Proposed NEPA Modernizations Bring Out Alaskan Eco-Extremists En Masse

January 10, 2020

The announcement by President Trump that his administration would be looking at ways to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) – the overarching set of federal regulations that serve as a template for resource development projects across the US – was met with unusually vicious gnashing of teeth by radical environmentalist groups throughout Alaska.

The eco-Left has used the combination of onerous lawsuits and the bureaucratic largesse of NEPA to their advantage for years, tying up projects that deserve to be permitted, and causing extra work for responsible producers.  Today’s announcement – that included a revised timeline of two years from start to finish for major projects, and a year for minor ones – should be applauded by Alaskan energy workers just like it was from the Alaskan congressional delegation. 

According to an article in the Anchorage Daily News, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senator Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young applauded the Administration’s efforts to streamline the 40-year-old set of regulations.

Their collective voices were countered by statements from members of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and the Alaska Wildlife Society in the article.  Even our longtime “friend” Bob Shavelson from Cook Inletkeeper got in the act, trolling the Alaska Support Industry Alliance’s Facebook post with his anti-development, anti-Alaskan drivel.

Imagine the benefits to the Alaskan job market should the NEPA modernizations be finalized.  Projects in mining, timber, oil and gas and rare earth extraction would be able to know that they’d only have to battle a maximum of two years with the radicalized factions of Alaskans who value plant and animal life over human life through the NEPA process. 

The proposed overhaul is welcome news to Power The Future.  It will enhance the energy workers’ numbers across the US, putting people to work in good-paying jobs, while helping to create and maintain energy dominance, national security and solid communities throughout the US.