A bid by environmental groups to overturn EPA’s decision to grant Louisiana oversight of carbon injection wells came to a halt on Wednesday, after a federal appeals court threw out their lawsuit.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the three environmental groups lacked standing to sue.
“These allegations do no more than add another vague, atmospheric contingency to the chains of events described” in their lawsuit, wrote Judge Andrew Oldham, a Trump appointee, in the opinion for the court. “Standing requires more.”
Judge Kurt Engelhardt, another Trump appointee, also joined the opinion. Judge James Graves agreed that the challengers in the case lacked standing, but wrote in a separate concurrence that the majority set a stricter standard for establishing standing than outlined by the Supreme Court.
