{"id":360607,"date":"2025-01-05T17:42:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T16:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=360607"},"modified":"2025-01-05T17:42:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-05T16:42:41","slug":"us-supremes-hear-climate-lawfare-case-to-stop-oil-railway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=360607","title":{"rendered":"US Supremes Hear Climate Lawfare Case to Stop Oil\u00a0Railway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"452\" data-attachment-id=\"360622\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=360622\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0supreme-court-storm-AS-1280-1080x675-1.jpg?fit=1080%2C675&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1080,675\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0supreme-court-storm-AS-1280-1080&amp;#215;675\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0supreme-court-storm-AS-1280-1080x675-1.jpg?fit=723%2C452&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0supreme-court-storm-AS-1280-1080x675-1.jpg?resize=723%2C452&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-360622\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0supreme-court-storm-AS-1280-1080x675-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C640&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0supreme-court-storm-AS-1280-1080x675-1.jpg?resize=300%2C188&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0supreme-court-storm-AS-1280-1080x675-1.jpg?resize=768%2C480&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0supreme-court-storm-AS-1280-1080x675-1.jpg?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/rclutz.com\/2025\/01\/04\/us-supremes-hear-climate-lawfare-case-to-stop-oil-railway\/\">Science Matters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rclutz.com\/author\/ronaldrc\/\">Ron Clutz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"748\" data-attachment-id=\"360608\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=360608\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-134.png?fit=967%2C1000&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"967,1000\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-134.png?fit=723%2C748&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-134.png?resize=723%2C748&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-360608\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-134.png?w=967&amp;ssl=1 967w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-134.png?resize=290%2C300&amp;ssl=1 290w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-134.png?resize=768%2C794&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">IER reports the news from December in article&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instituteforenergyresearch.org\/fossil-fuels\/gas-and-oil\/the-supreme-court-takes-on-a-case-involving-the-national-environmental-policy-act\/\"><strong>The Supreme Court Takes on a Case Involving the National Environmental Policy Act.<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp; Excerpts in italics with my bolds and added images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1&nbsp; The Supreme Court has heard a major NEPA case that could affect investment in energy and other infrastructure projects in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado<\/em>&nbsp;will decide whether permit applicants must anticipate far-flung speculative impacts over which federal agencies have no control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3&nbsp; The case involves an 88-mile railway accessing oil production in the Uinta Basin in Utah, allowing expansion of domestic oil production as well as access to essential minerals in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">4&nbsp; Green advocates sued the Surface Transportation Board because it approved without considering alleged but inestimable impacts far from the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">5&nbsp; Lower courts have sided with the Greens, who oppose mineral and energy development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">6&nbsp; SCOTUS is expected to clarify the burdens projects must face to comply with NEPA, which has become a tool of delay and denial by those opposing projects of all kinds in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">7 Congress is also looking at NEPA streamlining as the act has become an impediment to rational development in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"380\" data-attachment-id=\"360612\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=360612\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-135.png?fit=1413%2C743&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1413,743\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-135.png?fit=723%2C380&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-135.png?resize=723%2C380&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-360612\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-135.png?resize=1024%2C538&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-135.png?resize=300%2C158&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-135.png?resize=768%2C404&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-135.png?resize=1200%2C631&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-135.png?w=1413&amp;ssl=1 1413w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Supreme Court recently heard a\u00a0<strong>major case,\u00a0Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado,\u00a0<\/strong>that will affect the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The case concerns the<strong>\u00a0permitting of a proposed Utah railway that would ship oil<\/strong>\u00a0from the Uinta Basin, potentially\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/insideclimatenews.org\/news\/09122024\/utah-uinta-basin-railway-supreme-court-case\/\">quadrupling its oil production<\/a>.\u00a0The 88-mile\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/insideclimatenews.org\/news\/09122024\/utah-uinta-basin-railway-supreme-court-case\/\">Uinta Basin Railway would\u00a0<strong>connect<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u00a0the oil fields of northeastern Utah to the national rail networ<\/strong>k running alongside 100 or so miles of the Colorado River to reach oil refineries on the Gulf Coast.\u00a0 According to\u00a0The Hill, at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/5032936-supreme-court-case-environmental-law\/\">issue<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0<strong>whether and when upstream and downstream environmental impacts should be considered as part of federal environmental reviews<\/strong>.\u00a0The company behind the railway and a group of\u00a0<strong>Utah counties<\/strong>\u00a0appealed a lower court decision to the Supreme Court,\u00a0<strong>arguing that those indirect impacts are beyond the scope of the federal reviews<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Background<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The case concerns a rail line to support oil development and mineral mining. In 2021, the federal Surface Transportation Board&nbsp;<strong>(STB)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-permitting-case-nepa-seven-county-infrastructure-coalition-fcc26ca5?st=fSfys3&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\">issued a 3,600-page environmental impact statement<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;to comply with NEPA and&nbsp;<strong>approved the rail line.<\/strong>&nbsp;The NEPA mandates that federal agencies assess the environmental effects of projects within their authority. Any major initiative that is managed, regulated, or authorized by the federal government must undergo a&nbsp;<strong>NEPA evaluation<\/strong>, a process that can span years and frequently exposes projects to legal challenges.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>The STB&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-permitting-case-nepa-seven-county-infrastructure-coalition-fcc26ca5?st=fSfys3&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\">analyzed the railway\u2019s potential effects<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong>on local water resources, air quality, protected species, recreation, local economies, the Ute Indian tribe, and other factors.&nbsp;<strong>Environmental groups, however, sued<\/strong>&nbsp;the agency, saying that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-permitting-case-nepa-seven-county-infrastructure-coalition-fcc26ca5?st=fSfys3&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\">it failed to examine<\/a>&nbsp;sufficiently how the railway might affect the risk of accidents on connecting lines hundreds of miles away and&nbsp;<strong>to assess emissions in \u201cenvironmental justice communities\u201d on the Gulf Coast from increased oil shipments,<\/strong>&nbsp;among other supposed shortcomings.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>According to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-permitting-case-nepa-seven-county-infrastructure-coalition-fcc26ca5?st=fSfys3&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>&nbsp;editorial board, \u201ca&nbsp;<strong>D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel sided with the plaintiffs and told the STB it must consider the line\u2019s upstream and downstream effects<\/strong>&nbsp;even if they were hard to predict and beyond the control of the agency and developers. This includes the effects of oil shipments on Gulf Coast refiners and their contributions to climate change.\u201d The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/insideclimatenews.org\/news\/09122024\/utah-uinta-basin-railway-supreme-court-case\/\">appeals court ruling&nbsp;<strong>found<\/strong><\/a><strong>&nbsp;that the federal STB violated the Endangered Species Act and the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act when it permitted the project.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Furthermore, the editorial board also explained that lower court&nbsp;<strong>judges<\/strong>\u2014those&nbsp;<strong>on the D.C. and Ninth Circuits\u2014ignored the Supreme Court\u2019s past rulings and imposed arbitrary permitting requirements<\/strong>&nbsp;with no limiting principle.<strong>&nbsp;The STB lacks authority over Gulf Coast refiners and cannot prevent climate change.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"596\" data-attachment-id=\"360613\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=360613\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-136.png?fit=750%2C618&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"750,618\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-136.png?fit=723%2C596&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-136.png?resize=723%2C596&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-360613\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-136.png?w=750&amp;ssl=1 750w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-136.png?resize=300%2C247&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Court Rulings Regarding NEPA<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Supreme Court has heard other related cases and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-permitting-case-nepa-seven-county-infrastructure-coalition-fcc26ca5?st=fSfys3&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\">held that agencies need not consider indirect and unpredictable impact<\/a>, most recently&nbsp;<strong>in&nbsp;a 2004 case,<\/strong>&nbsp;Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen. In that case, the<strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-permitting-case-nepa-seven-county-infrastructure-coalition-fcc26ca5?st=fSfys3&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\">Supreme Court<\/a>&nbsp;held that agencies need only analyze environmental impact with \u201ca reasonably close causal relationship\u201d over which they have \u201cstatutory authority\u201d and which they can prevent.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>In 2020, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-permitting-case-nepa-seven-county-infrastructure-coalition-fcc26ca5?st=fSfys3&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\">Supreme Court green-lit approval<\/a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;<strong>permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline after nearly seven years of litigation<\/strong>, but the pipeline was&nbsp;<strong>scrapped due to legal delays<\/strong>&nbsp;that raised project costs significantly. It takes an average of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-permitting-case-nepa-seven-county-infrastructure-coalition-fcc26ca5?st=fSfys3&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\">4.2 years to litigate a NEPA challenge<\/a>, which adds to the four or more years to obtain a federal permit. These delays are what<strong>&nbsp;frustrate investment in new projects, slowing job creation and economic expansion in the United States.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>A&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-permitting-case-nepa-seven-county-infrastructure-coalition-fcc26ca5?st=fSfys3&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\">judge&nbsp;<strong>struck down a Montana coal mine permit<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;because a federal agency&nbsp;<strong>did not consider the climate effects of coal combustion in&nbsp;Asia.<\/strong>&nbsp;Additionally, a 225-mile&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/supreme-court-permitting-case-nepa-seven-county-infrastructure-coalition-fcc26ca5?st=fSfys3&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink\">electric transmission line in Nebraska has been stuck<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;in permitting for 10 years because a lower court invalidated a U.S. Fish and Wildlife permit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"541\" height=\"394\" data-attachment-id=\"360617\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=360617\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-138.png?fit=541%2C394&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"541,394\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-138.png?fit=541%2C394&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-138.png?resize=541%2C394&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-360617\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-138.png?w=541&amp;ssl=1 541w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-138.png?resize=300%2C218&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 541px) 100vw, 541px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Supreme Court is tackling<strong>&nbsp;a case involving the scope of a federal environmental law, NEPA,<\/strong>&nbsp;that involves a rail line to move oil. In this case, lower courts agreed with environmental groups, who are challenging the government\u2019s permit approval of the rail line. The case is instrumental to the issue of what should be considered when determining potential environmental damages. Congress recognizes that&nbsp;<strong>NEPA needs reform as delays over lawsuits have killed projects and dramatically increased their costs<\/strong>&nbsp;and it continues to debate ways to make federal permitting easier and quicker. Until that reform happens, however, Supreme Court&nbsp;<strong>Justices need to reign in the environmental limits of NEPA so that needed projects can progress in America.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"514\" data-attachment-id=\"360620\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=360620\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-140.png?fit=720%2C514&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"720,514\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-140.png?fit=720%2C514&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-140.png?resize=720%2C514&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-360620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-140.png?w=720&amp;ssl=1 720w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-140.png?resize=300%2C214&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court recently heard a\u00a0major case,\u00a0Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado,\u00a0that will affect the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The case concerns the\u00a0permitting of a proposed Utah railway that would ship oil\u00a0from the Uinta Basin, potentially\u00a0quadrupling its oil production.\u00a0The 88-mile\u00a0Uinta Basin Railway would\u00a0connect\u00a0the oil fields of northeastern Utah to the national rail network running alongside 100 or so miles of the Colorado River to reach oil refineries on the Gulf Coast.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":360622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691828380,691823886,691823546,691832449,691818670],"class_list":{"0":"post-360607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-climate-lawfare","10":"tag-national-environmental-policy-act","11":"tag-national-environmental-policy-act-nepa","12":"tag-oil-railway","13":"tag-supreme-court","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0supreme-court-storm-AS-1280-1080x675-1.jpg?fit=1080%2C675&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1vOf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":381181,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=381181","url_meta":{"origin":360607,"position":0},"title":"SCOTUS Slaps Down Green Overreach: 8-0 Ruling Frees Infrastructure from NEPA Shackles","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/06\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In a rare but resounding act of judicial sanity, the Supreme Court of the United States has delivered an 8-0 ruling that reins in one of the most abused weapons in the bureaucratic arsenal: environmental obstructionism. The case,\u00a0Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, stemmed from a challenge to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Chicken Littles\"","block_context":{"text":"Chicken Littles","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=chicken-littles"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-2.-Juni-2025-17_56_17.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-2.-Juni-2025-17_56_17.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-2.-Juni-2025-17_56_17.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-2.-Juni-2025-17_56_17.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":335704,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=335704","url_meta":{"origin":360607,"position":1},"title":"Supreme Court to decide whether climate studies will be required for Infrastructure projects","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/07\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The U.S. Supreme Court June 24 agreed to take up a case that may ultimately determine whether critical infrastructure projects \u2013 from transportation to transmission of energy \u2013 will require climate impact analyses before that can go forward. Plans by a public-private partnership to construct an 88-mile-long rail line in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Impacts\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Impacts","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-impacts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Construction-cranes-hard-hat.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Construction-cranes-hard-hat.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Construction-cranes-hard-hat.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Construction-cranes-hard-hat.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Construction-cranes-hard-hat.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":383407,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=383407","url_meta":{"origin":360607,"position":2},"title":"NEPA reform time","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/06\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On Billie Joe McAllister Day, the U.S. Supreme Court shockingly issued an 8-0 decision (Justice Gorsuch abstaining) that substantially limits the scope of the 55-year-old National Environmental Policy Act, the nation\u2019s foundational environmental law. The decision dealt a huge blow to rent-seeking attorneys, shakedown artists, \u201canti-progress\u201d obstructionists, anarchists and socialists,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"economy killer\"","block_context":{"text":"economy killer","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=economy-killer"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Screenshot-2025-06-16-162423.png?fit=1200%2C792&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Screenshot-2025-06-16-162423.png?fit=1200%2C792&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Screenshot-2025-06-16-162423.png?fit=1200%2C792&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Screenshot-2025-06-16-162423.png?fit=1200%2C792&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Screenshot-2025-06-16-162423.png?fit=1200%2C792&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":437531,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=437531","url_meta":{"origin":360607,"position":3},"title":"Environmentalists are fighting our living standards in court","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/04\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Environmental groups and climate-obsessed local governments are waging aggressive climate lawfare across America \u2014 using lawsuits to bypass Congress, the U.N.\u2019s stalled global schemes, Trump administration policies, and Supreme Court rulings. They are determined to impose their anti-fossil-fuel agenda on the rest of us and hammer our living standards.","rel":"","context":"In \"\u201cexistential threat\u201d\"","block_context":{"text":"\u201cexistential threat\u201d","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=existential-threat-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AQM0SspDECHjjNqF5UQrL7NonKoWyKhxNrtMZnqDVMBQRa3Wf4WcOHCwJ_kmphwXgEBOlA0_j1kZ-gPAOtMwrrg7rEY1Vejvcd9pxjQwol68gLgpm7EdrlLQheYWYLOr8KbtLRBXl9v6WN3VkU-IlAWR6_zmPA.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AQM0SspDECHjjNqF5UQrL7NonKoWyKhxNrtMZnqDVMBQRa3Wf4WcOHCwJ_kmphwXgEBOlA0_j1kZ-gPAOtMwrrg7rEY1Vejvcd9pxjQwol68gLgpm7EdrlLQheYWYLOr8KbtLRBXl9v6WN3VkU-IlAWR6_zmPA.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AQM0SspDECHjjNqF5UQrL7NonKoWyKhxNrtMZnqDVMBQRa3Wf4WcOHCwJ_kmphwXgEBOlA0_j1kZ-gPAOtMwrrg7rEY1Vejvcd9pxjQwol68gLgpm7EdrlLQheYWYLOr8KbtLRBXl9v6WN3VkU-IlAWR6_zmPA.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AQM0SspDECHjjNqF5UQrL7NonKoWyKhxNrtMZnqDVMBQRa3Wf4WcOHCwJ_kmphwXgEBOlA0_j1kZ-gPAOtMwrrg7rEY1Vejvcd9pxjQwol68gLgpm7EdrlLQheYWYLOr8KbtLRBXl9v6WN3VkU-IlAWR6_zmPA.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AQM0SspDECHjjNqF5UQrL7NonKoWyKhxNrtMZnqDVMBQRa3Wf4WcOHCwJ_kmphwXgEBOlA0_j1kZ-gPAOtMwrrg7rEY1Vejvcd9pxjQwol68gLgpm7EdrlLQheYWYLOr8KbtLRBXl9v6WN3VkU-IlAWR6_zmPA.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":416620,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=416620","url_meta":{"origin":360607,"position":4},"title":"Supreme Court should not let climate lawfare set U.S. energy policy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/12\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Climate lawfare is a Big Business. State, county and city lawyers have filed some 30 lawsuits, alleging that oil companies misrepresented the impacts of their products and caused billions of dollars in climate and weather damages.","rel":"","context":"In \"climate and weather\"","block_context":{"text":"climate and weather","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-and-weather-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQMZtqwaiiSQZSRAim3i8mBB2mzwhKUp6KZfqOzAO44s6NEHmonIrCSAGvlDjnhHj8AmOfxKbGb5UtkQjPXAL4dr4MWp0dPavdtYNOt6tAexZOlIcXmo8H1lisebISzB.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQMZtqwaiiSQZSRAim3i8mBB2mzwhKUp6KZfqOzAO44s6NEHmonIrCSAGvlDjnhHj8AmOfxKbGb5UtkQjPXAL4dr4MWp0dPavdtYNOt6tAexZOlIcXmo8H1lisebISzB.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQMZtqwaiiSQZSRAim3i8mBB2mzwhKUp6KZfqOzAO44s6NEHmonIrCSAGvlDjnhHj8AmOfxKbGb5UtkQjPXAL4dr4MWp0dPavdtYNOt6tAexZOlIcXmo8H1lisebISzB.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQMZtqwaiiSQZSRAim3i8mBB2mzwhKUp6KZfqOzAO44s6NEHmonIrCSAGvlDjnhHj8AmOfxKbGb5UtkQjPXAL4dr4MWp0dPavdtYNOt6tAexZOlIcXmo8H1lisebISzB.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQMZtqwaiiSQZSRAim3i8mBB2mzwhKUp6KZfqOzAO44s6NEHmonIrCSAGvlDjnhHj8AmOfxKbGb5UtkQjPXAL4dr4MWp0dPavdtYNOt6tAexZOlIcXmo8H1lisebISzB.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":381115,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=381115","url_meta":{"origin":360607,"position":5},"title":"World re-embraces muscle energy and muscle cars","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/06\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This week, several stories emerged that show America has done an about-face on cars and energy. We\u2019ve ditched the low-wattage ideas of the green zealots and re-embraced the things that make America awesome. One of those things just happens to involve a sad climate scientist and phony Nobel \u201claureate\u201d\u2014Michael Mann.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"California\"","block_context":{"text":"California","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=california"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Retro-muscle-car.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Retro-muscle-car.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Retro-muscle-car.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Retro-muscle-car.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0Retro-muscle-car.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=360607"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":360624,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360607\/revisions\/360624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/360622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=360607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=360607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=360607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}