Christophe Courchesne

Just when you thought the legal academy had exhausted itself arguing about all the ins and outs of the (utterly fatuous) major questions doctrine, more grist for the mill!

An El Niño is brewing And with it the next, pivotal, chapter of the climate fight.

One thing that may dramatically shake up our political life on this planet is the advent of a strong new El Niño. (Also our, you know, life life)

billmckibben.substack.com/p/an-el-nino...

Delighted to share the IEE's 2025 Year in Review. The IEE had an amazing year delivering energy transition assistance to local communities, producing papers on battery storage and thermal energy networks, and getting students ready to make good change.

www.vermontlaw.edu/wp-content/u...

Attorney General Clark Sues the Trump Administration for Illegally Terminating Funding for Energy and Infrastructure Programs | Office of the Vermont Attorney General Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 13 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful decision to terminate funding for congressionally ma...

Renewable energy will give Vermont communities, which have suffered from climate-related flooding, a brighter and more resilient future. In filing today’s lawsuit, I’m fighting for our democracy and our future. Learn more: ago.vermont.gov/blog/2026/02...

Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.

Offshore wind showed up big during the East Coast’s brutal cold America’s two utility-scale offshore wind farms performed as well as gas power plants and better than coal in January — including during Winter Storm Fern.

South Fork Wind had a capacity factor of 52% last month - on par w/ NY state's most efficient gas plants

And Vineyard Wind had a 75% capacity factor during Winter Storm Fern

The data doesn't lie. #OffshoreWind works - especially during cold winter months

www.canarymedia.com/articles/off...

There is No Scientific Justification to Revoke the Endangerment Finding The U.S. EPA's decision to repeal the Endangerment Finding will limit the government's ability to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

As I say here, there is no scientific justification to revoke the engagement finding. In fact, over the last 15+ yrs, the evidence of how climate change affects our health has only grown. Higher risk of allergies, dementia, fertility, heart disease, and death: that’s what’s on the line. @nature.org

WATCH: Trump, EPA's Zeldin announce end of scientific basis for U.S. action on climate change The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressiv...

Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules. Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change—all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money.

incredibly frustrating how RCP 8.5 is controversial has been burned into the brains of everyone including climate reporters

209. The Modern Emergency Docket Turns Ten The February 2016 rulings blocking the Clean Power Plan were unprecedented; in retrospect, they were harbingers of a paradigm shift in the Supreme Court's role.

Ten years ago today, #SCOTUS issued five unsigned and unexplained 5-4 rulings granting emergency applications to block President Obama’s Clean Power Plan—a completely unprecedented move that helped to usher in the Court’s modern … (mis)adventures … with its shadow docket.

Me in today’s “One First”:

Do most people realizes that China's vehicle market is more than double the size of the US market?

Their adoption of EVs matters more. And it's booming.

⚖️ Climate rulings only matter if they lead to real accountability.

In a recent #ACT webinar, Hon. Ralph Regenvanu explains how the ICJ advisory opinion is already changing climate cases - with potentially game-changing effects.

Full webinar 👉 bit.ly/4smtZUa

Actually, I do know how to do this In retrospect, paying attention to polluters may be one of the best ways to understand what’s currently happening in the United States.

lots of key points worth remembering in this @emorwee.bsky.social piece, which lays out how the fossil fuel industry helped create the conditions for today's authoritarian crackdown on protestors

Ultimately, Petitioners may, because of the arcane United States immigration system, return to their home country, involuntarily or by self-deportation. But that result should occur through a more orderly and humane policy than currently in place. Philadelphia, September 17, 1787: "Well, Dr. Franklin, what do we have?" "A republic, if you can keep it." With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike, It is so ORDERED. SIGNED this 31st day of February, 2026. 7um Jing FRED BIERY UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Credit: Bystander Matthew 19:14 John 11:35 There is also the photo of the boy from the viral stories included.

Federal judge has ordered the release of Liam Ramos (the bunny hat boy) and his father. A brief and rather remarkable order. Clearly written to be shared widely, so please do. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Outstanding leadership on a vital issue. Too many towns have dragged their feet for too long.

I don't know how to do this But I'm going to keep doing it anyway.

“My job asks me to direct your attention toward the horizon. But my own eyes are fixed on the acute violence happening right in front of me.” Another reason to treasure @emorwee.bsky.social — she can help us care about two things at once. open.substack.com/pub/heated/p...

Opinion | State Terror Has Arrived

M. Gessen on ICE raids is worth your time. "It’s only natural that our brains struggle to find logic in what we are seeing. There is a logic, and this logic has a name. It’s called state terror." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...

I am a climate scientist and this is correct.

As the planet warms, storms like the one today are getting stronger… and as the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the mid latitudes, it increases the risk of the “freezer door” swinging open.

Technical explanation here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

A screenshot of the amicus brief filed by 20 state AGs in support of Minnesota's lawsuit against the Trump Administration and DHS.

DHS has sent over 3,000 ICE agents to Minnesota – resulting in the killing of Renee Good, continuous attacks on peaceful protestors, and the detention of children.

Today, I stand with a coalition of AGs filing a brief to support Minnesota's lawsuit against Trump's campaign of lawlessness and fear.

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

Trump has been in office for one year. We at @nature.com did a deep dive looking at the administration's disruption of science in numbers.

Take a look—the numbers are staggering. By me, @dangaristo.bsky.social, Jeff Tollefson, @kimay.bsky.social, & help from @noamross.net @scott-delaney.bsky.social

Unlocking the benefits of transparent and reusable science for climate risk management Adam B. Pollack https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6642-0591 adam.b.pollack@dartmouth.edu, Lisa Auermuller https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3696-6491, Casey D. Burleyson https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6218-9361, Jentry Campbell https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8615-5094, Madison Condon https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8764-2249, Courtney Cooper, Matteo Coronese https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4134-1971, Sönke Dangendorf https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3679-5234, James Doss-Gollin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3428-2224, Prabhat Hegde https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1748-346X, Casey Helgeson https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5333-9954, Robert E. Kopp https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4016-9428, Jan Kwakkel, Corey Lesk, Justin Mankin https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2520-4555, Robert E. Nicholas https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2615-2574, Jennie Rice https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7833-9456, Samantha Roth https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8867-4426, Vivek Srikrishnan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0049-3805, Moira Scheeler https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9675-7694, Nancy Tuana https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5449-6097, Chris Vernon, Mengqi Zhao https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5385-2758, and Klaus Keller https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5451-8687 -20Authors Info & Affiliations Edited by Stephen Pacala, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; received November 25, 2024; accepted December 5, 2025 January 14, 2026 123 (3) e2422157123

🚨 Publication alert! Very happy to see our paper "Unlocking the benefits of transparent and reusable science for climate risk management" out in PNAS today. With @crispapoll.bsky.social @jdossgollin.bsky.social @bobkopp.net and many others.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

"Continued solar and storage growth would avoid the use of 29 billion cubic feet of natural gas, which is equivalent to 25% of the natural gas currently used by the Massachusetts electric sector."

A couple of years ago no one was talking about residential storage being widely used.

one defense of CBA has always been that it forces admins to be explicit about their values....

"Over the past four decades, Republican and Democratic administrations have used different estimates of the monetary value of a human life... But until now, no administration has counted it as zero."

Trump has illegally quit the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty ratified from the Senate. He doesn't have the power. Our statement: biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

I was going to try to say…something about the year behind us and the year ahead but I couldn’t think of anything better than this post I have thought of often over the past challenging year.

Gutting.

Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…

* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M

So YES this has been a huge success.

Opinion | Obama Supported It. The Left in Canada and Norway Does. Why Don’t Democrats?

This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...

Environmental Law Center team selfie

The Environmental Law Center at VLGS has launched a new page on Linkedin. Give us a follow: we will have lots to share in 2026! www.linkedin.com/showcase/elc...

[norman rockwell meme]

I think it's bad to destroy climate change research facilities