Doubling down on Trump-era legal arguments, the Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling preventing PennEast from using eminent domain to complete a $1 billion gas pipeline that would run through Pennsylvania and New Jersey. While environmentalists have called on Biden to block new pipelines, the administration is backing PennEast in its bid to overturn a 2019 decision from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals that found the firm’s use of eminent domain would violate New Jersey’s sovereign immunity. Industry groups voiced support for the Biden administration’s willingness to wield executive authority over states in matters like this, but environmentalists criticized the move. Maya K. van Rossum, head of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, called the Justice Department’s position “an abuse of power and trust and a failure of the current administration to do its duty to protect people and our environment.” (Bloomberg Law, E&E $, The Hill)