On January 14, 2019, the Colorado Supreme Court reached a decision in COGCC v. Martinez, ending more than five years of litigation between seven youth activists from Boulder-based Earth Guardians and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (“COGCC”). The...
Energy
Trump NEPA Initiatives to Expedite Energy Infrastructure: “One Federal Decision”
One of President Trump’s first actions was to issue Executive Order 13766, “Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects” (Jan. 24, 2017), directing the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) to begin efforts to identify...
Paris Agreement Exit: Who Holds the Real Power?
President Trump announced on June 1 that the United States is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. The announcement follows months of uncertainty about whether President Trump would fulfill his campaign pledge to withdraw U.S. participation in the deal (which was...
More Oil and Gas Regulation Headed for Colorado Ballots?
Come November, Colorado voters may decide whether oil and gas development should be subjected to more stringent regulation. Three ballot initiatives proposed by Boulder-based Coloradans Resisting Extreme Energy Development have survived legal challenges and are now...
2016 Wyoming Energy Plan – Doubling Down on Coal
In the face of a radically altered economic and energy picture for Wyoming, Governor Matt Mead released an updated energy strategy for the State on March 14, 2016. Titled “Leading the Charge: Wyoming’s Action Plan for Energy, Environment, and Economy,” the plan is an...
CLAIMANTS MAY SUE INDUSTRY FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM EARTHQUAKES
On June 30, 2015, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in Sandra Ladra v. New Dominion LLC, Spess Oil Co. [and other unnamed companies], that Plaintiff could sue operators of wastewater injection wells in and around Lincoln County, Oklahoma, for personal injury damages...
ENERGY TRANSFORMATION: CLEAN POWER PLAN AND THE WEST
When candidate Obama was running in 2008, he identified energy as his top priority and described his goal as the “transformation of American energy” to address the threat of climate change. On August 2, 2015, the President and the EPA Administrator announced the final...