Justices look for a path to a pipeline in today's arguments

摘要

Supreme Court justices questioned whether a lower court decision over the Atlantic Coast pipeline crossingthe Appalachian Trail would create an "impermeable barrier" to natural gas pipelines on the East Coast,and the wisdom of upholding that ruling.The Supreme Court heard arguments today in Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC v. Cowpasture RiverPreservation Association, a case over whether the Forest Service should have authorized a natural gasproject to burrow a pipeline through federal land beneath the Appalachian Trail, which is overseen by theNational Park Service.Justices zeroed in on how broadly the ruling could be applied beyond the iconic trail, and some appearedcertain that upholding a 2018 ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would have ripple effects inother national park land.