Last month, in Louisiana v. Biden, a federal district court in Texas enjoined all federal agencies from relying upon or otherwise considering social cost of carbon estimates developed by an Interagency Working Group appointed by President Biden. This decision misapplied multiple administrative law doctrines, as I detailed in this post.
Today, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a stay of the district court's injunction, pending appeal. In a brief per curiam opinion, the panel (consisting of Judges Southwick, Graves, and Costa) explained why the district court was wrong to enjoin agencies' use of the IWG social cost of carbon estimates.
The Fifth Circuit's opinion both provides useful context, and explains why the plaintiff states do not have standing to press their specific claims (though they might well have standing to challenge specific agency actions that rely upon social cost of carbon estimates). Here are the relevant portions:
