States Under Pressure: Resisting Federal Climate Rollbacks

​As the federal government moves to accelerate fossil fuel infrastructure and roll back environmental protections, states, local governments, Tribal nations, and communities are confronting a fundamental question: Who gets to decide what is built, where it is built, and whose health and environment are put at risk?

​This panel will bring together legal experts, organizers, community leaders, and advocates to examine how federal authorities are being used to override state and local climate policies, permitting decisions, funding opportunities, property rights, and community opposition. Panelists will explore the use of executive orders, emergency powers, and federal preemption to advance fossil fuel projects despite local resistance.

​Panelists:

• ​NY Assemblymember Steve Otis

• ​Kacy Manahan, Senior Attorney at Delaware Riverkeeper

• ​Hilary Flint, Program Director at the Center for Oil & Gas Organizing

• ​Tony Luisi, General Counsel at NYS Department of Environmental Conservation