A magistrate judge recommended summary judgment be granted in part and denied in part for environmental groups in a challenge to the Forest Service's 2018 revision to the forest management plan for Flathead National Forest. The groups argued the Forest Service and FWS failed to rationally consider t...
The Tenth Circuit affirmed dismissal of an environmental group's petition to review FWS' revised land management plan for the Rio Grande National Forest. The group argued FWS' biological opinion (BiOp), which concluded the plan would not likely jeopardize the Canada lynx's continued existence, faile...
A district court granted NMFS' motion to dismiss a challenge to its decision to issue several incidental take authorizations (ITAs) for wind farm development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York. A nonprofit group argued NMFS violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act because the ITAs had more t...
A district court denied summary judgment for a trade group representing ranchers and beef producers in a challenge to FWS' denial of the group's petition to remove the southwestern willow flycatcher from the endangered list under the ESA. The group argued FWS' denial, which concluded the southwester...
The D.C. Circuit affirmed dismissal of a challenge to two FWS rules that delayed a 2021 proposed rule to reduce the amount of land in the Pacific Northwest designated as critical habitat for the northern spotted owl. A logging group challenged the validity of the rules delaying the effective date of...
The D.C. Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part summary judgment for commercial fishermen in a challenge to an NMFS rule implementing an amendment to a fishery management plan for reef fish resources in the Gulf of Mexico. The fishermen argued the amendment arbitrarily relied on an economic a...
The D.C. Circuit, 2-1, granted in part and denied in part petitions to review EPA's SIP call for 35 states and the District of Columbia. A group of about half these states as well as companies subject to those SIPs sued, arguing EPA misinterpreted its authority under the CAA when it called for SIPs ...
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court order remanding to state court two climate deception lawsuits against oil and gas companies. City and county governments in Maryland initially sued in state court, alleging the companies used and promoted fossil fuel products while knowing, concealing, an...
Today's climate impacts and those on the horizon increasingly infuse mitigation and adaptation efforts with urgency, causing policymakers to contemplate or issue formal declarations of a climate emergency and to streamline review processes to aid rapid development of mitigation and adaptation infrastructure and technology. Yet, this urgency and need have the potential to create injustice and sideline or overwhelm efforts to reduce existing injustice.
Many environmental law paradigms focus on fixed points. Sometimes, the fixed points are in the past, and environmental laws call upon us to look at a baseline or previous state of nature and compare our actions against it. Other approaches call for us to consider an ideal state and develop strategies regarding how to reach it. In a 4° Celsius world, both strategies fail. Adhering to baselines is meaningless and striving for goals that are unachievable may lead to paralysis.