You might, before doing anything else, read this and learn about the way in which the courts have been packed to protect the corporate polluters…

JUDICIAL

JUDICIAL

The Judicial Branch of the federal government is responsible for interpreting and reviewing the country’s laws. The Supreme Court is the most powerful body of the Judicial Branch. About 8,000 cases are filed with the Supreme Court each year, but only about 80 are chosen to be heard and decided by the Court. The Supreme Court is the only court where the Justices make the decision whether or not to hear a case. Most often, a case makes it to the Supreme Court after the plaintiffs involved appeal the ruling of one of the US Courts of Appeal.

There are numerous cases weaving their way through the courts. Exxon Mobil, for example, is facing a wave of lawsuits driven in large part by revelations which began surfacing in 2015.  These revelations indicated that the climate crisis was not the result of blind error, or even willful ignorance, but rather calculated abuses of power.  Exxon had conducted scientific studies that showed the warming effect of carbon emissions and predicted the dire consequences of climate change, before spending millions on misinformation to derail regulation and solidify international dependence on fossil fuels. Massachusetts and New York have both sued Exxon for fraud.

Meanwhile, cities like San Francisco, New York City, Richmond and others have filed suits for damages from climate change against companies like Chevron, BP, Shell, and ConocoPhillips in addition to Exxon. Several high-profile cases challenging the expansion of oil pipelines are also being litigated.

And, then there is the landmark case of Juliana v. US, brought by 21 young people in 2015, which argues that the federal government’s duty to serve as a trustee of resources extends to the atmosphere, and that it had thus failed in that constitutional duty. A full and fascinating history of this litigation can be found here.

Just as many of these cases are winding their way through the courts, the makeup of the highest court in the land has changed dramatically. Following the death of renowned Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, 2020, Trump filled her seat with Amy Coney Barrett on September 26th. Barrett’s appointment promised to shift the court to the far right for decades to come and we can see in the most recent case, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of West Virginia vs the Environmental Protection Agency. The case involved a challenge by several states and coal companies against the EPA over its ability to regulate power plant emissions by “generation shifting” – that is, requiring plants to actually change the method of how they produce power, such as moving from coal to natural gas or solar. The Supreme Court opted to decide on the matter, despite the fact that the EPA hadn’t actually produced any rules yet. under the Clean Air Act were not so expansive as to include generation shifting, finding that the agency would need explicit authorization from Congress in order to hold that power. “Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible ‘solution to the crisis of the day,’” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “But it is not plausible that Congress gave EPA the authority to adopt on its own such a regulatory scheme."

In a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Breyer and Sotomayor, Elena Kagan wrote that the Court’s opinion amounted to legislation, arguing that Congress had delegated the power to curb air pollution–including carbon emissions–to the EPA, and that it would be the proper purview of Congress to limit the agency’s authority if it disagreed with its policies. “[T]he Court today prevents congressionally authorized agency action to curb power plants’ carbon dioxide emissions,” Kagan wrote. “The Court appoints itself—instead of Congress or the expert agency—the decisionmaker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening.”

What Is the Judicial Branch of the U.S. Government? | History

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of West Virginia vs the Environmental Protection Agency. The case involved a challenge by several states and coal companies against the EPA over its ability to regulate power plant emissions by “generation shifting” – that is, requiring plants to actually change the method of how they produce power, such as moving from coal to natural gas or solar. The Supreme Court opted to decide on the matter, despite the fact that the EPA hadn’t actually produced any rules yet. 

In a 6-3 ruling, the Court held that the EPA’s power to regulate emissions under the Clean Air Act were not so expansive as to include generation shifting, finding that the agency would need explicit authorization from Congress in order to hold that power. “Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible ‘solution to the crisis of the day,’” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “But it is not plausible that Congress gave EPA the authority to adopt on its own such a regulatory scheme.”

In a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Breyer and Sotomayor, Elena Kagan wrote that the Court’s opinion amounted to legislation, arguing that Congress had delegated the power to curb air pollution–including carbon emissions–to the EPA, and that it would be the proper purview of Congress to limit the agency’s authority if it disagreed with its policies. “[T]he Court today prevents congressionally authorized agency action to curb power plants’ carbon dioxide emissions,” Kagan wrote. “The Court appoints itself—instead of Congress or the expert agency—the decisionmaker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening.”

CURRENT NEWS

Climate cover-up? Federal appeals court rules Minnesota’s lawsuit can proceed

By News Staff 03/24/23
Minnesota’s lawsuit alleges ExxonMobil, American Petroleum Institute, and Koch Industries systematically deceived and defrauded Minnesotans about the true causes and costs of climate change.
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BREAKING: DOJ throws support behind communities suing Big Oil

03/17/23
Huge news for climate accountability: After two years of silence, the Department of Justice is finally supporting communities seeking to put Big Oil companies on trial for their climate deception and the damages they have…
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Toxic air, explosions: Inside the bitter battle between Texas residents and Exxon

By Anna Phillips 03/16/23
When Shirley Williams chose the brick ranch house in a quiet subdivision east of Houston 25 years ago, she picked it for the lush, peaceful backyard. She pictured her husband, Arthur, puttering around the garden,…
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Judge upholds EPA anti-pollution rule against power companies’ challenge

By Elliot Mincberg 03/06/23
Judge Michelle Childs, nominated by President Biden to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, wrote a unanimous decision that rejected a challenge by a group of power companies to EPA rules requiring…
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Big Oil’s false advertising is not free speech

By Emily Sanders 01/24/23
“Big Oil peddled the big lie,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said last week following the release of a new study showing Exxon’s acute scientific understanding of climate change preceded its public denial. Facing ever-mounting…
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Big oil is behind conspiracy to deceive public

By Nina Lakhani 12/20/22
Lawyer in a civil lawsuit launched by towns in hurricane-hit Puerto Rico describes why it is using laws used to target mob bossesThe same racketeering legislation used to bring down mob bosses, motorcycle gangs, football…
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Protecting Communities from Climate Change Is Astronomically Expensive

By Karen Savage and Others 10/24/22
A proposed series of sea barriers to protect New York’s harbor—which includes parts of New Jersey— from future storm surges? $52 billion. Reducing risk of future damage to Rhode Island’s coast? More than $254 million.…
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Biden ‘social cost of carbon’ climate risk measure upheld by U.S. appeals court

By Clark Mindock 10/21/22
A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld the "social cost of carbon" calculation used by President Joe Biden's administration, which sharply boosts the price tag policy makers will put on the environmental impact of greenhouse…
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New Jersey Joins Other States in Suing Fossil Fuel Industry, Claiming Links to Climate Change

By Jon Hurdle 10/18/22
New Jersey became the latest U.S. state to sue the fossil fuel industry over climate change, alleging it knew for decades that emissions from its products contributed to global warming, but lied to protect its…
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A Supreme Court Case Over Pork Could Imperil U.S. Climate Progress

By Alejandro De La Garza 10/12/22
he U.S. Supreme Court heard a case this week that could have huge implications for all sorts of state climate regulations, from clean electricity mandates to vehicle fuel standards. But the arguments in court on…
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Leonard Leo Pushed the Courts Right. Now He’s Aiming at American Society.

By Kenneth P. Vogel 10/12/22
Millions of dollars in television advertisements blasting schools for teaching critical race theory and assailing corporations like BlackRock, Uber and American Airlines for catering to “woke politicians.” A lawsuit pending before the Supreme Court to…
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Supreme Court to hear high-stakes challenge to Clean Water Act

By Maxine Joselow and Vanessa Montalbano 09/30/22
Monday marks the first day of the Supreme Court's new term, and the justices are wasting no time in weighing another challenge to one of the nation's bedrock environmental laws.
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KEY RESOURCES

Net Zero Emissions Legislation Around the World: 2022 Update

10/01/22
The Law Library of Congress 1 Net Zero Emissions Legislation Around the World: 2022 Update Prepared by the Staff of the Global Legal Research Directorate This table shows the 57 jurisdictions around the world that…

The Lawfarm Climatechange scorecard

01/27/21
Climate Scores For Vault 100 Law Firms 1

U.S. Climate Change Litigation

08/20/20
Cases in the U.S. database are organized by type of claim and may be filtered by the principal laws they address, their filing years, and their jurisdictions. The database is also searchable by keyword. In…

Mapped: Climate change laws around the world

03/05/20
There has been a 20-fold increase in the number of global climate change laws since 1997, according to the most comprehensive database of relevant policy and legislation.

Congress and Climate Change

03/05/20
Federal efforts to address climate change are undertaken under laws, and with funding, approved by Congress. Like other complex economy-wide challenges, climate change touches on a wide array of interests. The stakes vary from sector…

Our Focus: Climate Change

03/05/20
Climate change is not a new challenge for CLF. We’ve been working to address its root causes for decades and have played a part in critical milestones to curb its progress. We helped design the…

Environmental Law 101: Climate Change

03/05/20
A short, but thorough, introduction from a leading environmental law think tank on climate change and what is being done to combat it through legal action and policy.

Federal Action on Climate

03/05/20
Given the far-reaching nature of the climate challenge, effective federal policy is needed to achieve deep, long-term reductions in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and to help strengthen climate resilience across the U.S. economy. Even in…

MORE NEWS

State lawmakers rated on environmental issues. Here are the rankings.

By Marie J. French   09/20/22  
Scores for the Assembly Democratic conference rose and Senate Democrats dropped slightly from last year in the New York League of Conservation Voters annual scorecard for state lawmakers.
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US Supreme Court’s Gorsuch allows enforcement of $155 million award against Sunoco

By Nate Raymond   09/08/22  
US Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch on Thursday rejected Sunoco LP’s request to block efforts to enforce a $155 million judgment against the fuel retailer in a lawsuit accusing it of failing to pay interest…
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Federal judge finds Enbridge trespassed on Bad River lands, but stops short of shutting down Line 5

By Danielle Kaeding   09/08/22  
A federal judge has ruled Canadian energy firm Enbridge Inc. trespassed on Bad River tribal lands and profited at the tribe’s expense but stopped short of shutting down an oil and gas pipeline across the…
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$14 million air pollution fine for Exxon’s Baytown refinery stands

By Clark Mindock   08/30/22  
ExxonMobil Corp must pay a $14.25 million fine over air pollution at its Baytown, Texas crude oil refinery, a federal appeals court affirmed Tuesday. It is the largest penalty ever assessed in a citizen enforcement…
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Appeals court rules two Trump administration Gulf lease sales unlawful

By Zack Budryk   08/30/22  
A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled two Trump-era Interior Department oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico were unlawful.In the ruling, Judge Gregory C. Katsas of the Washington, D.C., Court of Appeals found the…
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Opinion: Congress tries to protect the planet from an overreaching court

By E.J. Dionne   08/28/22  
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority put itself front and center in American politics with its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. But the understandable passion around abortion rights should not obscure another profoundly consequential political…
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The EPA Just Quietly Got Stronger

By Robinson Meyer   08/24/22  
All carrots, no sticks. That is the story of the Inflation Reduction Act. Since the law was unveiled last month, savvy commentators have noted that its policies consist almost entirely of “carrots,” incentives meant to…
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Court strikes down ruling that blocked Biden’s oil drilling pause

By Dino Grandoni and Others   08/17/22  
A federal appellate judge struck down a lower court’s decision that had stopped the Biden administration from pausing the auction of oil and gas drilling rights in federal lands and water, a key campaign pledge…
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Federal court cites human health, climate costs in rejecting massive Wyoming, Montana coal mining plan

08/04/22  
A federal judge late yesterday struck down two U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) resource management plans that failed to address the public health consequences of allowing massive amounts of coal, oil, and gas production…
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After It Narrowed the EPA’s Authority, Talks of Expanding the Supreme Court Garner New Support

By Samantha Hurley   07/28/22  
The late afternoon sun washed over the United States Supreme Court building as a group of protesters hauled a 15-foot tall prop, modeled after the United States Constitution, through the nearby streets. Instead of “We…
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Supreme Court muzzles EPA on climate

By Pamela King   07/18/22  
Environmental lawyers say the Supreme Court sent a clear message in its landmark ruling in West Virginia v. EPA: If a federal agency wants to craft robust climate regulations, it better not crow about them.…
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The Supreme Court’s EPA ruling was the beginning of something bigger

By Maxine Joselow   07/06/22  
When the Supreme Court limited the Environmental Protection Agency's power to combat climate change last week, Republican attorneys general and conservative legal activists cheered the ruling.
Read more

Supreme Court ruling gives leverage to businesses

By Andrew Ross Sorkin   07/01/22  
The Supreme Court yesterday limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate power plant emissions, dealing a significant blow to the Biden administration’s climate change agenda. The ruling is the product of a longstanding campaign…
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Be the Backlash!

By Bill McKibben   07/01/22  
A reasonable reaction to the week’s Supreme Court rulings, which culminated in Thursday’s gutting of the Clean Air Act, would be: we are so screwed.
Read more

Supreme Court Limits Epa In Curbing Power Plant Emissions

By Mark Sherman   07/01/22  
In a blow to the fight against climate change, the Supreme Court on Thursday limited how the nation’s main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. By a…
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Supreme Court sharply limits regulation of carbon emissions

By Paul Blumenthal and Alexander C. Kaufman   06/30/22  
The Supreme Court just made it much harder for the U.S. government to respond to climate change in a 6-3 decision in the case of West Virginia v. EPA.
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US Supreme Court hobbles government power to limit harmful emissions

By Oliver Milman   06/30/22  
Court sides with Republican states as ruling represents landmark moment in rightwing effort to dismantle ‘regulatory state’.
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Supreme Court Curbs EPA’s Power To Regulate Emissions And Fight Climate Change

By Alison Durkee   06/30/22  
The Supreme Court has made it more challenging for the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gases and fight climate change, as justices ruled Thursday in favor of Republican-led states and coal companies that asked…
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The most profound effect of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency may ultimately be cultural

By David Wallace-Wells   06/30/22  
Many of the headlines about the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling on West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday have suggested an existential setback: a major blow to American decarbonization and global climate ambition. But…
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Supreme Court limits EPA’s authority to regulate power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions

By Melissa Quinn, Li Cohen   06/30/22  
The Supreme Court on Thursday limited the power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, delivering a significant blow to the Biden administration's efforts to fight climate change.
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Supreme Court Puts Brakes on EPA in Far-Reaching Decision

By Jan Wolfe and Timothy Puko   06/30/22  
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that federal regulators exceeded their authority in seeking to limit emissions from coal plants in a decision that sharply curtails the executive branch’s authority to make policy actions on a…
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Supreme Court Sharply Limits Regulation Of Carbon Emissions

By Paul Blumenthal and Alexander C. Kaufman   06/30/22  
The Supreme Court just made it much harder for the U.S. government to respond to climate change in a 6-3 decision in the case of West Virginia v. EPA. The Thursday decision, written by Chief…
Read more

US supreme court rules against EPA and hobbles government power to limit harmful emissions

By Oliver Milman   06/30/22  
The US supreme court has sided with Republican-led states to in effect hobble the federal government’s ability to tackle the climate crisis, in a ruling that will have profound implications for the government’s overall regulatory…
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The Supreme Court Tries to Overrule the Climate

By Bill McKibben   06/30/22  
Credit where due: the Supreme Court’s 6–3 ruling in West Virginia v. E.P.A. is the culmination of a five-decade effort to make sure that the federal government won’t threaten the business status quo. Lewis Powell’s…
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The Supreme Court Is Jeopardizing Federal Climate Action

By Gregory Barber   06/30/22  
TODAY, IN A ruling on a nonexistent plan with nonexistent harms to the people who brought the suit, the Supreme Court took an opportunity to curb the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate…
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US Supreme Court Votes to Cook the Planet by Limiting EPA’s Power

By Lloyd Alter   06/30/22  
To nobody's surprise, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6 to 3 to make it impossible for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect the environment from climate change, to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power…
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U.S. Supreme Court limits federal power to curb carbon emissions

By Lawrence Hurley and Valerie Volcovici   06/30/22  
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday imposed limits on the federal government's authority to issue sweeping regulations to reduce carbon emissions from power plants in a ruling that undermines President Joe Biden's plans to tackle…
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Court Decision Leaves Biden With Few Tools to Combat Climate Change

By Coral Davenport   06/30/22  
One by one, the tools available to President Biden to fight climate change are being stripped away. After a Supreme Court decision on Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency will have less authority to limit carbon…
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What the Supreme Court’s Ruling on the ‘Clean Air Act’ Means for Carbon Emissions

By Emily Barone   06/30/22  
On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that will hamstring the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate carbon emissions from power plants. The outcome of the case is a big deal for tackling…
Read more

Supreme Court’s EPA ruling upends Biden’s environmental agenda

By Maxine Joselow   06/30/22  
The Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon emissions could have far-reaching consequences, according to legal experts, which could curb President Biden’s ambitious plans to tackle climate change along…
Read more

What you need to know about the Supreme Court’s EPA case

By Dino Grandoni   06/30/22  
The Supreme Court on Thursday curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to cut climate-warming carbon from the nation’s power plants, handing down a decision in the biggest court case on climate change in more than…
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How the U.S. Supreme Court could hobble Biden’s climate efforts

By Valerie Volcovici   06/28/22  
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling this week that will determine the degree to which the Environmental Protection Agency can regulate greenhouse gas emissions as an air pollutant.
Read more

What’s the next outrage from an illegitimate Supreme Court?

By Bill McKibben   06/24/22  
Having put us in a post-Roe world, they may be aiming for a post-world world. Since the decision leaked this spring—and, really, since transparently political justices Kavanagh and Barrett won their confirmations—one has expected this…
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The Supreme Court case that could doom U.S. climate goals

Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise   06/23/22  
The government’s power to tackle pollution is not the only question at stake in a potentially far-reaching lawsuit.
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Republican drive to tilt courts against climate action reaches a crucial moment

By Coral Davenport   06/19/22  
A Supreme Court environmental case being decided this month is the product of a coordinated, multiyear strategy by Republican attorneys general and conservative allies.
Read more

How SCOTUS’ upcoming climate ruling could defang Washington

By Alex Guillen and Others   06/12/22  
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling this month hobbling the Biden administration’s efforts to rein in greenhouse gases — but its impact could weaken Washington’s power to oversee wide swaths of American…
Read more

In Hawaii, youth are suing over climate inaction

By Julia Kane   06/02/22  
As Tropical Storm Olivia bore down on the island of Maui in September 2018, Kaliko and her family grabbed their most important belongings and fled. The storm inundated the island with more than a foot…
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Supreme Court allows Biden climate regulations while fight continues

By Robert Barnes and Anna Phillips   05/26/22  
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Biden administration, for now, to use a higher estimate for the societal cost of rising greenhouse gases when federal agencies draft regulations.
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Jimmy Carter, at 97, Steps Into a Big Fight Over a Small Road in Alaska

By Henry Fountain   05/25/22  
By Alaskan standards, the gravel road that an isolated community near the Aleutian Islands wants to build to connect to an airport is not a huge project. But because it would be cut through a…
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Exxon Will Have to Face Climate Lawsuits After ‘Free Speech’ Defense Fails

By Lauren Leffer   05/25/22  
In a last-ditch effort to avoid a Massachusetts lawsuit, Exxon claimed being sued violated its First Amendment right to free speech. On Tuesday, that motion to dismiss the suit was thrown out in the state’s…
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United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit

05/23/22  
This is our second pass at a climate-change case that requires us to explore the mind-numbing complexities of federal removal jurisdiction
Read more

Climate lawsuits poised for new Supreme Court fight

By Lesley Clark   05/18/22  
Climate liability lawsuits from state and local governments against fossil fuel companies are creeping closer to a new Supreme Court showdown.
Read more

Biden presses 5th Circuit to uphold key climate metric

By Lesley Clark   05/05/22  
The Biden administration and red states are dueling in multiple courts after a federal judge temporarily blocked use of the social cost of carbon.
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Established Precedent, Bodily Autonomy No Longer Safe

05/04/22  
The draft Supreme Court opinion striking down decades of established precedent protecting the right to privacy and right to obtain an abortion could have substantial implications for environmental law and climate policy. At issue is…
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California Attorney General Investigates the Oil and Gas Industry’s Role in Plastic Pollution, Subpoenas Exxon

By James Bruggers   04/30/22  
The oil and gas industry has a new battle to fight with California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s first-of-its-kind investigation into their role in the global plastics crisis—and it looks a lot like one they’ve been…
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GOP-led states ask Supreme Court to block key Biden climate accounting measure

By John Kruzel   04/28/22  
A group of Republican-led states on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to reinstate a court order blocking a key climate accounting measure put in place by the Biden administration amid a legal dispute with potentially…
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States, environmental groups sue USPS over gas-powered trucks

By Zack Budryk   04/28/22  
Sixteen states and a coalition of environmental groups on Thursday announced a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for its decision to upgrade the majority of its fleet with fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
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Court sides with Calif. cities in climate litigation fight

By Lesley Clark   04/20/22  
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from the oil and gas industry to move the lawsuit to federal court. The ruling is the third win for local governments this year.
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Suing over climate change: Taking fossil fuel companies to court

04/17/22  
If climate change were a disaster film, it would likely be accused of being too over-the-top: wildfires reducing entire towns to ashes, hurricanes swamping cities, droughts draining lakes and withering fields, and raging oceans redrawing…
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This Canadian river is now legally a person. It’s not the only one.

By Chloe Berge   04/15/22  
With its thunderous rapids carving through a wild boreal forest in Quebec’s Côte-Nord region, the Magpie River is well known to white water rafters from around the globe. What these travelers may not know is…
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