Three conservation groups filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the Western District of Wisconsin challenging federal agency actions that facilitate development of a high-voltage transmission line from Dubuque County, Iowa, to Middleton, Wisconsin, passing through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The plaintiffs asserted violations of NEPA, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act. The plaintiffs <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/case/national-wildlife-refuge-association-v-rural-utilities-service/">previously challenged</a> approvals for the project. The district court granted a preliminary injunction, but the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the case did not present a reviewable final agency decision. In the new lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that the agencies had made final agency decisions in February 2024 when they issued a final EIS and record of decision and supplemental environmental assessment. The complaint alleged that these documents violated NEPA, including by failing to take a hard look at climate change impacts even though the federal defendants and the transmission line developers acknowledged the line would carry electricity from fossil fuel power plants. 

Challenge to federal agency actions that would facilitate development of a high-voltage transmission line from Dubuque County, Iowa, to Middleton, Wisconsin, passing through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

National Wildlife Refuge Association v. Rural Utilities Service

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National Wildlife Refuge Association v. Rural Utilities Service - complaint

Filed

United States of America

Wisconsin

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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.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

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

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

A loan is a policy instrument where funds are provided to a borrower with the expectation of repaying the principal plus interest.

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

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

Using laws and the legal system more broadly to protect vulnerable entities

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

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

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

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.

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.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

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

Activities that provide lodging, food, and entertainment services to guests, including hotels, restaurants, and resorts.

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

Activities involving the management, development, and sale of property assets.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

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

National Wildlife Refuge Association v. Rural Utilities Service - complaint

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance