Congressional critics of the Obama administration’s final guidance to federal agencies for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions accused the White House in a hearing Wednesday of giving environmental groups ammunition to bring lawsuits against energy projects.
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Congressional Democrats Sympathetic to Dakota Access Opponents
In a Capitol Hill forum sponsored by a handful of Congressional Democrats on Thursday, lawmakers and Native American tribal leaders called for a halt to the $3.8 billion, nearly 1,200-mile Dakota Access oil pipeline now under construction in four states.
Judge Rejects Dakota Sioux Request to Halt Oil Pipeline Construction
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia on Tuesday rejected an emergency filing by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent ongoing construction of the four-state, nearly 1,200-mile Dakota Access Pipeline project.
Ban on Federal Lands Energy Production Would Kill Jobs, Grid Reliability, Report Finds
If policies inspired by “Keep it in the Ground” and other anti-fossil fuel movements lead to a ban on energy production from federal lands and waters, the United States would lose billions in royalties and hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.
Law Professors, Former Interior Officials Urge Court to Overturn BLM Ruling
Four former high-ranking officials at the Interior Department and nearly 40 law professors are urging an appellate court to overturn a ruling by a federal judge in Wyoming that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) does not have the authority to enforce a rule governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public and tribal lands.
Eleventh Circuit Staying Out of WOTUS Fight, Disappointing Foes
In a blow to opponents of the controversial Clean Water Rule (CWR), a federal appeals court panel in Atlanta said it would be a “colossal waste of judicial resources” for it to get involved in the ongoing legal challenge to the rule, deferring the case to an appeals court in Cincinnati.
Northern Oil Ousts CEO as SEC Probes Bakken-Focused Dakota Plains Investment
Northern Oil and Gas Inc., which invests in drilling projects in North Dakota, on Tuesday fired CEO Michael Reger after he said he was being investigated by federal regulators for potential violations involving one of his investments, Bakken Shale-focused midstreamer Dakota Plains Holdings Inc.
Chesapeake Loses Bid to Change Venue; PA Royalties Lawsuit Remanded to State Court
A federal judge has decided that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s (AG) royalties lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. should be heard by a state court.
Industry Sues BLM Over Quarterly Lease Sales, Transparency
Lawyers for the Western Energy Alliance (WEA) filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has failed to meet federal obligations to hold quarterly lease sales and conduct them in a transparent manner.
White House Releases Final Guidance on GHG Emissions For NEPA Reviews
Six years after launching an effort to modify how federal agencies conduct National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews with regard to climate change, the Obama administration unveiled final guidance it said is designed to quantify the impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.