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Border Power Plant Working Group v. Department of Energy, 260 F. Supp. 2d 997 (S.D. Cal. 2003)
Climate Change
Energy
Coal and gas power plants
Environmental Impact Assessment
Cumulative Impacts
Enforcement
In Border Power Plant Working Group v. Department of Energy, the plaintiffs challenged the environmental assessment (EA) prepared for required permits and rights-of-way to build electricity transmission lines. 260 F. Supp. 2d 997, 1006 (S.D. Cal. 2003). The transmission lines would carry electricity generated from gas-fired power plants across the border from Mexico to California. In an order granting in part and deying in part motions for summary judgment, a federal district court found the EA inadequate in its analysis of the environmental impacts of the proposed electricity transmission lines in part because it failed to analyze the significance of the increased carbon dioxide emissions generated by power plants providing electricity that would be carried over the lines. Id. at 1028-1029. Subsequently, the Department of Energy prepared an EIS, which was found to be adequate in Border Power Plant Working Group v. Department of Energy. 467 F. Supp. 2d 1040, 1070 (S.D. Cal. 2006).