Wildearth Guardians v. Jewell
The D.C. Circuit affirmed the dismissal of environmental groups' lawsuit challenging BLM's decision to lease two tracts of land in the Wyoming Powder River Basin for coal mining. The groups argued that BLM failed to adequately consider several environmental concerns, including the increase in local ...
Reep v. State
The North Dakota Supreme Court held that the state owns the mineral interests under the shore zone of the Missouri River, which cuts through the oil-rich Bakken Shale region. Under the equal footing doctrine, the state's title to the beds of navigable waters extends from high watermark to high water...
Robinson Township v. Commonwealth
Pennsylvania's highest court struck down Act 13, which pertains to oil and gas operations in the Marcellus Shale, as unconstitutional. The Act repealed Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Act and replaced it with a codified statutory framework regulating oil and gas operations in the Commonwealth. Among ot...
Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC v. Shumlin
The Second Circuit held that it lacks jurisdiction to review an electric company's suit challenging the constitutionality of Vermont's Electrical Energy Generating Tax. The company owns a nuclear power plant that is the sole entity taxed under the scheme, which imposes a charge on electricity produc...