Michael Gerrard
michaelgerrard.bsky.social
Michael Gerrard
@michaelgerrard.bsky.social

Professor of environmental and energy law, Columbia Law School. Founder and faculty director, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Practiced environmental law in NYC full-time, 1979-2008.

Michael Burr Gerrard is an American legal scholar. He is the Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Law School.

Source: Wikipedia
Environmental science 26%
Law 23%

Thanks, Nate. I'm glad that you found my paper to be useful. It's still in draft, so any comments are welcome.

Reposted by Michael Gerrard

This from @michaelgerrard.bsky.social on legal scenarios for U.S. cities in a changing climate looks great. Excited to use it in my cities and climate change seminar next time around.
Five Urban Futures for a Hot Planet: U.S. Legal Scenarios
If current climate change trends continue, flooding, extreme heat and wildfires will make the homes of millions or tens of millions of people in the United Stat
papers.ssrn.com

December issue of Sabin Center for Climate Change Law's litigation newsletter: bit.ly/4iK4eJ4. 11 new court decisions from the U.S.; 18 new lawsuits and filings in the U.S.; numerous cases in Brazil and Australia; and cases in Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, UK, European Court of Human Rights.
⚖️🌏Sabin Center Climate Litigation Newsletter (December 9, 2025)
bit.ly
"The study found that, from January through June 2025, average daily maximum PM2.5 concentrations in Manhattan’s CRZ declined by 3.05 micrograms per cubic meter – a reduction of 22% compared to a projected average of 13.8 micrograms per cubic meter had congestion pricing not been implemented."
Congestion pricing improved air quality in NYC and suburbs | Cornell Chronicle
Cornell researchers tallied the environmental benefits of New York City’s congestion pricing program and found air pollution dropped by 22% in Manhattan, with additional declines across the city’s fiv...
news.cornell.edu

Good news in court: 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
Order on Motion for Summary Judgment AND Order on Motion for Summary Judgment AND Order on Motion for Summary Judgment – #234 in State of New York v. Trump (D. Mass., 1:25-cv-11221) – CourtListener.co...
District Judge Patti B. Saris: MEMORANDUM and ORDER entered. Plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment (Dkts. 172, 175 ) are ALLOWED and the Agency Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Dkt. 179 ) i...
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EVs beat petrol cars on lifetime emissions — even on “dirty” grids.
Battery production is carbon-intensive, but EVs quickly repay that debt and end up 21–71% cleaner over 250,000 km.

We can’t wait for perfect grids: electrify transport and clean the grid now.

It's very important that prospective home buyers and tenants have information about the climate risks of where they are considering moving. It's a real setback to climate adaptation that this information is being removed from Zillow. FEMA flood maps cannot be relied upon. bit.ly/4op4Vsw
Zillow bowed to pressure from real estate agents and removed climate risk scores from home listings: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...
Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Michael Gerrard

Zillow bowed to pressure from real estate agents and removed climate risk scores from home listings: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...
Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Michael Gerrard

‼️ 📆 On May 21-22, 2026, we will host our 14th Annual Sabin Colloquium on Innovative Environmental Law Scholarship, which will allow junior environmental law scholars to present early-stage work and receive constructive feedback from a panel of senior scholars. More info ➡️ buff.ly/xubshqy

Reposted by Michael Gerrard

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

As I describe in detail in my new article in the New York Law Journal, the Trump administration has taken an all-of-government approach to squelching wind and solar.
📰 Trump's Multi-Prolonged Attack on Renewable Energy, by Michael Gerrard (@@michaelgerrard.bsky.social): scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scho...

Reposted by Michael Gerrard

Reposted by Michael Gerrard

📰 Trump's Multi-Prolonged Attack on Renewable Energy, by Michael Gerrard (@@michaelgerrard.bsky.social): scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scho...

Climate victory: NY court rules that State Dept. of Env. Conservation must issue its GHG cap-and-invest rules, as required by NY Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, by Feb. 6. DEC was ready to issue the rules but Gov. Hochul stopped them. Next question: Will they appeal?
bit.ly/47hY8M9
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Reposted by Michael Gerrard

🔥🌆Combating the “urban heat island” island effect! 🌳Daniel J. Metzger explores how local organizations can transform paved surfaces—“combining the resources and desire to create green spaces that nongovernmental groups offer with cities’ large portfolios of property.”
📰 ➡️ buff.ly/koaeFiE