A district court vacated DOI's termination of seven lease agreements with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) for development of oil and gas resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. AIDEA argued DOI deprived it of due process under the Fifth Amendment by canceling...
The Fifth Circuit affirmed denial of summary judgment for two Native American tribes and an environmental group in a challenge to a CWA §404 permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers to expand operations at an oil export terminal on Texas' Gulf Coast. The tribes and group sought to invalidate th...
The D.C. Circuit denied environmental groups' challenge to FERC's authorization of a project to build two new natural gas pipelines in southwestern Louisiana. The groups argued FERC violated NEPA by failing to consider the project's effects on upstream greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, failing to dete...
Understanding the nearly impossible task of containing contaminants from Superfund sites, it is imperative to find solutions in anticipation of disasters that scientists project will only increase in magnitude and frequency. This Comment proceeds in six parts. Part I identifies the challenge of increasing natural disasters and their impact at Superfund sites, which are toxic havens. Part II identifies efforts that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal agencies have taken to make Superfund sites more climate-resilient.
This Comment focuses on energy developments offshore. Part I recognizes OCSLA’s purpose of balancing energy needs with protection of marine animals, coastal beaches, and wetlands. Part II discusses examples of presidential use of OCSLA §12(a) authority to protect (withdraw from leasing) portions of the OCS temporarily or permanently, including challenges to President Biden’s recent withdrawal of the East Coast, West Coast, and part of the Gulf of Mexico and Bering Strait from future oil and gas leases.
The Comment shows the importance of EJ and cumulative impact governance coming from municipalities by highlighting a specific case study that has worked: San Francisco.
Demand for data centers is increasing worldwide, raising questions about the electric grid, the transition to renewable energy, and distribution infrastructure. Northern Virginia is home to data centers that process nearly 70% of global digital traffic, leading officials to call for construction, at ratepayers’ expense, of new power plants and new transmission lines across four states, as well as the continued operation of coal-powered plants that had been scheduled to go offline.
A district court granted New York City's motion to dismiss a challenge to its statute prohibiting the use of fossil fuels in newly constructed residential buildings. Trade groups and a union argued the statute was preempted by the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) because it concerned "the ...
The Seventh Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction that had barred enforcement of an Indiana statute giving incumbent electric companies rights of first refusal (ROFRs) to build and operate new interstate transmission facilities that connect to facilities they own. Companies seeking to b...