Last month, the High Court ruled that planning permission previously granted for a coal mine in West Cumbria was unlawful (Friends of the Earth v West Cumbria Mining [2024] EWHC 2349 (Admin) ("West Cumbria Mining")). West...more
On April 25, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") finalized four rules to regulate pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants. EPA's stated goal was to provide a framework on which power plants can rely for...more
Greenwashing Beef Production - On February 28, New York State Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James filed a lawsuit with the New York Supreme Court against meat processing company JBS USA for misleading the public about its...more
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ refusal to rehear a pivotal gas appliance regulation decision has thrown a wrench into local efforts to reduce fossil fuel use....more
About the same as what happened at COP27. The 70,000+ fabulists, opportunists, and assorted acolytes comprising the congregation of the Church of Our Holy Mother of the Suffering Planet celebrated another high mass in,...more
An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind (St. 2022, c. 179, § 84) required the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) to establish a demonstration project in which 10 municipalities were selected to adopt...more
On September 16, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against five of the world’s largest oil and gas companies for allegedly denying or downplaying the harm caused by fossil fuels on climate change....more
On July 25, 2023, Representative Ted Lieu and 19 other Democratic lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice...more
The UK Climate Change Committee (CCC) recently released its 2023 statutory report, evaluating the UK’s progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting carbon reduction targets. This report, mandated by the...more
In a civil suit filed in Oregon state court in June 2023, an Oregon county is suing more than a dozen large oil, gas and coal companies, seeking more than $50 million in damages, in connection with a 2021 “heat dome” and...more
On July 31, 2023, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed an executive order ending the use of fossil fuels in new construction and major renovations of city-owned buildings. Although city buildings comprise a small percentage of...more
Domestic Nuclear Power Advancement: Barriers to Entry and the Need for a National Strategy - As previously reported on this site, nuclear generation development has taken hold as a potential promise for a long-term,...more
On June 13, 2023, the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security held a hearing on the “Oversight of FERC: Adhering to a Mission of Affordable and Reliable Energy for America.” The hearing...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing actions to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new and existing fossil-fuel-fired power plants in a bid to expedite the U.S. clean energy transition....more
On May 11, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposed rule promulgating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants. The proposal, issued pursuant to Section 111 of the...more
In early April, the climate activist shareholder group, Follow This, filed shareholder resolutions seeking stronger energy transition strategies from several oil “super-majors.” The resolutions have been filed in advance of...more
A trial has been scheduled for June 12 in a case involving climate-related constitutional challenges to actions by the State of Montana, its governor, and various state agencies. In Held v. Montana, sixteen Montana...more
Pennsylvania is rapidly becoming the ultimate battleground state in American politics. Famously described by Democratic political operative James Carville as “Philadelphia in the East, Pittsburgh in the West, and Alabama in...more
Faced with back-to-back years of unprecedented flooding, wildfires, and soaring temperatures, sixteen teens and children from Montana, ages 2-18, are suing their home state in what may precipitate the next wave of...more
In City of San Mateo, et al v. Chevron Corporation, et al, six California jurisdictions sued 13 energy company defendants for global warming-related claims. - The question in this round was whether the federal district...more
The Biden Administration’s April 2021 pledge for new U.S. commitments to the Paris Agreement calls for an 80% reduction of electric power greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The Administration also is committed to achieving...more
The constitutions of more than three-quarters of the countries on earth have explicit reference to environmental rights or responsibilities. In the last several years courts in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Australia,...more
This is a continuation of a five part series reviewing False Alarm, How Climate Panic Costs us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet, by Bjorn Lomborg....more
Over the past number of weeks, a variety of legislative proposals, from both sides of the aisle, have been released that, if enacted, could drastically impact the US energy industry and, in many cases, the taxation of energy...more