Trump administration to accelerate fossil fuels and mining on public lands
The Trump administration has announced that it will use the emergency authorities to increase the pace of approval of fossil fuels and mining quickly in public lands.
The Ministry of Interior announced late on Wednesday that it will significantly reduce the time schedules of environmental reviews of projects that produce coal, oil, gas, uranium and other minerals.
It will also limit the schedule of climate -friendly energy sources such as Earth thermal Energy and Electrical Energy, but wind and solar energy are noticeably absent from the list of fast projects.
The internal administration will start what it described as an “alternative” process of model environmental reviews, which modern laws are limited to a year or two, but historically lasted several years.
Now, projects will be analyzed in 14 or 28 days, according to a press statement from the department.
The administration also reduces consultations in the endangered species law, saying that such consultations should occur only once the Energy Declaration of Energy in President Trump is raised.
“The United States cannot wait,” Interior Minister Doug Burgum said in a written statement.
He added: “We abandon unnecessary delays to track the development of American energy and critical minerals-the resources that are necessary for our economy, our military willingness, and our ability to global competitiveness.”
Meanwhile, environmental defenders said that the shortcomings of these reviews may have severe consequences.
“These arbitrary time limits make the full review of the risks of projects that are likely to be impossible dangerous,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Land Protection Program in Sierra Club, in a written statement.
He added: “The poor review means that the real risks of the project may only be known when air or water depends on thousands of people who are seriously contaminated. Just remember that Donald Trump and his allies are ready to bear this danger if this means filling billionaires and pollutants companies.”
The movements follow a executive of Trump, who declared an energy emergency, his team said it opens additional energy production.
This emergency excluded the winds and solar energy in its definition of energy – and the Ministry of Interior recently ordered the marine wind project to stop the construction, claiming that the Biden administration “rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.”
