This is one of those big deals that don't get enough attention. We'll see if the cases get cert and follow up.
From Fox, March 29:
Courts split on whether climate change lawsuits are governed by state or federal law
Federal courts of appeals cannot agree whether climate change lawsuits are governed by state or federal law. Some federal courts have also concluded these cases should proceed in state court, an outcome Judge David Stras — a respected jurist on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit — just last week called "confounding," even if correct. It’s time for the Supreme Court to intervene.
For over a century, the Supreme Court has held that lawsuits over air (and water) pollution that crosses state lines must be decided under federal law. This means overreaching states and cities cannot impose their environmental agendas on their neighbors or otherwise hijack the domain of federal environmental law, federal regulations and international treaties.
The Supreme Court unanimously extended this principle in American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut (AEP). That case, decided in 2011, involved federal-law claims by eight states, New York City and others to compel certain power companies to abate their greenhouse-gas emissions.
In an opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court concluded that applying federal law was appropriate, then agreed with the Obama administration that those claims couldn’t proceed in court at all because Congress has delegated the regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act....
....MUCH MORE
