Climate Metric Ruling Threatens Policy Delays, Creates ‘Chaos’

A preliminary injunction on the use of the social cost of carbon estimate is creating conflicting mandates at the US Department of the Interior, including a slow down in oil and gas leasing, Scott H. Segal tells Bloomberg Law.

“There’s an irony that they would say ‘Gosh, if we ever decide to do a lot more leasing on federal lands, this would slow us down,’ and at the same time they tell progressive constituencies in Congress and elsewhere that don’t intend to do a lot of leasing,” said Segal.

The Bureau’s halt to work on oil and gas permitting and leasing arguably is the most visible effect of the injunction.