In an emergency order, the U.S. Supreme Court denied several states' application to vacate the Fifth Circuit's stay of a district court ruling that had enjoined federal agencies from implementing interim estimates on the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions.
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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office implemented the Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program, which is designed to accelerate the examination of patent applications for innovations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
On February 28, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the landmark West Virginia v. EPA case, involving the scope of powers delegated to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the Clean Air Act. The Court’s decision will affect administrative law, and could have major consequences for environmental law, particularly the Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and take action on climate change.
At this point in time, climate change pervades every aspect of contemporary life. It is a persistent current through our lives and, increasingly, throughout the law. One would be hard-pressed to find any area of law that has not or will not soon be touched by climate change. The onset of climate change has prompted decades worth of deep and wide efforts to reshape law and policy. Yet, alongside this development, there is also erosion.
The European Union, China, California, and a number of U.S. states in the Northeast are currently using emissions trading as part of their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the popularity of emissions trading as a policy tool co-exists with a well-established, and increasingly politically powerful, set of critiques of it in the United States. These critiques come from environmental justice advocates as well as some academics and other observers.
The president issued Executive Order No. 14072, Strengthening the Nation's Forests, Communities, and Local Economies; among other things, the order directs federal agencies to inventory old-growth and mature forests on federal lands and develop policies to protect them from threats like wildfire and climate change, and to develop a federal goal for meeting agency-specific reforestation targets by 2030.
The Ninth Circuit again affirmed a district court order that remanded to state court several California counties' and cities' lawsuit against oil and gas companies alleging state law claims arising from global warming. The district court concluded that none of the companies' grounds for removal—fe...
NMFS announced the availability of and seeks comment on draft Climate Science Regional Action Plans designed to increase the production, delivery, and use of climate-related information in its stewardship of the nation's marine resources.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized revised fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks for model years 2024-2025 that increase at a rate of eight percent per year, and increase at a rate of 10 percent per year for model year 2026 vehicles.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court order that remanded to state court the city of Baltimore's climate change lawsuit against oil companies. The city alleged it sustained climate change-related injuries, including an increase in sea levels, storms, floods, heatwaves, droughts, and extreme p...