Brooke Marcus Discusses Penguins’ Role in Efforts Against Climate Change

Brooke Marcus was quoted in the Bloomberg Law article, "Penguins Are Low-Impact Ammo in Legal War Against Climate Change" (subscription required). The article examines how environmental groups view the Interior Department’s proposed protection of the emperor penguin—which resides exclusively in Antarctica—under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as a tool to inhibit future U.S. oil and gas development.

Legal industry veterans say that any federal effort to leverage the plight of the penguins to stall oil projects face high odds.

Commenting for the article, Brooke said, "It will be challenging to link an oil and gas field contributing to climate change to any measurable or quantifiable impact on a species in a way that the ESA regulates species."

Brooke added that even though the listing would have a difficult time stopping an oil project, "it does provide agencies with a 'tangible hook' to carefully consider climate change in their environmental reviews of certain projects, and failure to do so will give opponents more fuel for a possible court challenge."