Justice Neil Gorsuch won’t sit for next week’s environmental showdown because he sees ethical conflicts in the review of a proposed Utah oil and gas rail line. According to a letter from the high court’s clerk Scott Harris, the Donald Trump appointee determined he would not continue to participate in the case consistent with the justices’ code of conduct, Courthouse News reports. Gorsuch did not detail his ethical conflict, but he has been pressured to recuse from the case because of his ties to an oil billionaire who stands to profit from the ruling. Gorsuch’s recusal is rare despite the increased focus on the justices’ ethical standards over the last few years. All nine justices signed onto a code of conduct in November 2023, but the high court’s compliance and enforcement of these standards has been murky.
The upcoming case, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, will decide what environmental impacts government agencies must consider when assessing industry projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, known as NEPA. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved a permit to build a Utah railway that would quadruple oil production in the Uinta Basin. Gorsuch's involvement likely is related to his friendship and role, 20 years ago, as counsel for billionaire Philip Anschutz, the owner of Anschutz Exploration Corporation, who operates oil wells in the area and could benefit from the 88-mile line. Anschutz’s company filed a friend of the court brief, asking the justices to narrow the scope of NEPA. A government watchdog said the Uinta Basin Railway would cut Anschutz’s freighting costs and increase the company’s profits. However, Anschutz also has oil and gas operations in other regions in Utah as well as Colorado and Wyoming that are all subject to environmental reviews.
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