From the New York Times (August 14, 2026):
A lawsuit against the University of Michigan demanding the emails of a professor who has worked on “climate superfund” laws has been dismissed by a state judge.
Conservative groups and the energy industry oppose these laws, which would require oil companies to help cover the mounting costs of climate change.
Michael F. Gadola, chief judge for the Michigan Court of Claims, ruled in a 24-page decision on Monday that the emails were not subject to open-records laws because they did not relate to the official duties of the professor, Rachel Rothschild.
Ms. Rothschild, an assistant professor at the university’s law school, came up with the legal framework for climate superfund proposals that have become law in Vermont and New York and are under consideration in numerous other states. The laws are modeled after the federal 1980 Superfund statute, which required polluters to pay to clean up abandoned toxic waste sites.
