decision

Alaska Federal Court Upheld Federal Approvals for Willow Project, Rejecting Claims that Agencies Failed to Consider Climate Impacts

Challenge to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s 2023 approval of the Willow Master Development Plan in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management

Litigation

Sabin

Sabin Litigation

order

Alaska Federal Court Denied Plaintiffs’ Request for Injunction Pending Appeal in Challenge to Willow Project

amicus brief

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - amicus brief

opposition

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - opposition

motion

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - motion

reply

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - reply

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - order

amicus motion

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - amicus motion

brief

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - brief

notice

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - notice

response

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - response

motion for summary judgment

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - motion for summary judgment

complaint

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - complaint

Alaska Federal Court Denied Preliminary Injunction in Two Cases Challenging Willow Project

motion to intervene

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management - motion to intervene

Filing Year For Action

Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Households employing domestic workers, for activities like cooking, cleaning and subsistence farming, for their own use.

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Electricity generation from devices driven by the movement of salt water, differences in saltwater temperatures, or salinity gradients.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

The cryosphere is the frozen part of the Earth—it includes sea ice, glaciers, snow, and ice sheets. It helps regulate the climate and weather by reflecting sunlight. Rising temperatures are causing melting, leading to sea ice loss, glacier collapse, and glacier landslides and avalanches. This threatens the livelihoods of around 700 million people who rely on the cryosphere for food, water security, and cultural practices.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Alaska Federal Court Upheld Federal Approvals for Willow Project, Rejecting Claims that Agencies Failed to Consider Climate Impacts

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance