Michael Burger
Executive Director, Sabin Center
Research Scholar and Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School
Phone: (212) 854-2372
Email: mburger@law.columbia.edu
As Executive Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Michael leads a dynamic team that is at the forefront of domestic and international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote climate change adaptation through pollution control, resource management, land use planning and green finance. Past and present projects involve collaborations with local and national environmental groups and government representatives, as well as international organizations such as the United Nations Environment Program, the United Nations Development Program, and the International Red Cross. Michael is a widely published scholar, a frequent speaker at conferences and symposiums, and a regular source for media outlets. He has taught at Columbia Law School, NYU Law School and Roger Williams School of Law, and has lead short courses on climate change and human rights in the Hague and Grand Cayman. He is also a co-founder and member of the Environmental Law Collaborative.
Prior to joining the Sabin Center Michael was an associate professor at Roger Williams University School of Law, where he taught environmental law, administrative law, and law and literature, and was founder and director of the Environmental and Land Use Law Clinical Externship program. He previously taught in the Lawyering Program at New York University School of Law, and served as an attorney in the Environmental Law Division of New York City’s Office of the Corporation Counsel. Michael is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an articles editor for the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law; and of Brown University, where he graduated magna cum laude and received the Ratcliffe Hicks Prize for highest standing in language and literature. He also holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Creative Writing program at NYU.
Selected publications
Law Review Articles
- The Status of Climate Change Litigation: A Global Review, UN Environment (co-authored with Justin Gundlach) (April 2017).
- A Carbon Fee as Mitigation for Fossil Fuel Extraction on Federal Lands, 42 COLUM. J. ENVTL. L. 295 (2017).
- Downstream and Upstream Emissions Analysis: The Proper Scope of NEPA Review, 41 HARV. ENVTL. L. REV. 109 (co-authored with Jessica Wentz) (2017).
- Legal Pathways to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions under Section 115 of the Clean Air Act, 28 Geo. Envtl. L. Rev. 359 (coordinating lead author, with Ann E. Carlson (UCLA), Michael B. Gerrard (Columbia), Jayni Foley Hein (NYU), Jason A. Schwartz (NYU), Keith J. Benes (Columbia/SIPA)) (2016)
- Narratives in Conflict: Alaska Natives and Offshore Drilling in the Arctic, 2014 Nordic Envtl. L.J. 77 (invited symposium essay).
- Property Law and American Empire, 35 U. Hawaii L. Rev. (forthcoming 2015) (co-authored with Paul Frymer, Associate Professor, Princeton University).
- The (Re)Federalization of Fracking Regulation, 2013 Mich. St. L. Rev. 1483 (2014).
- Environmental Law/Environmental Literature, 39 Ecology L. Q. 1 (2013).
- Consistency Conflicts and Federalism Choice: Marine Spatial Planning Beyond the Territorial Sea, 41 Env. L. Rep. 10602 (July 2011).
- “It’s Not Easy Being Green”: Local Initiatives, Preemption Problems and the Market Participant Exception, 78 U. Cin. L. Rev. 835 (2010).
- Empowering Local Autonomy and Encouraging Innovation in Climate Change Governance: The Case for a Layered Regime, 39 Env. L. Rep. 11161 (Dec. 2009).
Books and Book Chapters
- Climate Change and Public Health Law (Michael Burger and Justin Gundlach, eds., on submission)
- Combating Climate Change with Section 115 of the Clean Air Act: Law and Policy Rationales (Michael Burger, ed., Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming 2017)
- “Research Governance,” co-authored with Justin Gundlach, Climate Law Fellow, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Climate Engineering and the Law: Regulation and Liability for Solar Radiation Management and Carbon Dioxide Removal (Michael B. Gerrard and Tracy Hester, eds., forthcoming 2017)
- “Sustainable Utopias and Climate Change Apocalypse,” Rethinking Sustainable Development to Meet the Climate Change Challenge,” (Keith Hirokawa and Jessica Owley, eds., Environmental Law Institute (ELI) Press) (2015).
- “The Last, Last Frontier,” Environmental Law and Contrasting Ideas of Nature: A Constructivist Approach (Keith Hirokawa, ed., Cambridge University Press) (2014).
- “Charlottesville, Other Cities, Restore Their Watersheds,” in Cities and Nature, A Handbook for Renewal (Roger L. Kemp, ed., McFarland & Company, Inc., 2006); originally published as “A Watershed Moment: A New Environmental Movement is Born,” The Next American City, Issue 4, Oct. 2004, at 10
- “Sustainable Utopias and Climate Change Apocalypse,” Rethinking Sustainable Development to Meet the Climate Change Challenge,” (Keith Hirokawa and Jessica Owley, eds., forthcoming from Environmental Law Institute (ELI) Press).
- “The Last, Last Frontier,” Environmental Law and Contrasting Ideas of Nature: A Constructivist Approach (Keith Hirokawa, ed., Cambridge University Press) (2014).
Other Publications
- A Mitigation-Based Rationale for Incorporating a Climate Change Impacts Fee into the Federal Coal Leasing Program, by Michael Burger (September 2016). Executive Summary available here.
- Designing a Climate Change Displacement Coordination Facility: Key Issues for COP 21, by Jessica Wentz and Michael Burger (Sept. 2015).
- Climate Change and Human Rights (UNEP 2015) (co-authored with Jessica Wentz).
Media Interviews and Mentions
2018
- “Federal Judge’s Unprecedented Order on Climate Science ‘Could Open Floodgates’ for Big Oil Lawsuits,” Common Dreams, March 8, 2018
- “Federal court will hold first-ever hearing on climate change science,” McClatchy DC Bureau, March 7, 2018
- “San Francisco, Oakland Climate Cases to Stay in Federal Court, Judge Rules,” Climate Liability News, March 1, 2018
- “Fossil fuel industry is working hard to mislead the public about climate lawsuits,” ThinkProgress, February 26, 2018
- “If Climate Change Wrecks Your City, Can It Sue Exxon?” The Verge, February 20, 2018
- “The Woman Going After Big Energy for the Typhoon That Killed Her Family,” Vice, February 11, 2018
- “Chevron Wants More Companies Blamed in Climate Liability Cases,” Climate Liability News, February 3, 2018
- “Ohio state associate professor among scientists pushing back against EPA ban,” The Columbus Dispatch, January 29, 2018
- “Ohio State professor sues EPA after it enacts a “blatant attack on science-informed policy”,” The Lantern, January 24, 2018
- “New York Targets Texas Energy Companies in a Climate Change Lawsuit,” TexasMonthly, January 20, 2018
- “How Can We Help Put a Human Face on Climate Change,” The Revelator, January 16, 2018
- “Should Big Oil Pay For Climate Change?” OilPrice.com, January 11, 2018
- “Exxon Prepares To Sue California Cities over Climate Change Claims,” Legal Insurrection, January 11, 2018
- “New York City Sues Oil Companies Over Climate Change, Says Its Plans to Divest,” InsideClimate News, January 11, 2018
- “New York City sues Shell, ExxonMobil and other oil companies over climate change,” The Washington Post, January 10, 2018
- “Big Apple Sues Big Oil Over Climate Change,” Bloomberg, January 10, 2018
- “New York City Sues Oil Companies in Climate Change Lawsuit — 6th Update,” Fox Business, January 10, 2018
- “Exxon Launches Legal Retaliation Against California Climate Suits,” Climate Liability News, January 10, 2018
- “De Blasio’s Climate Suit Against Big Oil Faces Uphill Battle,” The Village Voice, January 10, 2018
- “Exxon Seeks to Depose Officials Bringing Climate Change Suits,” Bloomberg Law, January 9, 2018
- “Exxon claims California climate change hypocrisy,” CNN Money, January 9, 2018
- “Hawaii Joins Trend: Recognizes Constitutional Right to Safe Climate and Environment,” Climate Liability News, January 5, 2018
- “Lawsuits as Environmental Battleground: A Corporate Trade Group Gets Busy,” NonProfit Quarterly, January 3, 2017
- “Lawsuits as Environmental Battleground: A Corporate Trade Group Gets Busy,” NonProfit Quarterly, January 3, 2017
- “Scientists Can Now Blame Individual Natural Disasters on Climate Change,” Scientific American, January 2, 2018
For a list of past media interviews and mentions, click here