Description: Challenge to government project to remove trees from forest for failure to address climate change.
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Earth Island Institute v. Gibson
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 07/13/2011 Order Download Order issued granting defendant's motion for summary judgment and denying plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. Two environmental nonprofits filed a lawsuit challenging the Forest Service’s fire restoration project in a national forest, alleging that the agency violated NEPA by failing to take a hard look at the project’s impact on climate change. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the agency failed to describe the methodology it used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions and failed to evaluate all direct and indirect emissions from the project. The district court upheld the agency’s analysis, finding that an environmental assessment (EA) issued as part of the project sufficiently addressed this issue and was entitled to deference.