Insights by Christine Billy (Senior Legal Fellow)

Christine Billy (she, her) has devoted her career to developing and implementing policies for a sustainable and equitable future. She is an adjunct professor of clinical law at NYU School of Law with over a decade of law and policy experience in climate and environmental law, food law, labor and employment law, human rights law, and local and state authority. She has advised on local and state emergency powers during multiple emergencies, including Superstorm Sandy and the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, she served as Chief Legal Counsel for the NYC COVID-19 Food Czar where she worked on the largest municipal emergency food delivery program in the nation – serving over 200 million meals at the height of the pandemic.

  • Blog A watercolor illustration of a construction hard hat over deep yellows, oranges, and blues that evoke very hot temperatures.

    Emergency Power in Focus: An Urgent Need to Address Deadly Workplace Heat Exposure

    This summer, temperatures have reached historic highs. For many workers, extreme heat presents a difficult choice between getting paid and risking hazardous work conditions. With heat waves forecast to continue, governments at all levels need to seriously consider the use of emergency powers to address hazardous heat in workplaces.

  • Blog An illustration of a pork cut diagram, but the lines are actually U.S. state borders; the text of the Supreme Court decision in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross fills the background.

    Pigs Fly! SCOTUS Upholds State Sovereignty in CA Pork Case

    Last week, SCOTUS upheld a California ballot initiative addressing animal cruelty in the pork industry against a dormant Commerce Clause challenge, affirming states’ authority to tackle far-reaching problems. The decision offers four key takeaways for states seeking to regulate complex environmental, energy, and climate issues that involve effects in other states.