Something very sinister is still happening to our public lands – while our attention has been distracted by the apparent success of halting (at least for now) a sell-off of public lands, the Trump administration has continued 24-7 to hollow out the bedrock environmental acts, laws, regulations and agencies that have worked with reasonable success over the years to bring a balance between environmental protections and the extractive industries and development projects that need permitting.
For instance, here in Ouray County, were there to be a proposed pipeline or transmission project across federal lands, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 would require the permitting agencies to manage the least possible environmental harms. Importantly, the public is included in the process.
However, early in his second term, the president’s executive order for ‘Unleashing American Energy’ has steamrolled NEPA to instead “expedite permitting approvals and meet deadlines,” and “prioritize efficiency and certainty over any other policy objectives that could add delays and ambiguity to the permitting process.” See The Nickel Report, “Trump administration initiates major changes for NEPA reviews.”
The assault on environmental safeguards to human health and welfare, to ecosystems both local and national, continues unabated. In quick succession, the executive branch has already moved to eliminate the 2001 Roadless Rule, the 2024 Public Lands Rule and, since November, to drastically modify the landmark 1973 Endangered Species Act.
What environmental guardrails are next on the chopping block that so many of us have worked hard to implement? We, the public, need to be outraged – and act.
Rein van West
Ridgway
