article thumbnail

These Attorneys General Are Defending the Fossil Fuel Industry, Not Their States

Union of Concerned Scientists

Attorneys general (AGs) in the five states most vulnerable to climate change, however, are doing the exact opposite: Instead of defending their constituents, they are defending the fossil fuel industry. By railing against what he calls a “radical climate change movement” and suing the federal government to protect corporate polluters.

article thumbnail

Local Government Associations File Brief to the Supreme Court in Support of EPA’s Clean Air Act Authority

Law Columbia

The case concerns the scope of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel power plants under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Do Climate Change Cases Belong in Federal Court? The Biden Administration Weighs In.

Legal Planet

That raises a question: Why did the government take such a narrow stance rather than addressing the broader issues presented by the lawsuits? The case before the Supreme Court is one of a number of lawsuits brought in state court by state and local governments against fossil fuel producers, primarily oil companies.

article thumbnail

Recentering Environmental Law: A Thought Experiment

Legal Planet

We thought that the key to reducing air pollution was to require better pollution control devices. Instead, we would have understood that the root problem was the burning of fossil fuels in the first place. We would have started pumping money into renewable energy research.

Law 291
article thumbnail

Supreme Court Allows Major State, Local Government Climate Change Litigation to Proceed on Merits

Legal Planet

Supreme Court gave state and local governments a big–if preliminary–legal win against the fossil fuel industry. The state and local government plaintiffs’ procedural victory ensures that these far-flung climate change cases will be heard before and decided by state court judges. This week the U.S.

article thumbnail

America’s Leading Environmental Court

Legal Planet

The PUC rejected the project even though it would produce fewer emissions than fossil fuels. This doctrine holds that the government has a special duty to consider the public interest when it makes decisions about key resources. There are a slew of similar cases pending across the country. Public trust doctrine.

article thumbnail

Industry’s Tactics to Expose You to More Soot Pollution

Union of Concerned Scientists

The largest contributors to this deadly type of pollution come from human-made emission sources that burn fossil fuels, such as coal-fired power plants and vehicular emissions of diesel and gasoline. pollution, half of the deaths are attributable to the burning of fossil fuels. EPA’s PM 2.5 EPA’s PM 2.5