southern environmental law center

Atlantic Coast Pipeline Work Restarts as Opponents Decry ‘Rushed Decisions’

Atlantic Coast Pipeline Work Restarts as Opponents Decry ‘Rushed Decisions’

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled Monday that work could resume on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which opponents call “unnecessary and a boondoggle,” the Charlotte Business Journal reported. Work on the controversial pipeline halted last month after a federal appeals court vacated two permits required for the project to complete its 600 mile route […]

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    Federal Ruling on Controversial Pipeline May Halt Construction

    Federal Ruling on Controversial Pipeline May Halt Construction

    Opponents of the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would carry fracked natural gas from West Virginia through Virginia’s Highland Country and into North Carolina, won a reprieve Tuesday when a federal appeals court invalidated a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) review of the pipeline, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. The ruling was issued by the […]

    EPA Sued Over Failure to Release Correspondence With Heartland Institute

    EPA Sued Over Failure to Release Correspondence With Heartland Institute

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is being sued for its “unlawful and unreasonable delay” in responding to requests for information about the agency’s communications with the Heartland Institute, according to a complaint by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The Heartland Institute is an Illinois-based think tank that […]

    Trump Administration Sued for Suspension of Clean Water Rule

    Trump Administration Sued for Suspension of Clean Water Rule

    Multiple states and conservation groups are legally challenging the Trump administration’s decision to delay the Obama-era Clean Water Rule. Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put a two-year suspension on the rule, also known as Waters of the United States (WOTUS), which protects large water bodies like lakes and rivers but also listed […]

    Major East Coast Pipelines Approved by FERC Despite Strong Opposition

    Major East Coast Pipelines Approved by FERC Despite Strong Opposition

    Federal regulators approved plans for two controversial new natural gas pipelines along the East Coast Friday. In a divided 2-1 vote, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave the green light to the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipeline projects, which would carry shale gas through Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, the […]

    How This Energy Company’s Deep Influence Is Tainting Atlantic Coast Pipeline Approval Process

    How This Energy Company’s Deep Influence Is Tainting Atlantic Coast Pipeline Approval Process

    By Andy Rowell There is a growing political scandal in Virginia regarding the ubiquitous influence of the state’s largest energy company, Dominion Energy, and it’s raising fundamental questions about the integrity of the governor’s office and state regulators who will decide the fate of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Dominion’s longstanding exercise of power and […]

    Court Stops U.S. Fish & Wildlife from Killing Wild Red Wolves

    Court Stops U.S. Fish & Wildlife from Killing Wild Red Wolves

    The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina today issued a preliminary injunction that orders the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to stop capturing and killing—and authorizing private landowners to capture and kill—members of the rapidly dwindling population of wild red wolves. On behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, the Animal Welfare […]