The energy litigation landscape for the rest of 2026 features high-profile fights over climate change, as well as efforts by the Trump administration to boost fossil fuel development.

Climate tort litigation against fossil fuel companies will finally have its day in the U.S. Supreme Court, while the federal government faces challenges to moves that include the repeal of a finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and efforts to speed up construction of new fossil fuel projects while keeping existing infrastructure open.

In repealing the Obama administration's finding from 2009 that greenhouse gases endanger public health, the EPA said it had no legal basis to issue the finding and apply it to vehicle emissions.

The agency appears to be banking on ultimately convincing the Supreme Court to rethink its decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, in which justices established that greenhouse gases met the definition of pollutants under the Clean Air Act. That decision prompted the EPA to craft the endangerment finding, which the D.C. Circuit upheld in 2012.

Doing an about-face is a risky strategy for the agency, according to Duane Morris LLP environmental partner Alicyn Craig.

"The Supreme Court in 2007 acknowledged [the EPA's] ability to rulemake in that regard ... so I think it's going to be difficult for the EPA to kind of sustain and defend against the lawsuits," Craig said.

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