A district court denied summary judgment for environmental groups in their challenge to the Army Corps of Engineers' approval of a navigation improvement project in San Juan Harbor in Puerto Rico. The groups sued the Corps, NMFS, and FWS, arguing they violated the ESA, NEPA, and the CWA. With respec...
The Third Circuit denied an environmental group's petitions to review EPA's approval of certain air pollution control technology use at industrial facilities in Pennsylvania. The group argued EPA violated the CAA by focusing exclusively on emissions from those facilities instead of examining their i...
The Third Circuit vacated EPA's 2022 decision to reverse its prior determination and to require an oil refinery in the Virgin Islands to obtain a PSD permit before it can resume operations. The refinery owner petitioned for review, arguing EPA's application of its reactivation policy—under which a...
The D.C. Circuit dismissed for lack of jurisdiction a challenge to two FERC orders approving construction and operation of a natural gas compressor station in Massachusetts. Residents, municipalities, and an environmental group petitioned for review of the orders—one granting the station owner's r...
The D.C. Circuit reversed summary judgment for Oregon counties, trade groups, and timber companies in five lawsuits concerning President Obama's expansion of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Plaintiffs argued that by outlawing logging on land included in the monument through Proclamation 9564...
The D.C. Circuit granted in part and denied in part a petition to review FERC orders that permitted the creation of a new energy transmission service across several states in the Southeast. The first, the Deadlock Order, was adopted when the commissioners deadlocked 2-2 on whether the overall propos...
The D.C. Circuit denied a group of fuel refineries' petitions to review EPA's rule extending compliance reporting deadlines under the Renewable Fuel Standard program. The group argued the rule violated the CAA by providing obligated parties less than 13 months' compliance lead time—from EPA's anno...
In an unsigned order, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Mountain Valley Pipeline proponents' emergency application to vacate two Fourth Circuit orders halting construction of the 303-mile natural gas pipeline. The high court vacated the appellate court's July 10, 2023, and July 11, 2023, orders staying...
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.