Part 4/11:
This labyrinthine process is compounded by the adversarial nature of the U.S. legal system, especially under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), enacted in 1970. While NEPA mandates comprehensive documentation of environmental impacts, it does not prescribe substantive protections, leaving room for ambiguity and extensive litigation. Advocacy groups and legal actors exploit NEPA's vagueness to challenge projects indefinitely, often with the aim of delaying or killing infrastructure altogether—a tactic labeled "delay, delay, delay." These legal delays do not necessarily improve environmental outcomes but significantly hinder timely development.