Awtry

President Abraham Lincoln famously stated in the Gettysburg Address on November, 1863, that the nation would experience a new birth of freedom “and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.

Forty-five years later, President Theodore Roosevelt stated in his address Conservation is a National Duty “…that our majestic landscapes should remain unmarred so they could be kept for your children, your children’s children and for all those who come after you.”

And now, the Trump Administration is attacking both of these previous presidential proclamations, as he opens up some our most precious public lands for drilling and mining, land that Roosevelt said, “Leave it as it is. You cannot improve upon it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.”

On the first day of Trump’s second term, he declared a National Energy Crisis. Now we are seeing all this unfold just as he planned. Trump is thumbing his nose at Roosevelt who opened up five national parks, knowing these pristine lands should be left as is for all. Abraham Lincoln also knew the importance of government being directed by the people, the same people Trump is now trying to silence.

For instance, in the last few months, Trump’s Bureau of Land Management is considering opening up public lands around national parks for oil and gas drilling. The parks at risk include: the Grand Canyon, Zion, Joshua Tree, Arches, Grand Teton, and Denali, and also planning to open over one million acres of public lands and mineral rights, including areas bordering Yosemite, Sequoia, and Pinnacles National Parks to oil and gas drilling and fracking.

In the past few months we have seen; the Interior Department loosening energy corporations regulations on public lands, lower fees for corporations clean-up costs, and allow more release of methane gas into our air; the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would no longer be required to assess whether land proposed for oil and gas leasing have potential conflict with wildlife habitat, and would slash the public’s ability to weigh in on oil and gas permitting.

And this week the Trump administration is trying to shrink the public comment periods because he thinks the “people” Lincoln spoke so eloquently about, are getting in the way. Trump’s proposal would slash the public’s ability to weigh in on oil and gas permitting. Trump simply stated that comment periods are unnecessary, stating: “Notice and comment is unnecessary because I am ordering the repeal.” Yes, you read that right.

We have seen the Forest Service drastically cutting down comment and objection periods for environmental assessments and environmental impact statements; the BLM also expanded exemptions for oil and gas producers from environmental reviews. And in May, the Interior Department released guidance outlining a process for certain energy projects to circumvent environmental reviews.

Meanwhile, the Council on Environmental Quality also rescinded all of its longstanding regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act, which require agencies to consider the environmental impact of projects and permits. The agency solicited public comments but said they would have no effect on the final rule. Read that part again, “public comments would have no effect on the final rule.” Outrageous!

Since that change was made, agencies including the Department of Agriculture, interior department, Surface Transportation Board, Army Corps of Engineers, Energy Department and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have all proposed or finalized changes eliminating public comments!

So let me get this straight. The public will have less time to make comments about the use of our public lands and if we do, they will be totally disregarded. And while nobody is looking, the feds have said about the public objecting to these oil and gas developments on public land, that under the new rules, the Federal Departments will reject comments that express general opposition. In other words, if you object, they won’t consider your comments! Is that even legal?

What would Lincoln and Roosevelt say to this administration?

And here, in the upper Midwest, in April Trump overturned a 20-year federal mining ban on approximately 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and he fast-tracked the Enbridge Line 5 tunnel project under the Straits of Mackinac which allows them to circumvent a lot of environmental concerns.

Since the Trump Administration has taken office, they have opened up nearly 24.5 million acres of public land for oil and gas leasing much of leased for a whopping $2 per acre!

Lincoln, “government by the people.” Roosevelt, “it’s our duty to protect public lands.” Trump, “notice and comment is unnecessary because I am ordering the repeal.”

What’s left to be said? Whether you are an oil and gas executive or an environmentalist, we all know this is flat out wrong. Selling out the people’s most precious and sacred lands and our national forests is selling America’s soul.