Interior Pushes Illegal Plan to Rush Oil Drilling, Mining Projects

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior announced it will invoke “emergency” authority to fast-track fossil fuel and mining projects on public lands and in federal waters. 

Following is a statement from Bobby McEnaney, director of Land Conservation at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):  

“This is them making stuff up. There is no basis in law for any of this. It violates decades of established policy. This administration wants to let polluters drill or mine wherever they want, whenever they want—with zero oversight, no science, and no say from the public. It’s unwarranted and we’ll fight it every step of the way.

“Every American who doesn’t want a fracked well near their backyard, oil drilling off their beaches, or coal slurry leaking onto their children’s playground should be outraged by this unprecedented attempt to help fossil fuel billionaires. The American people want a say in the projects that will define their communities, beaches, and public lands for decades to come—they don’t want to hand that over to corporate polluters without any concern for the consequences.”

Background

Under the guise of a “national energy emergency,” the department is slashing permitting timelines and overriding safeguards under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). 

These changes will sideline the public, short-circuit Tribal consultation, and open public lands and oceans to drilling, mining, and other industrial development with minimal oversight.

• No legal basis: The administration’s move to bypass environmental law is unprecedented and legally dubious. It directly conflicts with decades of established policy and practice under NEPA, the ESA, and the NHPA.
• Rubber-stamp approvals: Projects that once required thorough environmental review and public engagement will now bypass critical protections, reducing permitting to a hollow, rubber-stamp process.
• Public silenced: The rule slashes—and in some cases eliminates entirely—public comment windows and short-circuits Tribal consultation processes, minimizing the role of communities, scientists, and local governments.
• Endangered species and cultural sites at risk: By gutting Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act safeguards, the policy leaves wildlife, habitat, and sacred cultural sites vulnerable to destruction.
• All for extraction: Despite being pitched as energy-neutral, this change overwhelmingly benefits oil, gas, coal, and mining companies—opening public lands and waters to dangerous exploitation under the cover of emergency.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).