This week’s Earth Watch guest on the Sojourner Truth radio show was Paulo Lopes, Public Lands Specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). Lopes spoke about the Trump administration’s moves to gut the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Some background from CBD:

In a request for public comment on “potential revisions,” the president’s Council on Environmental Quality initiated the assault on regulations outlining the 48-year-old law’s longstanding requirements for robust environmental assessments before approval of federal projects.

“The Trump administration is taking a sledgehammer to the review process that allows scientists and the public to have a say on federal projects that harm clean air, water and wildlife,” said Paulo Lopes, public lands policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This is the beginning of the largest rollback in the history of the National Environmental Policy Act, and it will yield polluted air, dirty water and devastation for our beautiful public lands.”

Much like when Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt allowed industry leaders to rewrite regulations protecting air, water and wildlife from pesticides and other pollutants, today’s request is essentially an invitation for corporate lobbyists to craft new, less-protective guidelines for environmental reviews.

The Sojourner Truth Radio Show airs every week on KPFK-FM in Los Angeles and around the world online.