The National Environmental Policy Act Needs Your Help

Fresh air, clean water, and conservation of our natural resources are some of the biggest perks of living in our nation. We take for granted that when we turn on the tap, the water that comes out is potable and safe to drink—but what if that all changed? What if incidents like what happened in Flint, Michigan become the new normal everywhere? If the National Environmental Policy Act is rolled back, that’s what we will see.

National Environmental Policy Act Fresh air, clean water, and conservation of our natural resources are some of the biggest perks of living in our nation. We take for granted that when we turn on the tap, the water that comes out is potable and safe to drink—but what if that all changed? What if incidents like what happened in Flint, Michigan become the new normal everywhere? If the National Environmental Policy Act is rolled back, that’s what we will see.

With the gutting of the National Environmental Policy Act, politicians and business will no longer have to inform the public about oil pipelines, freeways, and other infrastructure before building away. The public will have no chance to speak out against new construction, nor will new construction be evaluated to see how it effects the environment.

Proponents of the rollbacks say that it will lower expenses by putting fewer obstacles in the way of growth, but the truth is NEPA doesn’t put any obstacles in the way at all—it just asks that the public hears the truth before any new construction goes in.

About NEPA

In order to fulfill NEPA requirements, anyone who wants new construction will have to undertake an environmental impact assessment. The public is then given a chance to give their opinion on the project, and whether they feel that the project will be good for the area or not.

You may have seen a very big reaction to some infrastructure recently, with the protests that happened when a pipeline cut through sacred Native American sites. With the rollbacks of NEPA, the voices of these tribes will be effectively silenced.

This is a big deal. Before NEPA was enacted in the 1970s, the smog was so bad in Los Angeles you could hardly see from one building to another. The iconic Bald Eagle was endangered, and people were allowed to dump any kind of pollutant they wanted into the air and water without so much as a slap on the wrist.

How you can help

If NEPA is rolled back, the nation will lose its voice. Yet despite the gravity of this situation, only 104,402 people have taken the time to submit a comment on these changes. The environment needs your help more than ever. Submit a comment today, and tell your government to say no to rolling back our environmental protections.

I also encourage you to stop by Green Ground’s Well, whose timely post alerted me to the situation, and to share this on social media, your own blogs, or with your friends and family. The only way for this to be stopped is for enough people to stand up for what’s right, and they can’t do it if they don’t know about it. We are failing out controlling climate change, losing NEPA will be taking yet another step backwards. This can’t continue.