The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit alleging the Forest Service was liable as a contributor under RCRA for failing to regulate use of lead ammunition by hunters in Kaibab National Forest. Environmental groups argued that, even though the Service's activity was not the direct source of ...
The Fifth Circuit granted oil and gas interest groups' and the state of Texas' petition to review NRC's issuance of a license to a private company to operate a temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuel on the Permian Basin. Petitioners argued, among other things, that NRC lacked statutory au...
A state court held unconstitutional a provision of the Montana Environmental Policy Act that prohibited state agencies from considering the impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on climate change in environmental reviews. A group of youths challenged the prohibition, arguing it was causing or co...
This abstract is adapted from Albert C. Lin, Making Net Zero Matter, 79 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 679 (2022), and used with permission.
This abstract is adapted from Cass R. Sunstein, Arbitrariness Review and Climate Change, 170 U. Pa. L. Rev. 991 (2022), and used with permission.
In 4°C, Ruhl and Craig effectively argue that governance measures, particularly adaptation planning, will fall short if institutions fail to embrace the real possibility that the planet will blow well past 2° Celsius (°C) above pre-industrial temperatures. Further, they argue that 4°C is a better target for adaptation planning because this metric better captures the future risk the nation faces. Ruhl and Craig are keenly aware that serious talk of a possible 4°C future will almost certainly trigger accusations of “doomism” from various critics.
In 4°C, Ruhl and Craig acknowledge that the Earth’s climate is changing at an increasingly rapid rate, outside the range to which society has adapted in the past. Realistically, achieving the goal set in the 2015 Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5°C will be almost unattainable without drastic actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Accelerating ice loss and expanding wildfire zones are potential markers of what are known as tipping points—thresholds along a nonlinear pattern of system change that accelerate the pace of change. Scientists are concerned that our global climate system is dangerously close to passing these points. This trend has significant implications for governance and law. Climate change disruptions will extend beyond biophysical systems to social systems, including systems of governance.
A district court granted the city of Charleston's motion to remand to state court its lawsuit against fossil fuel companies for allegedly contributing to climate change by producing and selling fossil fuel products while deceiving consumers and the public about the dangers associated with them. The ...
The Sixth Circuit reversed a district court ruling in a lawsuit concerning 12 oil refinery sites that operated during World War II. The current owner of the refineries sought contribution from the U.S. government for environmental contamination discovered at the sites, arguing the government's produ...