The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that federal eminent domain powers can be used to seize land to construct the PennEast Pipeline in New Jersey. The ruling, announced Tuesday (pdf), did not fall along the typical ideological lines. Republican appointees Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh voted in the majority along with Democrat-appointed Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, who were appointed by former President Donald Trump, dissented in the ruling. Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative justices, and Democrat appointee Elena Kagan joined them. The majority ruled that PennEast has the power to seize state-owned and protected lands to construct its 120-mile-long natural gas pipeline between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The decision upheld a precedent that energy firms have previously used to build pipelines around the United States. Their ruling also reversed a …