Energy ’emergency’ threatens US wetlands, groups say
Edvard Pettersson
(CN) — President Donald Trump's declaration of a national energy emergency will destroy wetlands across the U.S. as the Army Corps of Engineers is expediting as many as 700 pending permits for pipelines, transmission lines, and other energy-related projects without proper environmental review, the Center for Biological Diversity said.
The center sent a letter to Trump on Thursday stating its intent to sue him and the Army Corps for violating the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act because neither federal statute can be curtailed by his declaration of a national emergency, let alone a "fabricated" one.
"By concocting an energy national emergency and then directing all federal agencies across the government to expedite the approvals of routine agency actions under both the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, you are unlawfully ordering federal agencies to circumvent lawfully mandated environmental reviews," the center said in its notice of intent.
Trump's declaration of a national energy emergency on Jan. 20 came among a slew of executive orders — from ending the federal government's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to withdrawing from the World Health Organization — that marked his first day in office.
The executive order, which blames the Biden administration and liberal states in the Northeastern U.S. and on the West Coast for the purported insufficient energy production that Trump claims threatens the U.S. economy and national security, instructs the Army Corps to "identify planned or potential actions to facilitate the nation’s energy supply that may be subject to emergency treatment."
However, the Center for Biological Diversity argues the Endangered Species Act only allows for expedited permitting following a natural disaster and the Clean Water Act only for emergency activities to stop further harm from imminent and substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of a person or for emergency reconstruction activities.
“Trump’s national energy emergency is illegal, and the Army Corps’ attempt to implement it will do enormous environmental damage and harm some of this country’s most cherished wildlife,” Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “Mindlessly destroying the Florida manatee’s habitat and killing whooping cranes has nothing to do with energy.”
The center called Trump's national energy emergency baseless because, it says, the U.S. produces more oil and gas than any other nation in the world and is quickly becoming a dominant, exporting petrostate. In addition, the environmental advocacy group says the U.S. has brought substantial renewable energy resources only over the past four years and continues to maintain stable supplies of other forms of energy generation across the board.
While not every one of the 700 pending permits before the Army Corps involves a project that will result in significant harm to an endangered species or water quality, the center said in its notice of intent that numerous permits that have been unlawfully reclassified as emergency permits would result in significant harms to species and their critical habitats.
These species include the Florida manatee, polar bear, whooping crane, the Delta smelt, Pacific salmon, Atlantic sturgeon, sea turtles, and others, according to the center.
“The United States has already become a fossil fuel petrostate to the detriment of this country’s most imperiled animals and plants,” said Hartl. “The actual national emergency we face is the havoc being caused by fossil fuels and climate change. I’m sure the courts will see through Trump’s ploys and recognize that his administration can’t recklessly destroy our wetlands, streams and rivers to satisfy the president’s petty political grievances.”
The U.S. Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the center's notice of intent.