Articles Posted in Environmental Law

On Monday, March 24, 2025, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear Juliana et al. v. United States of America, a lawsuit brought by 21 young people alleging climate-change related injuries due to the federal government's adoption of policies related to fossil fuel extraction and consumption.

New York sued PepsiCo on Wednesday, arguing that the snack giant's single-use bottles, caps, and wrappers are a large contributor to the pollution of the Buffalo River and have impacted public health, freshwater species, the ecosystem, the public's use and enjoyment of the river, and the aesthetic value of the river and its shoreline.

On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, plaintiffs in Juliana et al. v. United States of America, a climate change lawsuit previously dismissed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, cited the recent Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights as novel precedent to support the need to go to trial.

The California attorney general and various district attorneys in the state allege that the retailer violated state environmental protection and consumer protection laws by improperly disposing of hazardous and confidential materials in landfills.

Walmart is suing Tesla for compensation and the removal of its solar panels after alleged problems with their condition and maintenance caused fires at several Walmart stores.

A vast New Mexico oilfield lies near Carlsbad Caverns National Park, a region comprised of deserts and caves. The federal government recently has allowed substantial oil and gas development in this area. This may affect the stability of the terrain and the air quality near the national park, according to WildEarth Guardians. This environmentalist group…

On Thursday, May 23, 2019, the Center for Biological Diversity and San Francisco Baykeeper sued the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for failing to protect eight highly imperiled species in the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the longfin smelt, Hermes Copper butterfly, Sierra Nevada red fox, red tree vole, eastern gopher tortoise, Berry Cave salamander, Puerto Rico harlequin butterfly, and marrón bacora all warrant protection as afforded under the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544. The plaintiffs are suing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to actually provide protection as mandated by the law.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has sued two US federal agencies over the data they used to support rolling back Obama-era vehicle emissions standards.

A federal judge in Alaska has ruled that President Trump does not have the authority to re-open Arctic waters to drilling that the Obama administration closed to drilling in 2016. Judge Sharon L. Gleason explained that while a 1953 law called the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) permits a president to remove waters from drilling, it does not contain a provision allowing a president to add waters to the list of available drilling sites.

California has implemented a Low Carbon Fuel Standard program since 2011, requiring sellers of oil, ethanol, and other fuels to reduce the carbon intensity of their fuel within certain deadlines. (Alternatively, they can buy credits from other companies that meet the requirements of the program.) Entities in the ethanol and oil industries recently challenged the…