ELR Citation: 51 ELR 20169
No(s). 4:21-cv-00287-AGF (E.D. Mo. Aug 31, 2021) (Fleissig, J.)

A district court dismissed a challenge to the president's Executive Order No. 13990, which established an interagency working group on the social cost of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and directed the group to publish interim estimates for the social costs of GHG emissions. Thirteen states challenged the interim estimates published by the group in February 2021, arguing they were faulty because the underlying factual inputs and modeling assumptions were arbitrary and lacked a reasonable basis. The president moved to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. The court found the states' alleged injuries were not concrete because they stemmed from hypothetical future regulations that might be issued in reliance on the estimates, and were not redressable since agencies could, regardless of the Executive Order, consider the social costs of GHGs and arrive at the same regulations. It further found that the states' claims were not ripe because there was a "considerable legal distance" between the adoption of the estimates and the moment, if one occurs, when a regulation is issued. It therefore dismissed the suit for lack of jurisdiction.