Environmental & energy law professor. Founder and Faculty Director, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School. Environmental lawyer since 1979.
New York
Joined September 2009
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20 law firms have signed up for pro bono drafting of model laws to implement the 1000+ recommendations for deep decarbonization in our book. bit.ly/2SPCINm We still need more to cover all 35 chapters. See "How Lawyers Can Help Save the Planet." bit.ly/2JxSs6U
The Senate's bipartisan permit reform bill would upend the National Environmental Policy Act and also weaken the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. My legal analysis: scholarship.law.columbia.edu…
One year ago today, Trump's second inauguration day, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law launched our Climate Backtracker to track his actions moving backwards on climate action. As of today it has exactly 300 items. That's 1.15 for every working day.
climate.law.columbia.edu/con…
The retirement of the MetroCard at midnight tonight is bittersweet for me. In 1983, as a young lawyer, I took a year's leave of absence from my law firm to serve as special counsel to Richard Ravitch, chairman of the NY MTA. He gave me the task of leading a study of modern ...
decade for this to happen; the transit bureaucracy and unions had to be convinced, the computer systems needed to be created, all the subway turnstiles and bus fareboxes had to be converted, and much else needed to be done. But since 1994 the MetroCard has become as much a part..
December issue of Sabin Center for Climate Change Law's litigation newsletter: bit.ly/4iK4eJ4. In US, 11 new court decisions & 18 new lawsuits, filings; numerous cases in Brazil and Australia; cases in Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, UK, European Court of Human Rights.
U.S. District Court in Massachusetts rules that Trump's order issued on Inauguration Day blocking new offshore wind projects is arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law, and vacates it. bit.ly/48tCcy0
This new study shows the risk that flooding worsened by climate change poses to toxic sites. As I wrote in 2023, the U.S. regulatory system is ill prepared to deal with this threat, but there are ways the laws can be changed to address it. bit.ly/4igwWRG
In just 25 years, over 3,700 toxic facilities will be at risk of coastal flooding as seas continue to rise due to climate change. And those most affected will be the most vulnerable among us. Learn more in Climate Central’s new Toxic Tides report.
climatecentral.org/report/to…
ALT Map of United States with states colored in shades of green. Darker greens along gulf coast indicate higher number of facilities at risk from sea level rise by 2050.
Michael Gerrard retweeted
In just 25 years, over 3,700 toxic facilities will be at risk of coastal flooding as seas continue to rise due to climate change. And those most affected will be the most vulnerable among us. Learn more in Climate Central’s new Toxic Tides report.
climatecentral.org/report/to…
ALT Map of United States with states colored in shades of green. Darker greens along gulf coast indicate higher number of facilities at risk from sea level rise by 2050.
The Trump administration has launched an all-of-government attack on renewable energy. Here is my legal analysis in the New York Law Journal. bit.ly/49rINdh
Climate victory: NY court rules that State Dept. of Env. Conservation must issue its GHG cap-and-invest rules, as required by NY climate law, by Feb. 6. DEC was ready to issue the rules but Gov. Hochul stopped them. Next question: Will they appeal?
bit.ly/47hY8M9
Congratulations to my Columbia Climate School colleague Kristina Douglass on winning a MacArthur Genius award!
Kristina G. Douglass, an archaeologist and @ColumbiaClimate associate professor whose community-based research uses lessons from the past to help communities adapt to climate change, has been named a 2025 @macfound #MacFellow! Via State of the Planet: news.climate.columbia.edu/20…
ALT Kristina G. Douglass, Archaeologist, 2025 MacArthur Fellow, New York, NY, October 2025. Credit: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Michael Gerrard retweeted
@MichaelGerrard describes the likely chilling effect on energy investment. 2/3
This is my podcast interview about the legal issues raised by the Trump administration's proposed withdrawal of the greenhouse gas endangerment finding
energypolicy.columbia.edu/a-…
Michael Gerrard retweeted
The EPA plans to rescind the foundation of its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the #CleanAirAct.
🎧 On this week's episode of #ColumbiaEnergyExchange, host @bill_loveless speaks to @MichaelGerrard, founder & faculty director of the @SabinCenter.
Listen 👇
I was happy to talk on ABC today about how little I thought of EPA's proposed repeal of the endangerment finding. abcnews.go.com/US/video/epa-… via @ABC
