US should expand EIA requirements.

The article focuses on limitations in the United States' environmental impact assessments (EIAs) under the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), particularly illustrated by the Mobile Harbor expansion project in Alabama. While NEPA requires EIAs before infrastructure projects, assessments often consider only the environmental effects of proposed changes, not cumulative or historical impacts from existing infrastructure, as seen in Mobile Harbor's deepening and widening since 1870. A recent Supreme Court decision further restricts NEPA's scope by narrowing the geographic range of impacts reviewed, potentially excluding past environmental harm from evaluations. The article argues that comprehensive EIAs addressing both past and present ecological damage are essential for effective environmental protection and sustainable infrastructure development.