Earth Island Institute v. Gibson

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.