 Energy & Environment |
Energy & Environment |
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Supreme Court hears NEPA case |
The Supreme Court appears likely to rein in the scope of one of the nation's bedrock environmental laws after oral arguments on Tuesday. |
© AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File |
During oral arguments, several of the court's conservative justices signaled that they could support at least some limits on the scope of which environmental impacts need to be considered in government decision-making.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh argued that courts, which have struck down some environmental reviews as insufficient, have taken an "overly aggressive" role and incentivized agencies to take on sprawling environmental reviews.
The outcome of the case could have major implications: Limiting such consideration could impact a range of decisions, including whether to approve oil and gas drilling, mining projects, pipelines, logging, highways and more.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires consideration of environmental impacts before these projects are approved — and the results of that evaluation could lead to mandated mitigation of environmental harms. At issue in the case is whether and when upstream and downstream environmental impacts should be considered as part of these environmental reviews.
The court's conservative majority appeared to lean toward a lawyer representing a railway company and Utah counties, who argued that upstream and downstream effects should not be considered when they are "remote" in time and space.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett raised practical concerns about the government's future ability to evaluate downstream environmental impacts in light of a 2023 law that limited such reviews to 150 pages.
"It's going to be impossible for agencies to consider as many downstream and upstream effects just because of the procedural constraints," she said.
However, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the arguments in favor of curtailing the environmental law, presented by lawyer Paul Clement, "doesn't make much sense in the statutory scheme."
"Most environmental effects…are going to be sometimes remote in time and geography," she said. Read more at TheHill.com. |
Welcome to The Hill's Energy & Environment newsletter, we're Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains. |
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How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future: |
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The Biden administration is proposing protections for the monarch butterfly – though the protections face an uncertain future in the incoming Trump administration. |
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Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) vowed Tuesday to block any continuing resolution funding the government that only reauthorizes the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) for parts of Utah. |
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President-elect Trump indicated on Tuesday that he'll give expedited approvals to projects that invest at least $1 billion into the U.S. economy. |
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill: |
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Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) was selected to lead the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a powerful panel whose broad mandate spans energy, environment, technology and healthcare. |
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News we've flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics: |
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Arctic tundra now emits planet-warming pollution, federal report finds (NPR) Boston is slowly sinking. That doesn't help sea level rise due to climate change. (GBH)
'Zero progress': Western states at impasse in talks on Colorado River water shortages (The Los Angeles Times)
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Two key stories on The Hill right now: |
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Rep. Susan Wild (Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, was absent from the panel's meeting last week after being traced as the source of leaks to the press regarding the investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), sources told The Hill. Read more |
| Postmaster General Louis DeJoy covered his ears during a congressional hearing as Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) repeatedly pressed him on oversight of the Postal Service. Read more |
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Op-ed related to energy & environment submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! |
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