U.S. Supreme Court may limit environmental statements blocking energy development: report

NEW YORK, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Supreme Court may be about to sharply limit the reach of so-called environmental impact statements, which gauge potential harm caused by new developments and can often block or scale back large projects.

"For more than 50 years, federal law has required agencies to take a hard and broad look at the 'reasonably foreseeable environmental effects' of a building or development project before approving it," according to the Los Angeles Times.

The justices sounded ready on Tuesday to reconsider that approach in a case involving a proposed 88-mile railroad line in Utah that would allow crude oil to be shipped to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

"Focus on the project," argued Paul Clement, a Washington attorney representing county governments in support of the project. He urged justices to consider only the direct impact of the rail line's construction, and not potential secondary impacts that are "remote in time and space."