Trump Becomes Favourite For Construction Trade Unions

Trump’s administration is going to be gold for all fossil fuel projects. According to his plans, federal agencies no longer need to consider the effect of such projects on the environment. This means that Trump’s administration is giving a clean chit to all those companies that can now flaunt environmental concerns and build highways, pipelines and undertake any other major infrastructural projects.

This is going to mark changes to a 50 year old National Environmental Policy Act. The proposed changes to this act could also mean the administration narrow down the range of projects that actually need environmental reviews. This will also mean that in most likelihood, more projects will sail through the approval process without having to disclose plans to do things like discharge waste, cut trees or increase air pollution.

Since its enactment in 1970, the act has undergone only one major change. In 1983 the act was amended when the White House Council on Environmental Quality limited the use of worst-case scenarios in project reviews. But this time, Trump is very serious to roll back environmental regulations. He definitely has his friend’s agenda in mind, more than the protection of the green belt in America.

Headed by the Council on Environmental Quality, the proposed changes will not affect the act itself, but will definitely mean revision in the rules instead. The public would have 60 days to comment on these changes. After this, the regulation would be passed, which is expected to happen before the Presidential elections in November this year.

Apart from Keystone XL, there are many who will benefit from Trump’s smart move. Undeniably, by eliminating regulations on industry, he will win over construction trade unions that have long complained that the National Environmental Policy Act has tied up energy and transit projects that create jobs.

According to environmental activists and legal experts, the proposed changes will weaken critical safeguards for air, water and wildlife. There was a court order in 2018 that halted construction on the Keystone pipeline, a project that Trump was personally extremely interested in making a success of.

Now, with the pressure that Trump is putting in twisting the rules of the act, there is a possibility, all this might survive the (more expected) court challenges too. Further, it is being believed that this move could eliminate a powerful tool that climate change activists have used to stop or slow Mr. Trump’s encouragement of coal and oil development as part of its “energy dominance” policy.