This blog highlights findings and recommendations of the report Evaluating Climate Risk in NEPA Reviews: Current Practices and Recommendations for Reform.
Romany Webb, Stephanie Jones and Michael PanfilFebruary 15, 2022
This report finds that in order to meet the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirement that federal agencies take a “hard look” at the environmental effects of proposed actions, agencies must consider how the changing weather and environmental conditions brought by climate change might impact an action and alter its…
Romany Webb, Michael Panfil, Stephanie Jones and Dena AdlerFebruary 15, 2022
This document provides an executive summary of the report Evaluating Climate Risk in NEPA Reviews: Current Practices and Recommendations for Reform.
Romany Webb, Michael Panfil, Stephanie Jones and Dena AdlerFebruary 15, 2022
These comments support a Department of Labor proposed rule that clarifies that retirement plan fiduciaries should consider climate risk and other ESG factors whenever relevant to financial risk-return analysis for investment and proxy voting decisions. The comments additionally offer suggestions on potential improvements to the proposal for the Department's consideration.
This blog outlines reasons for supporting the SEC’s plan to propose a rule requiring standardized climate risk disclosures and provides several recommendations for how the SEC should build its institutional knowledge as it designs and enforces a climate risk disclosure regime, drawing on a forthcoming paper in the N.Y.U. Journal…
This article finds that proactive climate resilience planning by electric utilities is required under public utility law and tort law. A previous version was released as a report in December 2020.
Romany Webb, Michael Panfil and Sarah LadinOctober 29, 2021
Michael Panfil testified in a Hearing on Climate Resilience of Transportation and Electric Infrastructure before the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change. As demonstrated in these remarks, well-designed climate resilience planning is feasible using data and tools available today. The same is true with respect to existing…
Michael PanfilOctober 4, 2021
These comments to the Michigan PSC recommend that it require electric utilities under its jurisdiction to regularly assess their climate-related vulnerabilities and identify measures to make their systems resilient to climate impacts.
Romany Webb, Justin Gundlach and Sarah LadinSeptember 24, 2021
This article presents a historical, evidentiary, and normative case for a private tort against public utilities for failure to adjust operational and planning decisions to new conditions brought about by climate change.
Jim Rossi and Michael PanfilAugust 23, 2021