D.C. Circuit Upholds FERC Pipeline Order But Doubts Its Climate Claims

A federal court has dismissed a suit over the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of a closely watched natural gas project on procedural grounds, but the court rejected many of FERC’s substantive arguments for avoiding a broad climate change analysis and may provide a roadmap for future litigation. The case Birckhead v. FERC , challenges a Tennessee compressor station designed to increase the capacity of the region’s pipeline network. Observers saw it as an opportunity for environmentalists to expand...