On August 31, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed Missouri and twelve other states’ lawsuit challenging President Biden’s Executive Order 13990 (“EO 13990”) that directs federal agencies to apply the social cost of greenhouse gases.  The district court did not address the states’ constitutional or Administrative Procedure Act claims because it concluded that the states lacked standing and their claims were unripe.  The case is Missouri v. Biden, Case No. 4:21-cv-00287 (E.D. Mo.).

The Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases

The social cost of greenhouse gases—which includes unique values for carbon, nitrous oxide, and methane—are estimates of the monetized damages associated with incremental increases in greenhouse gas emissions.  The purpose of using the values is to determine the social benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions when conducting cost-benefit analyses of regulatory and other actions.

EO 13990 (1) called for updates to the social cost of carbon, nitrous oxide, and methane; and (2) directed federal agencies to use the updated costs “when monetizing the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from regulations and other relevant agency actions.”  Currently, federal agencies are using interim social cost values found here.  Updated values for the social cost of greenhouse gases are scheduled to be published during or before January 2022.

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A copy of the district court’s decision is available here. 

If you have any questions about the social cost of greenhouse gases or other issues related to environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, please contact insights@goodstewardlegal.com.

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