Freedumb!! Shitstain Will Cut Most Comment On Drilling On Public Lands, Make Taxpayers Pay For Cleanup
The Trump administration is attempting to shrink public comment periods for fossil fuel leasing on federal land while shifting the financial risks of cleanup to taxpayers and allowing for more planet-warming emissions. It’s part of a broader effort to dismantle public input processes and save polluting companies money, advocates say. “By ignoring public comment [requirements] while propping up companies,” said Alexa Dietrich, research director at the science advocacy organization Union of Concerned Scientists, “they’re really attacking democracy in a very clear way.”
The interior department said this week it wants to loosen two Biden-era regulations governing oil and gas drilling on national public lands. One would dramatically lower the fees that firms must pay for future cleanup costs before drilling; the second could allow companies to release more methane, a potent planet-warming pollutant.The changes would also mean the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – part of the interior department – would no longer be required to assess whether swaths of land proposed for oil and gas leasing have high potential for conflict with other resources such as wildlife habitat. And the proposal would slash the public’s ability to weigh in on oil and gas permitting.
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The interior department proposal is just the latest attack on public participation in environmental reviews from the Trump administration. In February, the Forest Service proposed drastically cutting down comment and objection periods for environmental assessments and environmental impact statements, while eliminating the possibility of extensions. Over the past year and a half, BLM also took expanded exemptions for energy producers from environmental reviews. And in May, the Interior Department released guidance outlining a process for certain energy projects to circumvent environmental reviews.
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An EPA spokesperson derided environmentalists concerned about its NEPA proposal as “left-wing environmental radicals” who “spent years turning NEPA into a weapon to hinder American energy dominance and prosperity”, saying the agency intended to streamline “byzantine and outdated rules”. “Unlike the previous administration, which let the deranged climate cult call the shots, President Trump and Administrator Zeldin understand things need to drastically change if we want to get America building again,” the spokesperson said. “The Trump EPA’s proposal restores NEPA to its original purpose: setting firm timelines, keeping documents focused and concise, and expanding proven, low-risk review pathways, all while keeping environmental protections fully intact.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/29/fossil-fuel-federal-lands-public-input