Three trade associations and a company that manufactures and sells gas-powered furnaces and other appliances filed a petition for writ of certiorari seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of a D.C. Circuit decision upholding Biden-era amendments to the energy efficiency standards for consumer furnaces and commercial water heaters. The petitioners presented two questions: (1) “[w]hether courts may defer to an agency’s legal interpretation of a statute because an agency applied the statute to undisputed facts, despite this Court’s holding in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo that courts must construe statutes without deference to agency statutory interpretations” and (2) “whether an appliance’s ability to operate in existing homes and buildings without renovation is a ‘performance characteristic’ that [the Energy Policy Conservation Act] prohibits the Department [of Energy] from eliminating.”

Challenge to a U.S. Department of Energy final interpretive rule regarding what constitutes a “feature” for purposes of establishing energy conservation standards.

American Gas Association v. U.S. Department of Energy

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Petition for Writ of Certiorari Sought Review of Biden Administration’s Energy Standards for Consumer Furnaces and Commercial Water Heaters

Filed

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

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Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

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Replacing technologies that burn fossil fuels directly with alternatives powered by electricity.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

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.

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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.

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Petition for Writ of Certiorari Sought Review of Biden Administration’s Energy Standards for Consumer Furnaces and Commercial Water Heaters

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance