The ruling in this case was unanimous but the conservatives and the liberals wrote separate decisions reaching the same conclusion. The conservative decision was written by Justice Kavanaugh and the liberal one by Justice Sotomayor. Justice Gorsuch recused himself from this one because Democrats and environmental groups had complained a billionaire ally of his, Philip Anschutz, had a financial stake in the case. If they were hoping his recusal would help their chances, it didn’t work out that way. It’s an 8-0 decision instead of 9-0.
Ultimately, the decision limits the scope of environmental reviews mandated by a Nixon-era law called the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in a way that should make it easier for developers to build big projects. It’s being seen as a big setback for environmentalists.
The case is about a railway which was proposed in…
