On August 18, 2022, a federal court in Louisiana permanently enjoined President Biden and other governmental officials and agencies from stopping the sale of onshore and offshore oil and gas leases. The order comes just one...more
As reported in the last edition of The Climate Report, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia (collectively, "Plaintiff States") filed...more
First Quarter of Biden Presidency Impactful for Energy Industry - On January 27, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14008 ("E.O. 14008"), implementing a temporary pause on the auction of new oil and gas leases...more
In the short 100 days since inauguration day, the Biden Administration has put oil and gas leasing on public lands and federal waters at the forefront of its climate agenda—from issuance of Executive Order No. 14008,...more
The Biden administration's Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad ("Executive Order") expands upon the Department of the Interior's Secretarial Order No. 3395 and indefinitely suspends the federal...more
The US Supreme Court held that the National Park Service’s responsibility over the Appalachian Trail did not incorporate that land into the National Park System, leaving the Forest Service with the authority to grant the...more
Supreme Court Lifts Key Obstacle to Atlantic Coast Pipeline, but More Challenges Remain - "The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling that held up construction on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would...more
“Sometimes a complicated regulatory scheme may cause us to miss the forest for the trees, but at bottom, these cases boil down to a simple proposition: A trail is a trail, and land is land.” Justice Thomas, Opinion of the...more
With storage pressure and pandemic-reduced demand driving oil prices into freefall, lessees of federal and Indian lands may consider turning to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) procedures...more
On February 24, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on a critical permit needed for completion of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a controversial natural gas pipeline crossing the Appalachian Trail. Supporters of the...more