ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20022
No(s). 2:21-CV-01074 (W.D. La. Feb 11, 2022) (Cain, J.)

A district court granted states’ motion to preliminarily enjoin federal agencies from implementing the Biden Administration’s interim estimates on the social costs of greenhouse gas emissions. The states argued the president lacked authority to promulgate and enforce the estimates or to consider global effects in domestic policymaking; that the estimates were based on a fundamentally flawed methodology that did not take into account statutory considerations and ignored best regulatory practices; and that the estimates violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the CAA, NEPA, the Mineral Leasing Act, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The court found that the states had demonstrated multiple, independently sufficient grounds to vacate the estimate and thus had shown a strong likelihood of success on the merits. It granted the motion for preliminary injunction.