Ten environmental groups file a third of all NEPA lawsuits against development
Source: Marginal REVOLUTION
The Breakthrough Institute found that a concentrated cluster of NGOs uses National Environmental Policy Act litigation to obstruct projects. Legal obstruction is cheaper and more scalable than building political coalitions for alternatives. This explains why permitting timelines for infrastructure—renewable energy included—now stretch into decades, while the groups driving suits face minimal accountability for the costs they impose: stranded transmission lines, delayed housing, cancelled mines. Environmental law has become a litigation tax on large-scale projects regardless of their environmental merit. The emergence of "pro-development environmentalists" as a distinct identity reflects this shift.