Sometimes your friends need to know they’re not acting in your best interests. And sometimes, if your friend is a U.S. Senator, she may need to hear she is not acting in the nation’s best interest.
This is one of those times. California’s Senator Barbara Boxer, who receives an impressive 90% on the national League of Conservation Voters’ annual Environmental Scorecard and is normally a stalwart champion for the environment, is uncharacteristically working with anti-environmental lawmakers on a water bill that will weaken the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). According to the San Francisco Chronicle:
California Sen. Barbara Boxer has created an uproar among her allies in the environmental movement for pushing a bill with Republicans that critics say could weaken environmental review of Army Corps of Engineers water projects… Boxer is one of the Senate’s most reliable liberals and a self-described environmental champion. Wielding great power as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, she has claimed credit for blocking efforts by House Republicans to override environmental laws. But on the water bill, Boxer is teaming with conservative Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter to “streamline” environmental reviews of water projects. Critics said she would hand too much power to the Army Corps of Engineers and weaken one of the nation’s basic environmental laws.
While we’re used to fighting back against Big Oil and other polluters, we need our allies to look out for us in Washington D.C. Senator Boxer should be on our side working to protect the environment. She has a record of consistently standing up against powerful interests in order to protect our air, land and water.
We need to stand up and demand leadership on environmental progress. As Natural Resources Defense Council’s Annie Notthoff argues:
“NEPA has protected our health, our environment and our right to be heard on decisions that affect our communities, our livelihoods and our future. It promotes responsible use of our natural resources and lands by requiring major government projects to document the risks of development and insisting that we all work together with affected communities to find the best way with the least adverse impact. At the core, it’s about government transparency and accountability…
In California, we’ve faced similar attacks to our state’s answer to NEPA, the California Environmental Quality Act. For more than 40 years CEQA has protected the public’s right to clean air and water and allowed the public unfettered access to our state’s iconic natural landscapes. With CEQA and NEPA, the public’s right to know and voice their opinion is always the right course of action to determine the future of our communities and country.”
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/03/31/5303446/senate-set-to-gut-nations-key.html
Environmental reviews are a critical safeguard provided for by NEPA. That’s why it’s so important for Boxer to stand with Californians against provisions that undermine the environmental review process. Sections 2032 and 2033 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (S.601) would do just that – unless Senator Boxer strikes those dangerous sections from the bill. Here are a few ways in which the provisions would substantially weaken NEPA:
- The process is tilted toward project approval, no matter what the objections or who is making them. The appeals are allowed only for those favoring, not opposing the project. The thumb is on the scale to approve every project, good or bad.
- The time for agencies and the public to comment on federal projects would be shortened.
- The agency carrying out a project – in this bill, the Army Corps of Engineers – could fine other federal agencies for being too slow in submitting comments. This creates an incentive to rush environmental analyses.
It’s not too late for Senator Boxer to strike the provisions and continue her strong record of environmental leadership. In fact, thanks in large part to environmental advocates who are raising awareness about the serious problems with the bill, the Obama Administration has joined us in speaking out:
“The administration is deeply concerned that the project permitting provisions in S. 601 are counterproductive,” the administration said. “The bill constrains science-based decision making, increases litigation risk, and undermines the integrity of several foundational environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.” Strong words, and exactly what environmental groups… told [reporters] last week.
Let’s keep the pressure on. Urge Senator Boxer to stand with conservationists and stop this effort to weaken NEPA: http://act.ecovote.org/
