Niina covers energy law, including litigation over pipelines, eminent domain, oil and gas leasing and federal regulations. Niina first joined E&E in June 2014. She started covering climate issues in agriculture, oceans, and ecology at Climatewire, before transitioning to cover EPA climate policy under the Obama and Trump administrations. Most recently, Niina has covered federal agencies and federal regulations for Greenwire.
Developers of the Keystone XL pipeline have not yet given up on the crude oil project, even after President Biden threw out a permit for the conduit to cross the U.S.-Canada border earlier this year.
A panel of federal judges appeared sympathetic yesterday to the prospect of allowing the Biden administration to reconsider its process for oil and gas leasing on public lands affecting greater sage grouse habitat — but questioned whether certain leases could be revived under the new regime.
The Biden administration this week asked a federal appeals court to close out a dispute over a key permit for the now-suspended Keystone XL pipeline.
A coal company is joining calls for the Supreme Court to review EPA's authority to broadly regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
The Biden administration says it will leave the decision to temporarily stop the flow of crude oil through the Dakota Access pipeline up to the "sound discretion" of a federal court.