Vibrant Environment

Climate Change And Sustainability


All | Biodiversity | Climate Change and Sustainability | Environmental Justice | Governance and Rule of Law | Land Use and Natural Resources | Oceans and Coasts | Pollution Control

All blog posts are the opinion of its author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of ELI, the organization, or its members.

For inquiries concerning ELI’s Vibrant Environment blog, please contact the Blog Editor at blogeditor@eli.org.


Climate Action
By Sarah Cheung

As a college student who has been studying the environment for the past three years, I have simultaneously become more pessimistic and optimistic about solving climate change. On the one hand we have a lot of tools at our disposal to deal with climate change, yet on the other, those with the most power to do anything about it seem to lack the willpower and bravery to put climate over profit.

Plant-based proteins
By Linda Breggin, By Bruce Myers

Cities have an outsized carbon footprint and are on the frontlines of adapting to climate change impacts. Rising to the challenge, many cities have developed climate action plans (CAP) that include measures that can be taken to achieve targeted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions.

Kivalina

The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, resulting in devastating climate and environmental disruption. According to the Third National Climate Assessment, the Artic is experiencing earlier spring snowmelt, reduced sea ice, widespread glacier retreat, warmer permafrost, drier landscapes, and more intense wildfires, rendering parts of the region uninhabitable. 

brown bear

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted on December 23, 1973, with the goal of protecting species vulnerable to extinction and conserving the ecosystems and habitats necessary for their survival. The ESA mandates that the federal government maintain a list of all “endangered” and “threatened” species and develop and implement recovery plans, with the objective of removing species from the list.

Apples in harvest
By Peter Lehner

What we grow and produce in America affects our air, water, climate, wildlife, public health, and more. The Farm Bill is likely the most significant environmental law Congress will address this year. It is also directly influenced by federal policy, and most importantly the Farm Bill, a collection of government programs that requires renewal every five years. The sprawling legislation governs initiatives from farm subsidies to low-income nutrition support.

Save Energy
By Jordan Diamond

It will surprise no one that Inflation Reduction Act implementation is a critical priority for 2024. Eighteen months after the IRA was signed, we’re starting to see the shape, scale, and strategy of some of its programs, and how its nearly $400 billion is being put into play to help realize the transition to a clean energy economy.

Cool Roofs
By Taalin RaoShah

The Environmental Law Institute researches local government best practices on climate mitigation and adaptation. In conjunction with this work, ELI develops model policies and ordinances as well as participates in convenings that produce recommendations such as Mayor Cooper's Sustainability Advisory Committee 2021 Report on the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County's Climate Change Mitigation Action Plan.

NCA5
By John M. Doherty

The impacts of climate change are being felt throughout all regions of the United States and are expected to worsen with every fraction of a degree of additional warming. Those were some of the headline takeaways from the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5), published November 14, 2023.  

glass bottles and jars
By ELR Staff

Household recycling can reduce demand for virgin materials, limit waste sent to landfills, and lessen the cost of producing metal-, glass-, and paper-containing products. Understanding the policies most conducive to promoting recycling is key to success. The November 2023 issue of ELR—The Environmental Law Reporter looks at the efficacy of state and local recycling policies and identifies contexts where the greatest improvements are possible. Using the most comprehensive data set on U.S. household recycling behavior, authors Joel Huber, W.

Smokey the Bear
By Linda Breggin, By Kyle J. Blasinsky
This past summer, devastating fires ravaged Hawai’i and smoke from Canada’s record-breaking wildfire season blanketed communities across the American East. The fires offered a vivid reminder of the destructive capabilities of wildfires such as those that burned on American shores during the record- breaking 2020 wildfire season that choked western cities.