Climate lawyers are gearing up for a spike in climate litigation this year — even as President-elect Donald Trump takes office after campaigning on a promise to block many of the cases. Youth climate activists are coming off major victories in the states , and local governments are ramping up their legal battles alleging that the oil and gas industry has misled the public about the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions for decades. The climate liability fight waged by local governments is advancing in state courts across the country and could soon come before the nation’s highest bench . Advertisement “Courts are emerging as critical players in climate action, especially as a lack of political will and obstruction by fossil fuel interests continues to impede bold outcomes and accountability,” Delta Merner, lead scientist for the Science Hub for Climate Litigation at the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote in a recent blog post. Globally, the International Court of Justice is expected to release an advisory opinion next year on states’ obligations to combat climate change. That follows two weeks of hearings prompted by a request from the United Nations General Assembly that the world’s highest court examine what countries should do to prevent climate change — and what consequences they face for failing to do so. Here are some of the key climate issues that will be decided by the courts this year: NEPA Federal judges from the District Court level all the way up the nation’s highest bench will grapple in the new year with challenges seeking to constrain how agencies take a “hard look” at the environmental and climate effects of major projects such as pipelines and railways. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling by early summer in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County […]