Oregon Business & Industry v. Oregon Environmental Quality Commission

On April 16, 2026, industry groups, companies, and unions filed a lawsuit in the Oregon Court of Appeals challenging the Oregon Climate Protection Program rule adopted by the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (EQC). The petitioners alleged that the “massive compliance costs” associated with the program’s “steeply declining caps on critical fuel supplies such as natural gas, propane, gasoline, and diesel” would result in “billions of dollars in higher energy costs for Oregonians.” The petitioners also filed a motion requesting that the court expedite the case to minimize potential economic impacts. In their motion, the petitioners contended that the rule’s structure was “essentially similar” to an earlier iteration that the Court of Appeals <a href="https://www.climatecasechart.com/document/northwest-natural-gas-v-environmental-quality-commission_e0aa">invalidated</a> for failing to follow required procedures. The motion contended that the new iteration of the rule failed to address substantive legal flaws, included no protections for Oregonians from increased energy costs, failed to include a specific cost-benefit analysis, and overstepped the EQC’s authority.