Sierra Club v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
The Fourth Circuit stayed a pipeline company's use of a nationwide permit, verified by the Army Corps of Engineers, to carry out construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in streams and rivers along the pipeline's route. Environmental groups argued the verification was unlawful because the Corps ...
Environmental Rights, Public Trust, and Public Nuisance: Addressing Climate Injustices Through State Climate Liability Litigation
This Article focuses on an area of rapidly evolving jurisprudence—climate liability litigation. It examines in depth the state attorney general’s complaint filed in Rhode Island v. Chevron Corp. in 2018, alleging various state-law tort claims. It explores the intensely sustained legal battles taking place between states and fossil fuel companies over whether federal courts or state courts should have jurisdiction, which in many respects is the “ballgame issue” for both plaintiffs and defendants.
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
People, businesses, cities, and states are increasingly burdened by extreme weather events. Drought, heat, wildfires, precipitation, hurricanes, and tornadoes are becoming more intense. Most analysts point toward an emerging trend: as the earth warms, extreme weather events are becoming more costly and more deadly, though some raise lingering uncertainties about linking climate change to specific types of weather or specific events.
Montana Environmental Information Center v. Montana Department of Environmental Quality
The Montana Supreme Court affirmed vacatur of a Montana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (MPDES) permit issued by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for a copper and silver mine in the Cabinet Mountains. Environmental groups argued, among other things, that MDEQ unlawfully ...