"From Alaska to the Gulf Coast, the oil and gas industry and its allies scored key victories in legal battles this year to advance fossil fuel development over green groups’ claims that project approvals violated a bedrock environmental law.

Environmentalists asked courts to strike down fiercely contested offshore lease sales and a controversial gas pipeline — even after Congress passed bills requiring the projects to go forward — because, challengers alleged, federal regulators had failed to take a “hard look” at their environmental impact, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Judges were unconvinced that the groups’ NEPA claims could override congressional action.

When Congress passes laws — such as the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act or 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act — that direct the government to conduct a lease sale or greenlight a pipeline, NEPA lawsuits don’t stand a chance, said Keith Hall, director of Louisiana State University’s Energy Law Center."

Niina H. Farah reports for E&E News December 21, 2023. [2]