By James Anderson ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER, Co.
– The Trump administration on Feb. 11 hosted the first of two hearings on its
proposal to speed energy and other projects by rolling back a landmark
environmental law. Opponents from Western states argued the long-term benefits
of keeping the environmental reviews.
Among other
changes, President Donald Trump wants to limit public reviews of projects—a
process that’s enshrined in the National Environmental Policy Act signed in
1970 by President Richard Nixon. The administration also wants to allow project
sponsors to participate at an early stage of drafting federal environmental
impact statements.
Dozens of
environmental and tribal activists testified at the Denver hearing of the
president’s Council on Environmental Quality.
The act “is
not just a tool to reduce impacts to the environment,” said Gwen Lachelt, a
commissioner in Colorado’s La Plata County. “It’s a basic tool of democracy.”
Representatives
of oil and gas groups countered that multiyear environmental reviews of
pipelines, coal mines and renewable energy projects kill jobs, increase costs
and often outlast a project’s economic feasibility.
That
proposed changes chagrined Jeannie Crumly, a rancher from Nebraska who has
fought construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline for more than a decade.
President Barack Obama canceled the project, only to have it resurrected by
Trump.
“We’ve
learned over the 10 years in our dealings with the pipeline supporters about
falsehoods,” said Crumly, sporting a “No Oil on Our Soil” button. “The possibility
that they could create their own environmental impact statement is just
ludicrous to us.”
Trump has
proposed narrowing the scope of the environmental law that along with the Clean
Air Act and Clean Water Act spell out the nation’s principal environmental
protections. The environmental law requires federal agencies to determine if a
project would harm the environment or wildlife. It gives the public the right
to consider and comment on the projects.
Trump’s plan
is backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute and
other business and trade groups.
Among other
changes, the proposal would streamline environmental assessments and would not
require “analysis of cumulative effects,” which environmentalists say include a
project’s potential impact on climate change.
The law “has
done more than any other law in the last 50 years to protect America’s lands
and wildlife and ensure public comment,” said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of
the Center for Western Priorities. “It’s completely on brand that the Trump
administration is cutting the American public out of the process.”
Activists
held a rally and other events outside the hearing at the regional headquarters
of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Backers of
the proposed changes call the law outdated and a deterrent to infrastructure
investment. They also insist the changes won’t eliminate environmental
reviews. Montana U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, has released a
letter signed by 17 other senators urging adoption of the new rules.
Colorado
Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, issued a statement acknowledging the need to
reduce red tape but said it must be done without weakening environmental
protections. Several members of Polis’ cabinet testified Feb. 11, including the
director of the Colorado Energy Office.
Ben Rhodd, a
tribal historic preservation officer for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South
Dakota, labeled the proposed changes a “direct effrontery to the sovereignty of
Native Americans” because, he said, tribal governments weren’t consulted
beforehand.
The
administration’s proposal does call for increased involvement of tribal
governments.
Another
hearing will be held Feb. 25 in Washington.
