Bloomberg Law quoted Beveridge & Diamond Principal Jamie Auslander (Washington, DC) in its article “UN Climate Report Expected to Drive U.S. Regulation, Litigation," on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the implications that the report may have on regulations and policy.

“It’s an eagerly-awaited report,” Jamie commented.

He explained that the UN panel’s work, though it does not prescribe policy, is expected to form part of the scientific “rational basis” for many federal regulations and decisions that affect greenhouse gas emissions. These include updated National Environmental Policy Act regulations, oil and gas leasing and royalty rates, and efforts by the Biden administration to establish a social cost of carbon, Jamie said.

Jamie also commented that courts have required federal agencies to show a rational basis for regulations to prove they are not arbitrary or capricious. The report’s findings will, he said, give federal agencies more “leeway” in promoting actions that they perceive will lower net carbon emissions and in defending those actions in litigation.