Today’s Key Takeaways: Supreme Court gives permission to build! JERA submits expression of interest in AKLNG. Major infrastructure win for Alaska mining. Two prominent AK provisions stripped from big, beautiful bill.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
Three takeaways from the Supreme Court’s big NEPA ruling
Ben Geman, Axios, May 30, 2025
Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling that put new limits on federal reviews of infrastructure and energy projects.
Why it matters: Narrowing the National Environmental Policy Act’s scope has giant implications for President Trump’s pro-fossil “energy dominance” agenda.
1. This case is sneakily a huge deal. It wasn’t among the highest-profile SCOTUS battles that touch environmental policy, like the “Chevron deference” and “major questions” rulings.
- But a spin through the docket shows that powerful K Street lobbies, environmentalists, and senior members of Congress all took keen interest. Names of note include Sen. John Barrasso, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
2. It could have long-term climate policy effects. One thing to watch over the horizon is how much it curtails future presidents from stitching carbon emissions into project decisions.
- Biden-era officials were taking steps in that direction, though Trump 2.0 has been reversing them, such as this week’s formal withdrawal of 2023 Council on Environmental Quality guidance.
3. It could have unpredictable effects. A hot center-left view these days is that NEPA (and other review layers) make it too hard to build anything — including low-carbon infrastructure.
- Aidan Mackenzie of the Institute for Progress, writing on X, shouts out Justice Brett Kavanaugh for being “full abundance-pilled.”
- The Kavanaugh-written decision says NEPA thwarts all kinds of projects — including transmission and wind turbines.
- Check out Mackenzie’s entire thread, which delves into what discretion agencies will and won’t have under the ruling.
Catch up quick: The case centered on federal approval of an 88-mile railway to carry oil from Utah’s Uinta basin to larger rail networks and Gulf Coast refineries.
- It reverses an appellate ruling that regulators needed to weigh matters beyond the railway’s direct effects, such as drilling impacts, refining pollution and climate change.
“NEPA does not allow courts, ‘under the guise of judicial review’ of agency compliance with NEPA, to delay or block agency projects based on the environmental effects of other projects separate from the project at hand,” the 8-0 decision states.
- The court’s three liberals issued a concurrence on the fresh limits on NEPA reviews weighing upstream and downstream project effects.
- But they ding the majority for “unnecessarily grounding its analysis largely in matters of policy.”
What they’re saying: The American Petroleum Institute applauded the court’s “long overdue steps to restore NEPA to its original intent.” But API said “common-sense permitting reform” is still needed.
- On the flip side, the Center for Biological Diversity said the ruling “guarantees that bureaucrats can put their heads in the sand” on how projects affect ecosystems, wildlife and the climate.
What we’re watching: How the ruling starts filtering down to specific project reviews on LNG terminals, oil and gas development and more.
GAS:
Japan’s Top LNG Importer Will Explore Buying From Alaska
Energy Connects, May 30, 2025
Japan’s largest liquefied natural gas importer, JERA Co., signaled it would consider buying the fuel from an export project in Alaska that has been championed by US President Donald Trump, as companies and government officials travel to the northern state for a week of negotiations and deals.
JERA, which is also the Asian nation’s largest power producer, submitted its expression of interest ahead of a summit next week, said people with knowledge of the matter. JERA did not specify how much LNG the company would potentially buy, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
JERA declined to comment regarding the expression of interest.
The move is a small step forward for the $44 billion Alaska LNG export project, which has been proposed in various forms for decades but has so far struggled to secure binding long-term contracts and investments. It comes as Japan’s government is seeking to smooth the path to a tariff deal with the US.
The Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference is not centered on the LNG project alone, but US proponents are using the gathering as a timely opportunity to gather support — while Asian gas buyers are seizing the moment to gain favor with Washington at a critical juncture in trade talks.
Takehiko Matsuo, vice minister for international affairs at Japan’s Trade Ministry, will attend the gathering, Japanese Trade Minister Yoji Muto said to media on Friday.
Taiwan will also send a delegation to the conference. South Korea’s energy ministry and Korea Gas Corp. are expected to attend the same discussions, the Herald Business Newspaper reported earlier this week.
MINING:
Grande Portage Secures Major Infrastructure Win: $30M Alaska Terminal to Slash Gold Transport Costs
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / May 29, 2025 / Grande Portage Resources Ltd. (TSXV:GPG)(OTCQB:GPTRF)(FSE:GPB) (“Grande Portage” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is advancing infrastructure development at Cascade Point, the site of the company’s proposed ore shipping terminal as well as a proposed passenger ferry terminal.
The Cascade Point property is owned by Goldbelt Inc, an Alaska Native corporation based in Juneau. Goldbelt and Grande Portage have an existing Letter of Intent to cooperate on advancing a freight barge terminal facility at the site, which would be utilized for transportation of ore from the company’s New Amalga Gold Project to a third-party processing facility. (See Grande Portage press release dated September 10, 2024)
Goldbelt also has an existing Memorandum of Understanding with the Alaska DOT&PF for advancing development of an Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) passenger ferry terminal at the site, which would significantly shorten the ferry route between Juneau and nearby communities.
Last week, the Alaska DOT&PF announced that it is initiating a design-build contracting process for Phase 1 of the Cascade Point Passenger Ferry Terminal. The scope of work includes all earthworks and site preparation for the uplands area, procurement of materials for development of the marine area, construction of a replacement bridge to enable heavy equipment access to the site, and construction of a new access road suitable for year-round use. Total value for this contract is estimated at $20-30 million USD.
Development of the ore terminal is not contingent on development of the passenger ferry terminal – it can be developed prior to (and independently of) the passenger ferry facility. However, having the ferry terminal proceed first is highly advantageous as it would result in the development of infrastructure that will also be necessary for the ore terminal, particularly the new access road and bridge. This reduces the time and cost required for future ore terminal development.
Ian Klassen, President and CEO comments: “We are extremely pleased to see the State of Alaska advancing the Cascade Point Passenger Ferry Terminal towards construction. In the future, Grande Portage and Goldbelt intend to further develop the site by adding a freight barge terminal for transportation of ore from the New Amalga Gold Project to a third-party processing facility. This dual-use of the site will maximize the benefits to the local economy and create long-term job opportunities for the community of Juneau”.
POLITICS:
Alaska drilling, mining could see a megabill comeback
Garrett Downs, E & E News, May 23, 2025 (subscription required)
House Republicans sacked two prominent Alaska drilling and mining provisions from their tax, energy and national security megabill just hours before it cleared the chamber, but a top GOP lawmakers has hopes the Senate will add them back in.
The two provisions cut from H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” would have facilitated approval of the Ambler mining access road and ramped up drilling in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. They are long-sought priorities for Republicans, and their fate on the cutting room floor came as a surprise.
House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), however, said the provisions were removed over procedural concerns relating to the budget reconciliation process.
“These provisions were addressed in the manager’s amendment out of an abundance of caution as part of the nuanced reconciliation process,” Westerman said in an email.