach for adaptation that comprises technological, behavioral and …

Potential Liability Of Governments For Failure To Prepare For Climate Change, Jennier Klein

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This paper examines whether governments can expose themselves to potential legal liability by turning a blind eye to the accumulating risks of climate change. Specifically, the paper addresses potential claims sounding in negligence, fraud, and takings, describing the benefits and challenges of each theory. The paper explores ways to overcome a government’s claim of sovereign immunity in the context of a negligence claim, noting in particular the common government waiver of immunity for claims arising out of dangerous conditions of government owned property. The paper describes the challenges of bringing a claim for fraud where officials intentionally obscure relevant information …

Heat In Us Prisons And Jails: Corrections And The Challenge Of Climate Change, Daniel W.E. Holt

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This paper addresses two important but largely neglected questions: How will increased temperatures and heat waves caused by climate change affect prisons, jails, and their staff and inmate populations? And what can correctional departments do to prepare for greater heat and minimize the dangers it poses?

Legal Tools For Climate Adaptation Advocacy: Flood Insurance, Matt Sienkiewicz

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This paper explores the impact that climate change will have on flooding and provides details on the operation and functions of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The paper then discuss the ways the current regime discourages adaptation to climate change, and offers suggestions for how readers can promote climate change adaptation by advocating for changes to the NFIP.

Legal Tools For Climate Adaptation Advocacy: Securities Law, Nina Hart

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Corporations today face increasing risks from climate change. These risks threaten not only the operations and infrastructure of the corporations, but ultimately their long-­‐‑term financial soundness as well. For example, as has been noted with respect to the oil and gas industries, refineries often do not have high profit margins because most of the profits come from extraction. Therefore, refineries, which frequently are near the coasts and vulnerable to increasing sea levels and storms surges, could suffer material financial losses if their operations were disrupted.1 To prevent this physical infrastructure or operational damage, as well as the attendant financial losses, …

Legal Tools For Climate Adaptation Advocacy: Nepa, Jennier Klein, Ethan Strell

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970. NEPA requires federal agencies to evaluate the environmental effects of a wide range of actions, including direct federal undertakings and projects that receive federal funding or permits. Many states have since enacted similar laws of varying scope, requiring evaluation of the environmental impacts of certain state and local actions. For instance, New York State enacted the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) in 1975. Some municipalities, including New York City, have their own environmental review procedures.

The purpose of NEPA and similar state laws …