Category: Energy

Climate Change Environmental Groups Challenge President’s Executive Orders to Expand Energy Development

Margaret Anne Hill, Frank L. Tamulonis III, Stephen C. Zumbrun, and Melissa A. Scacchitti ●

We previously reported that President Trump issued a series of executive actions to fulfill his pledge to advance the United States’ domestic energy economy. These executive actions, such as President Trump’s Executive Orders Unleashing American Energy, Declaring a National Energy Emergency, and Reinvigorating…[the] Coal Industry…., now face legal challenges from environmental groups, led by Our Children’s Trust, a nonprofit law firm that exclusively represents youth plaintiffs against state and federal governments.[1] Presently, Our Children’s Trust seeks to enjoin these orders from taking effect because of their potential impact on climate change in the youths’ future. This post will provide a brief overview of the litigation and its pending timeline.

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Supreme Court Scales Back the NEPA Roadblock to Infrastructure Projects

Margaret Anne Hill and Stephen C. Zumbrun ●

Overview

On May 29, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a significant decision clarifying the scope of environmental review required under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) for major infrastructure projects. The Court recognized and reined in what infrastructure practitioners have long understood: NEPA strayed far beyond its “procedural” and “informational” roots to become an obstruction to infrastructure projects across the country.

As brief background, a project developer filed an application with the Surface Transportation Board (“STB”) for a proposed 88-mile railroad line in Utah. The STB, pursuant to its NEPA requirements, issued a 3,600-page environmental impact statement (“EIS”) analyzing the environmental effects of the project and ultimately approved the railroad line. Groups challenged the STB’s approval, and the D.C. Circuit vacated the STB’s decision, ordering the STB to analyze the potential “upstream” impacts of the proposed railroad, which included possible increased oil and gas drilling activities in Utah, and potential “downstream” impacts of the railroad, such as increased oil refining in Texas.

The Supreme Court reversed the D.C. Circuit Court’s prior decision, finding that the D.C. Circuit: (1) did not afford substantial deference to the STB required in NEPA cases, and (2) incorrectly ordered the STB to review the environmental effects of projects separate in time and place from the actual 88-mile railroad under consideration.

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Unleashing American Energy: Trump Administration’s Latest Executive Orders

Margaret Anne Hill, Frank L. Tamulonis III, Melissa A. Scacchitti, and Stephen C. Zumbrun ●

New Executive Orders and Proclamation

On April 8, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued three significant executive orders (“EOs”) and a fourth proclamation consistent with his pledge to “Unleash American Energy.” These Presidential actions, titled (1) Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the U.S. Electric Grid, (2) Protecting American Energy from State Overreach, (3) Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry, and (4) Regulatory Relief for Certain Stationary Sources to Promote American Energy, seek to promote domestic oil, gas, and coal energy production. Each of these actions is discussed below.

Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the U.S. Electric Grid, EO 14262

This EO directs the Secretary of Energy to streamline emergency processes and to develop a uniform methodology for analyzing reserve margins across all regions of the bulk power system. The stated needs for the EO include aging infrastructure, increased need for electricity, and demand for energy use by datacenters.

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LNG by Rail: The D.C. Circuit Vacates a DOT Rulemaking and Outlines a Path for Challenges Yet to Come

Mark R. Haskell ●

In Sierra Club v. United States Dep’t of Transportation[1],a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) vacated and remanded a final rule[2] issued by the Department of Transportation (“DOT”) permitting the transportation of liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) in approved rail cars. The final rule was subsequently stayed and never took effect.

DOT Rulemaking & the Sierra Club Decision

The rulemaking proceeding began with an executive order published on April 10, 2019. Then President Trump directed the Secretary of Transportation to propose a rule to permit LNG to be transported in approved rail cars within 100 days from the date of the executive order and to finalize the rule within thirteen months.[3]  DOT subsequently issued a proposed rule that would permit the transportation of LNG by rail in DOT-113 rail cars. The proposed rule proposed no limit on the number of cars to be used to transport LNG on a single train and imposed no mandatory speed limit. The proposed rule also included a preliminary environmental assessment finding that the proposed rule would have no significant environmental impact.[4]   

The proposed rule was challenged by environmental organizations, states, and the National Transportation Safety Board, all citing potentially grave risks related to potential explosions or fires related to transportation of LNG by rail and separately arguing that the proposed rule failed to mitigate those risks.[5] 

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Climate Change Litigation—State Tort Cases Move Ahead

Margaret Anne Hill and Stephen C. Zumbrun ●

Climate change-related litigation has been increasing in the United States for the past several years. Not only have the actual number of these types of cases increased, but the claims raised in these cases have been expanding—from state tort claims (nuisance, trespass, and negligence) to federal and state constitutional claims. These cases have been slowly working their way through the legal system, with a major consideration being: Should these cases be in state court, involving state tort claims, or federal court, involving federal statutes or federal common law, because of the major national policy implication of climate change that these cases have the potential to affect?

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DOE Releases Draft Roadmap to Address Interconnection Challenges for Clean Energy Projects

Brett A. Snyder and Lamiya N. Rahman  ●

On October 25, 2023, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) released a draft roadmap addressing challenges to the interconnection of clean energy projects to the transmission grid. The roadmap, developed by the Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (“i2X”),[1] identifies short-term (1–2 year), medium-term (2–5 year), and long-term (5+ year) solutions aimed at addressing barriers to connecting solar, wind, and battery projects to the grid and maintaining grid reliability.[2]

As the roadmap notes, interconnection requests have dramatically increased in the past decade, with 2,500 to 3,000 new requests a year, reflecting 400 to 600 GW/year of proposed capacity.[3] At the same time, constraints on transmission capacity and issues in the interconnection process have caused large backlogs, delays, and interconnection costs, resulting in a “more difficult and costly energy transition for ratepayers, utilities, and their regulators.”[4]

DOE has also issued a request for information (“RFI”) to seek feedback from interconnection stakeholders regarding the draft roadmap. Responses to the RFI are due on November 22, 2023.

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In Order No. 2023, FERC Takes Step in Reforming Transmission Grid Policies by Enacting Generator Interconnection Reforms

Mark R. Haskell, Brett A. Snyder, Lamiya N. Rahman, and Jane Thomas

On July 28, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) unanimously approved Order No. 2023, a Final Rule designed to streamline the process by which generation resources can connect to the interstate transmission grid.

At a high level, the Final Rule substantially revises the current pro forma large generator interconnection procedures (“LGIP”) and agreement (“LGIA”) with the following updates: 

      • Replacing the current first-come, first-served process with a first-ready, first-served interconnection cluster study process.
      • Increasing the speed of interconnection queue processing by, among other things, imposing strict study deadlines and penalties on transmission providers.
      • Incorporating technological advancements into the interconnection process.

Order No. 2023 also makes changes to the small generator interconnection procedures (“SGIP”) and agreement (“SGIA”).

To read the full client alert, please visit our website. 

The Hydrogen Color Wheel: A Primer

Frederick M. Lowther ●

The international dialogue about climate change and the “net zero” world now includes a focus on hydrogen as an abundant source of energy useful in myriad ways (refining, fertilizer production, motive power, etc.) with potentially zero climate-harmful emissions. For those of us who took Chemistry 101 in high school, we know that hydrogen is by far the most abundant element in the Universe, representing an estimated 70 to 75 percent of all known matter. While that is an awesome number (giving rise to the common student question “How do we know that?”), the fact is that, here on Earth, hydrogen does not exist as a “free” gas—it is present here only in combination with other elements, notably oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. Thus, to capture hydrogen for use in multiple applications, it must be separated from the paired substances (most commonly water (H2O) and natural gas (CH4)).

In the discourse around capturing hydrogen as a free gas, a color-coding terminology has emerged that rivals a paint store. I call it the “hydrogen color wheel” and it is the source of much confusion. While each of the color “codes” involves a somewhat detailed explanation, my goal in this post is to keep the detail short and within understandable limits.

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Accounting for Change: FERC Proposes Accounting and Financial Reporting Reforms to Address Renewable Energy Assets

Mark R. Haskell, Brett A. Snyder, and Lamiya N. Rahman


The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) to address industry concerns that FERC’s current Uniform System of Accounts (“USofA”) does not adequately account for renewable energy assets. The NOPR, which was released during the last Commission open meeting, proposes the following four categories of amendments to the USofA, as well as conforming revisions to FERC’s accounting reports:

      • Creating new production accounts specifically dedicated for wind, solar, and other non-hydro renewable assets;
      • Creating a single dedicated functional class for energy storage accounts;
      • Specifying the accounting treatment of renewable energy credits (“RECs”) and similar instruments by codifying prior Commission guidance; and
      • Adding new dedicated accounts for hardware, software, and communication equipment within existing functions in the USofA.

Additionally, the NOPR requests feedback on whether the FERC Chief Accountant should issue accounting guidance related to hydrogen.

To read the full client alert, please visit our website. 

Supreme Court Limits EPA’s Authority under the Clean Air Act

Margaret Anne Hill, Frank L. Tamulonis III, and Stephen C. Zumbrun ●


After seven years, three presidential administrations, and two appearances before the Supreme Court, the Obama Administration’s “Clean Power Plan” (“CPP”)—a Clean Air Act regulation designed to limit carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants (and later revised by the Trump-era “Affordable Clean Energy” (“ACE”) rule)—was struck down by the Supreme Court on June 30, 2022. See West Virginia et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency et al., No. 20-1530.

Relying on Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (“CAA”), the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA’s”) CPP set a carbon emission limit that was essentially unattainable for existing coal-fired power plants. Consequently, EPA determined that the “best system of emission reduction” for carbon from these plants was to cause a “generation shift” from higher carbon emitting coal-fired sources to lower-emitting sources, such as natural gas plants or wind or solar energy facilities. Compliance with the CPP would have required a plant operator to: (1) reduce the amount of electricity the plant generated to reduce the plant’s carbon emissions; (2) build a new natural gas plant, wind farm, or solar installation, or invest in someone else’s existing facility and increase generation there; or (3) purchase emission allowances as part of a cap-and-trade regime. See West Virginia at 8.

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