Senator Barrasso adds his weight to U.S. Supreme Court case

CASPER — Wyoming’s senior senator is throwing his political and intellectual weight behind a big case before the U.S. Supreme Court, whose outcome could significantly diminish the reach of the National Environmental Policy Act.

The law’s application has become overly rigorous and is bogging down economic development, Sen. John Barrasso argues in an Amicus Brief delivered to the court last week.

The act requires federal agencies to vet policies and development proposals to ensure communities and public lands are protected from certain environmental harms. Since its passage in 1969, however, the...