The Ohio Supreme Court held that a local election board exceeded its statutory authority when it refused to certify a city's proposed ballot measure that would, among other things, ban hydraulic fracturing within city limits and create a civil cause of action for damages to be brought in the name of...

A Minnesota appellate court held that the state's public utilities commission will need to prepare an EIS under the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) before it can make a final decision on whether to grant or deny a certificate of need for a large oil pipeline. A pipeline company filed appli...

A Pennsylvania appellate court reversed a lower court order denying an energy company's application to construct and operate a natural gas well on land it has leased from a private landowner. The local board had granted the company a conditional use permit for the well, but the lower court set it as...

The Supreme Court of Ohio upheld the Ohio Secretary of State's invalidation of three county ballot measures that, if approved by voters, would have banned high-volume hydraulic fracturing as a method of oil and gas extraction in those jurisdictions. Despite the secretary's conclusion to the contrary...

The Second Circuit held that New York's moratorium on hydraulic fracturing did not allow energy companies to extend oil and gas leases they entered into with landowners. The leases contained "force majeure" clauses, excusing the parties from nonperformance due to events outside their control, as wel...

A district court held that FWS violated NEPA when it issued a rule increasing from five years to 30 years the maximum duration of programmatic permits for wind energy developers to take bald and golden eagles. FWS issued the rule in hopes of promoting renewable energy projects. But when it issued th...

A district court held that DOI has unreasonably delayed agency action in the agency's review of an oil and gas drilling permit on BLM lands in Montana held sacred to Native Americans. Under the APA, agencies must decide issues presented to them within a reasonable time. Here, BLM initially approved ...

The D.C. Circuit denied an environmental group's petition for review challenging FERC's decision to issue a natural gas pipeline operator a certificate of public convenience and necessity to extend a natural gas pipeline in Maryland. The group argued that FERC's issuance of the conditional certifica...

A district court denied Alaska's request for a court order directing DOI to review the state's plan for the exploration of oil and gas resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). When Congress enacted the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) in 1980, it authorized th...

The Tenth Circuit upheld on constitutional grounds Colorado's mandate that 20% of the electricity that generators sell to Colorado consumers come from renewable sources. A conservative energy group claimed that the renewable energy standard will harm out-of-state coal producers in violation of the C...