The Fifth Circuit granted industry groups' challenge to EPA's 2024 rule that revised the equation for calculating vehicle fuel economy for purposes of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and required manufacturers to certify fuel economy using E10 test fuel, containing 10% ethan...
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of a challenge to BLM's authorization of construction on a transmission line through the San Pedro Valley. Native American tribes and environmental groups argued BLM violated the National Historic Preservation Act by issuing limited notices to ...
This Comment focuses on energy developments offshore. Part I recognizes OCSLA’s purpose of balancing energy needs with protection of marine animals, coastal beaches, and wetlands. Part II discusses examples of presidential use of OCSLA §12(a) authority to protect (withdraw from leasing) portions of the OCS temporarily or permanently, including challenges to President Biden’s recent withdrawal of the East Coast, West Coast, and part of the Gulf of Mexico and Bering Strait from future oil and gas leases.
Demand for data centers is increasing worldwide, raising questions about the electric grid, the transition to renewable energy, and distribution infrastructure. Northern Virginia is home to data centers that process nearly 70% of global digital traffic, leading officials to call for construction, at ratepayers’ expense, of new power plants and new transmission lines across four states, as well as the continued operation of coal-powered plants that had been scheduled to go offline.
A district court granted New York City's motion to dismiss a challenge to its statute prohibiting the use of fossil fuels in newly constructed residential buildings. Trade groups and a union argued the statute was preempted by the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) because it concerned "the ...
The Seventh Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction that had barred enforcement of an Indiana statute giving incumbent electric companies rights of first refusal (ROFRs) to build and operate new interstate transmission facilities that connect to facilities they own. Companies seeking to b...
The D.C. Circuit partially granted petitions for rehearing in a challenge to FERC's reauthorization of two liquefied natural gas terminals and an associated pipeline in Texas. In a prior opinion, the court held FERC erred by failing to issue supplemental EISs addressing its updated environmental jus...
The D.C. Circuit denied a petition to review FERC's authorization of an owner's request to surrender its license for a hydroelectric project on the Salmon Falls River between New Hampshire and Maine. A conservation group initially requested rehearing of the authorization, arguing the two dams from t...
A district court upheld in part and remanded in part DOI's decision to refrain from holding lease sales of federal land for oil and gas development during the second and third quarters of 2021 and the third and fourth quarters of 2022. Oil and gas industry groups challenged the lack of lease sales f...
President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order No. 14008 created a new federal legal concept of “energy communities.” The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) further defined this term, with an emphasis on historical dependence on fossil energy industries. This Article summarizes and assesses current law for “energy communities” in the United States, with an emphasis on recent developments and early implementation efforts.