Supreme Court Serves Setback To Big Oil

The Supreme Court has refused to grant an oil industry plea to review a lower court decision that prevents fracking in the federal waters off the California coast. A 2014 lawsuit brought by the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) resulted in a federal court ruling that prevents the federal government from issuing fracking permits in the federal coastal waters near California until the government considers both “the environmental impacts of extensive offshore fracking” and “fully and fairly evaluate[s] all reasonable alternatives.” The Supreme Court refused to consider the validity of this order, keeping it in place until the federal government satisfies the conditions laid out by the lower court.

“The Santa Barbara Channel is one of the most ecologically rich and important regions in the world.” Maggie Hall, senior attorney at EDC, said in a statement. “As the climate crisis escalates, ending these destructive extraction practices is a matter of survival — not just for the whales, otters and other animals in the Channel, but for all life on earth.” (The Hill, Seeking Alpha, Washington Examiner,San Francisco Chronicle $)