Trump Issues Emergency Executive Order On Pipelines

On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order that guts environmental protections for new mines and pipelines, using an “emergency” declaration. Citing the economic emergency stemming from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the President signed an executive order that waives requirements as part of the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. These are decades-old environmental processes with which fossil fuel projects need to comply before breaking ground, but Trump’s executive order erases…