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...
A district court vacated and remanded FWS’ 2020 rule that removed the gray wolf from the ESA list of endangered and threatened wildlife. Environmental groups argued FWS violated the ESA by failing to analyze gray wolves across the entire lower 48 states and based its delisting decision on the purp...
The Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court’s order remanding to state court a climate liability lawsuit against fossil fuel companies. Municipalities in Colorado argued in state court that they faced substantial and rising costs from the threat of climate change, to which the companies had substa...
The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed, 3-2, a lower court's dismissal of a climate liability lawsuit brought against the state of Alaska. Alaskans argued the state's natural resource development was contributing to climate change and adversely affecting their lives. The lower court dismissed the suit, c...
A district court denied advocacy groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin BLM's gather of wild horses in eastern Nevada. The groups argued BLM violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act by not developing a herd management area plan, which resulted in an inhumane gather process; violated NEPA...
The Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded FWS' biological opinion and incidental take statement for a proposed natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Virginia. Environmental groups argued FWS failed to adequately consider the pipeline's environmental context while analyzing impacts to the endanger...
Agriculture’s contribution to climate change is much more substantial than official figures suggest. We will not be able to achieve our overall mitigation goals unless agricultural emissions sharply decline. Farms and ranches can be a major part of the climate solution, while protecting biodiversity, strengthening rural communities, and improving the lives of the workers who cultivate our crops and rear our animals. Agriculture climate solutions are critical elements both in ensuring our food security and in limiting climate change.
The rapid transition of energy resources from fossil fuels toward renewables has been widely recognized as an essential tool in mitigating climate change. Yet, renewable energy development projects and facilities can be land use-intensive and have the potential to negatively impact conservation areas. To attempt to tackle these issues, President Joseph Biden signed Executive Order No.
The Washington Supreme Court upheld the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's issuance of a marine finfish aquaculture permit to allow a fish farmer to transition from farming Atlantic salmon to steelhead trout. Conservation groups argued the Department's conclusion that an EIS was not requir...
A district court granted environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to FWS' 2019 determination that listing the Yellowstone bison as endangered or threatened under the ESA was not warranted. The groups argued the determination, among other things, failed to properly consider wh...