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President Trump said the environmental changes were a “historic advance”
United States President Donald Trump announced modifications to a landmark environmental law, in a controversial move to allow projects to continue with less oversight.
Trump touted the changes to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) as a “historic breakthrough.”
He said they would speed up reviews of major infrastructure projects.
But critics say the changes amount to dismantling the 50-year-old law and are a gift to polluters.
Signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970, NEPA is considered the foundation of environmental safeguards in the United States.
Under the law, federal agencies must be transparent and consult with the public before embarking on infrastructure projects that could affect the environment.
But under the changes presented by President Trump, the time window for the review process will be shortened. This will speed up the approval of projects such as mines, roads, pipelines, and power plants.
“This is a historic advance that means better roads and highways,” Trump said, announcing the changes to a hub for the UPS delivery company in Atlanta, Georgia.
“We are reclaiming the proud heritage of the United States as a nation that does things.”
Trump’s choice of location was symbolic, because the changes will accelerate the expansion of I-75, an important path for truck drivers in Georgia.
What else do we know about regulatory changes?
Speaking in Atlanta, Trump said his administration was “completely modernizing the environmental review process” for infrastructure projects.
Trump, a property magnate before he became president, said he had been personally frustrated by the “ridiculous process,” which was “the biggest obstacle to infrastructure projects.”
As part of the changes to NEPA, the review deadline will be reduced “to two years or less,” Trump said.
“What we are doing, the two years will not be the exception, it will be the rule. This will reduce the approval time for highways by only 70%,” Trump said.
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Legal challenges and regulatory hurdles for infrastructure projects have frustrated the Trump administration
Before the announcement, a White House official told the US media: “The new regulations will modernize, simplify, and accelerate the environmental review process necessary to build a wide range of projects in the United States, including highways, bridges, and highways.” .
What do environmental groups say?
Environmentalists have condemned the changes as a cynical attempt to avoid scrutiny and bypass communities most affected by pipelines and other projects.
The Center for Biological Diversity, an advocacy group, said the measure “will weaken safeguards for air, water, wildlife and public lands.”
“This may be the biggest gift for polluters in the past 40 years,” said Brett Hartl, the group’s director of government affairs.
Greenpeace USA accused the Trump administration of “a blatant attempt to silence working-class communities of color” who “were resisting the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure.”
What is President Trump’s record on environmental protection?
The changes announced Wednesday are part of a much broader environmental reversal led by the president, who has called for electoral support from America’s mining and agricultural communities.
Since taking office in 2016, Trump has reduced regulations on oil and gas development, weakened auto fuel emission standards, and proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act, a law credited with preventing hundreds of species become extinct.
So far, the administration has reversed more than 100 environmental rules, according to the New York Times analysis.
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In announcing other changes to environmental policy in January of this year, Trump criticized existing “job killing regulations” and insisted that the United States maintain “world-class environmental protection standards.”
“We have the cleanest air and water on Earth,” said Trump.
The United States is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. A report found that carbon dioxide emissions increased 3.4% in 2018, the biggest increase in eight years, after three years of decline.
