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...
The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, granted states' and industry groups' application for an emergency stay of a district court ruling that had vacated the 2020 Clean Water Act 401 Certification Rule. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Kagan asserted the states and groups had failed to show they would suffer ...
A district court dismissed as moot a challenge to EPA's and the Army Corps of Engineers' 2015 Clean Water Rule interpreting the phrase "waters of the United States." Ohio and Tennessee argued the 2015 rule improperly expanded the definition of "waters of the United States," giving the agencies the p...
The Fifth Circuit granted the Biden Administration's motion to stay a district court ruling enjoining federal agencies from implementing interim estimates on the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions. States had argued the president lacked authority to promulgate and enforce the estimates; that th...
The Second Circuit affirmed in part and dismissed in part a district court ruling in a lawsuit brought by an oil company against the New York and Massachusetts attorneys general. The company had argued the states' investigations into the company's allegedly deceptive speech concerning climate change...
A district court granted states’ motion to preliminarily enjoin federal agencies from implementing the Biden Administration’s interim estimates on the social costs of greenhouse gas emissions. The states argued the president lacked authority to promulgate and enforce the estimates or to consider...
The Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court’s order remanding to state court a climate liability lawsuit against fossil fuel companies. Municipalities in Colorado argued in state court that they faced substantial and rising costs from the threat of climate change, to which the companies had substa...
The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed, 3-2, a lower court's dismissal of a climate liability lawsuit brought against the state of Alaska. Alaskans argued the state's natural resource development was contributing to climate change and adversely affecting their lives. The lower court dismissed the suit, c...
A Minnesota appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA's) issuance of a permit for a copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota that would allow discharging water from mine facilities. Environmental groups and a tribal band argued the MPCA ...
A district court vacated EPA's denial of an environmental group's petition to issue new and revised water quality standards for the state of Washington. The group argued that EPA acted arbitrarily and capriciously in denying its petition, and sought to have the denial vacated and the petition remand...