Trump Administration Attacks NEPA, “Cornerstone” of American Environmental Protections

“The Trump administration has attempted to mow down 100 environmental protections over the last three years. Now they are trying to rip those protections up by the roots.

“Today the Trump administration finalized its attack on the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA – the bedrock law that underpins our public health and environmental safeguards. NEPA was signed by President Nixon in 1970, and has protected Americans ever since, under both Democratic and Republican administrations. After half a century, and at a time when we see the damage from climate change more clearly every day, the Trump administration wants to drastically curtail the use of our cornerstone environmental protection.

“NEPA requires that large-scale federally-supported industrial projects include rigorous analyses of possible harm to people and the communities where they live. The Trump administration wants to restrict clear-eyed assessments of those threats to our people and communities, and utterly disregard the damage from climate pollution. The result would be more pipelines, chemical plants and other potentially dangerous projects built without the vital community input and care that is essential to prevent harm.

“The administration’s action would hamper public input – a pillar of a fair and just society. NEPA has been one of the key tools that Americans, including Black people, Indigenous people and other people of color, have depended on to be heard in decisions that have a profound impact on their communities, their health and their well-being. Undermining NEPA would unjustly diminish the voices of those at risk at a time when it is imperative that we listen and engage genuinely and with great care.

“EDF will fight to keep strong protections in place so NEPA can protect the health and safety of all Americans in all communities for the next 50 years.”

- Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund