Sierra Club v. EPA

In a joint status report filed with the district court for the District of Columbia, EPA indicated that it had completed its search for records responsive to Sierra Club’s request for records on which Wheeler relied. The parties said they were conferring as to how EPA would respond to the second part of Sierra Club’s request, which was for “records produced, commissioned, or otherwise obtained by EPA that support the conclusion that ‘most of the threats from climate change are 50 to 75 years out[.]’” The parties proposed to update the court in a joint status report on February 21.

On January 23, 2020, Sierra Club issued a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2020/01/breaking-epa-docs-reveal-wheeler-had-zero-basis-for-public-climate-denial">press release</a> saying that documents produced by EPA in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking documents supporting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s assertions about climate change in a television interview revealed “that there was no factual basis” for Wheeler’s statement that “most of the threats from climate change are 50 to 75 years out.” In a joint status report filed with the district court for the District of Columbia, EPA indicated that it had completed its search for records responsive to Sierra Club’s request for records on which Wheeler relied. The parties said they were conferring as to how EPA would respond to the second part of Sierra Club’s request, which was for “records produced, commissioned, or otherwise obtained by EPA that support the conclusion that ‘most of the threats from climate change are 50 to 75 years out[.]’” The parties proposed to update the court in a joint status report on February 21.

Sierra Club filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in federal court in the District of Columbia seeking an order requiring EPA to respond to its request for records on which EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler relied in a television interview in March 2019 when he asserted that “most of the threats from climate change are 50 to 75 years out.” Sierra Club alleged that Wheeler’s assertion “directly contradicts the clear consensus of the scientific community, including the United States’ own Fourth National Climate Assessment—a monumental work authored by scientists from 13 federal agencies including EPA, and published months before the Administrator’s interview.” Sierra Club alleged that EPA initially signaled it would comply with the FOIA request but later categorically denied it, claiming that the request was not adequately specific. Sierra Club asserted that this was an improper basis for denial of the request.