Trump Attacks NEPA

Trump's latest attack in his anti-environment salvo is aimed at The National Environmental Policy Act, a cornerstone of environmental legislation. Here is my submitted comment on the proposed rule change:

This proposal to “streamline” the NEPA process was created either by individuals who are completely ignorant of the complexities of science and the environment, or, more nefariously, those who value short term monetary gains and the well-being of corporations and moneyed interests above all else. With our ever increasing but still very limited knowledge of the intricacies and interactions within an ecosystem, accelerating the decision making process to permanently transform a natural system with the goal of making “the process more predictable and efficient” (per the CEQ chairman) is reckless and simple minded. I have spent many years performing environmental field work and can tell you that what is predictable about looking at a piece of land on a map is limited. However, what is predictable are the negative long term consequences to our nation and the planet as a whole from hasty and poor decisions allowing for a multitude of projects destructive to our environment. The decisions we make concerning the quality of our natural resources and transformations of our environment and the increasingly limited natural places on our planet are critical and will have long lasting, if not permanent effects on us and future generations. They should, therefore, be conducted with as much caution and thoroughness as is necessary.