In short:
- The 8-0 ruling curbs how NEPA can be used, limiting environmental reviews to only the immediate effects of projects like rail lines and pipelines.
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh emphasized that NEPA is procedural, not a weapon to block development, and courts must defer to agencies on what they include in their reviews.
- Environmental advocates argue this decision ignores the full chain of climate and health harms — like pollution from oil refining or increased risks to frontline communities.
Key quote:
“Fossil fuel infrastructure projects do not exist in a vacuum and have far-reaching impacts on communities, especially those on the frontlines of climate change or those who face serious health harms from increased pollution.”
— Nathaniel Shoaff, senior attorney at the Sierra Club
Why this matters:
The Supreme Court just shrank one of the most important tools the public has to fight environmentally risky projects at a time when fossil fuel projects are expanding. NEPA has long been a way for communities to slow — or at least understand — the consequences of big infrastructure plans. But Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the rest of the bench are reframing it as a box-checking exercise. This ruling allows agencies to decide what counts as worth reviewing, and courts are told to back off.
Read more: Supreme Court undoing 50 years’ worth of environmental progress
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