Navigating State Law in Local Climate Action

By Vincent M. Nolette, Daniel J. Metzger, and Olivia N. Guarna, edited by Amy E. Turner

Local governments are well-positioned to lead the fight against climate change by reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions, promoting renewable energy resources, and otherwise advancing climate mitigation and adaptation goals. Many local governments have already taken actions, and there is more they can do. In mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis, local governments must be aware of and act consistently with preemptive state laws that limit their authority. This report provides state-by-state information, resources, and analysis for nineteen states on key state-local preemption issues.

The states covered in this report represent several of the “swing” states that are the most closely politically divided, ones where control of the state is split between political parties, and others — like Texas and Florida — where legislatures have taken particularly noteworthy steps to preempt local climate law. For each state covered, the chapters highlight the sources of local authority to regulate and the limits imposed by the state, including: (1) constitutional and statutory delegations of home rule authority and police powers to local governments; (2) state law governing the nature and content of home rule charters, as well as preemption of local law generally; (3) a catalog of current state laws that may preempt local climate action; (4) leading case law on home rule and preemption of local law; (5) where applicable, information on recent and ongoing litigation; (6) a summary of how the state handles building codes; (7) discussion of legal considerations related to public utilities; (8) helpful secondary sources; and (9) additional relevant information.

Read the report, Navigating State Law in Local Climate Action, in Columbia Law School's Scholarship Archive.