D.C. District Court Orders EPA To Respond To Climate Change FOIA Request

On June 1, 2018, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a memorandum opinion ordering the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to respond to a Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") request received from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility ("PEER"). Public Employees for Envtl. Responsibility v. U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, No. 17-652 (D.D.C.). The request related to March 9, 2017, public statements made by then-Administrator Scott Pruitt expressing skepticism about the impact of human activity on global warming and stating that there is "tremendous disagreement" about whether the carbon dioxide produced by human activity is a primary factor in global warming. The day after Pruitt's comments, PEER filed a FOIA request with EPA seeking: (i) all agency records relied upon by the Administrator in making his statements; and (ii) any agency documents supporting the position that human activity is not the principal