Representative Professional Activities and Achievements
Professor Martin Lockman is a climate law scholar whose research sits at the intersection of property law and environmental law. His scholarship explores how legal systems respond to the physical, economic, and societal pressures of climate change and the energy transition, with a particular focus on the governance, finance, and regulation of infrastructure, public lands, and natural resources. Professor Lockman’s work has been cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, among others, and he frequently appears in national media as an expert in climate law, including the New York Times, NPR, Politico, and Bloomberg.
Prior to joining the faculty at William & Mary Law School, Professor Lockman was a Climate Law Fellow at Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 2019, where he was a James Kent Scholar (2017-2019) and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar (2016-2017). At Columbia, he served as Articles Editor for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review and worked with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. Prior to law school, he worked as a community organizer in southern West Virginia and researched economic policy issues at a racial justice thinktank in New York. Lockman received his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis in 2014.
In his spare time, Professor Lockman is an avid cook, a voracious reader, and enthusiastic (if amateur) Appalachian fiddler.
Scholarly Publications
Articles and Book Chapters
- The Law of Carbon Dioxide Transportation, in Climate Engineering and the Law (Cambridge University Press, 2nd Ed., forthcoming 2027).
- Environmental Repair in the Energy Transition, Calif L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2026). SSRN.
- Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Infrastructure, in EDWARD ELGAR RES. HANDBOOK ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND INFRASTRUCTURE LAW (2025) (Romany M. Webb ed.).
- The Private Litigation Impact of New York’s Green Amendment, 49 Colum. J. Envtl. L. 357 (2024) (with Evan Bianchi, Sean Di Luccio, & Vince Nolette). SSRN.
- Climate Entrenchment in Unstable Legal Regimes, 118 Nw. U. L. Rev. Online (2023). SSRN.
- The Map, the Territory, and the Law, The Rural Review (2023) (reviewing Steven Stoll, Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia (Hill & Wang Ed. 2017)). Online.
- Fencing the Wind: Property Rights in Renewable Energy, 50 W.V. L. Rev. 27 (2022). SSRN.
- Lenders as Monitors of Risk Devolution, 48-49 Finance & The Common Good/Bien Commun 102 (2021).
- The Emerging Doctrine of State/Municipal Liability [Note], 50 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 395 (2018). SSRN.
Other
- Decommissioning Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure: Report of Proceedings, May 2, 2025 Offshore Decommissioning Workshop, Sabin Ctr. Climate Change L. (2025) (with Ashwin Murthy & Romany M. Webb). Online.
- Legacy Liabilities for Oil and Gas Wells under the Mineral Leasing Act, Sabin Ctr. Climate Change L. (2025) (with Ashwin Murthy & Romany M. Webb). Online.
- Reflections from Columbia's Forum on Climate-Related Fiduciary Duty, Eur. Corp. Gov. Inst. (2025) (with Cynthia Hanawalt). Online.
- Liability Considerations for Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Projects in U.S. Waters, Sabin Ctr. Climate Change L. (2025) (with Korey Silverman-Roati & Romany M. Webb). Online.
- Enforcing Legacy Environmental Liabilities for Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure, Sabin Ctr. Climate Change L. (2024) (with Romany M. Webb). Online.
- Implementing the Inflation Reduction Act: Progress to Date and Risks from a Changing Administration, Sabin Ctr. Climate Change L. (2024) (with Romany M. Webb & Emma Shumway). Online.
- Removing Methane via Atmospheric Oxidation Enhancement: The Legal Framework, Sabin Ctr. Climate Change L. (2024) (with Romany M. Webb & Korey Silverman-Roati). Online.
- Transferred Emissions are Still Emissions: Why Fossil Fuel Asset Sales Need Enhanced Transparency and Carbon Accounting, Sabin Ctr. Climate Change L. & Columbia Ctr. Sustainable Inv. (2023). SSRN.
- Decommissioning Liability at the End of Offshore Oil and Gas, Sabin Ctr. Climate Change L. & Columbia Ctr. Sustainable Inv. (2023) (with Martin Dietrich Brauch, Esteban F. Fresno Rodríguez, and José Luis Gallardo Torres). SSRN.
- Permitting CO2 Pipelines, Sabin Ctr. Climate Change L. (2023). Online.
- Modelling climate Litigation Risk for (Re)Insurers, Sabin Ctr. Climate Change L. (2023). SSRN.