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A federal district court in Louisiana has rejected as unlawful President Joe Biden’s withdrawal in early January 2025 of historically large portions of the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”) from eligibility for leasing of oil and natural gas.

An oil major (“the Company”) filed suit in federal court on October 24, 2025, challenging California’s Climate Laws — the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (“SB 253”) and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (“SB 261”) — on the basis that the laws violate the Company’s First Amendment rights.

In a potential watershed moment that could reverberate across companies that have set climate goals or made claims regarding climate ambitions (e.g., “net zero” or carbon neutrality), on October 23, 2025, a European oil major (the “Company”) was handed a potentially significant greenwashing ruling by the Paris Judicial Court (the “Court”), which found the Company’s claims about its role in the energy transition and its net zero ambitions were likely to mislead consumers.

From October 14–17, 2025, the Marine Environment Protection Committee (“MEPC”) of the International Maritime Organization (“IMO”) convened an extraordinary session in London to consider formal adoption of draft amendments to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, including the IMO Net-Zero Framework.

On October 15, 2025, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry issued an Executive Order (“Order”) halting the review of all new Class VI Underground Injection Control (“UIC”) well permits in the state and directed the state’s regulator, the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy (“LDCE”) to undertake a more careful review of pending Class VI permit applications.

In the latest round of developments regarding California’s Climate Laws—SB 253 and SB 261—the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) posted a Notice to its website on October 14, 2025, deferring its initial rulemaking on the laws until the first quarter of 2026 in response to the large volume of public comments it has received.

On September 18, 2025, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published its latest proposed policy in an active year for the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) program.

What can project developers actually build before securing an air permit?

On August 18, 2025, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a district court order dismissing an ethylene oxide (“EtO”) exposure case for lack of Article III standing.

On August 22, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced decisions on 175 small refinery exemption (“SRE”) petitions stretching back over the last four years.

On August 13, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied a motion for preliminary injunction to enjoin California Senate Bills 253 and 261.

The White House recently unveiled “America’s AI Action Plan,” a comprehensive strategy designed to secure United States leadership in the global artificial intelligence race.