For Immediate Release
ALBUQUERQUE: Today the Trump Administration unveiled an infrastructure plan that would erode key environmental protections and threaten our public lands. While much of America’s infrastructure is in desperate need of updating, it is a fallacy that doing so needs to come at the expense of clean water, air, and our public lands.
The infrastructure plan would allow more projects to be exempt from a federal review, open up energy development on public lands with less oversight, and shorten scientific and environmental review processes. Making the government more efficient is a laudable goal, but this is a blatant attempt to dismantle key environmental protections at the expense of community input and for the gain of a few.
“No one is arguing that our infrastructure isn’t in need of a massive update,” said New Mexico Wildlife Federation Acting Executive Director Todd Leahy. “However, we do not need to put our public lands, water, and air in jeopardy to do so. These goals are not mutually exclusive and by claiming they are, the Trump Administration is once again handing a blank check to the few at the expense of the communities who will be impacted by shortened impact review periods.”
With this plan today, the Trump Administration continues to show its intention to undermine our public lands through any avenue.
