Since taking office in January 2017, President Donald Trump has made environmental deregulation and habitat destruction one of the hallmarks of his presidency. From the clear-cutting of national wildlife refuge lands along the US/Mexico border, to the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas development, to the support for expansion of the military even further into the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, we have seen a constant and unrelenting disregard for long-standing conservation principles.

Today is no different. Last night, President Trump signed an executive order allowing federal agencies to waive decades-old environmental laws to clear the path for energy development. The President has decided to place the private energy sector desires over the American people’s right to public lands, places to recreate, and wildlife to enjoy. It is incredibly shortsighted for this Administration to exploit America’s natural resources during a pandemic and time of social unrest, instead of conserving these natural areas for all Americans and future generations to come.

The damage the Administration seeks to inflict from extractive measures cannot be easily reversed and sounds judgments must be made on these types of projects, which is why these environmental laws were passed in the first place. We suggest instead that the Administration propose a sweeping law similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps that would rebuild and upgrade our existing outdated and obsolete infrastructure, and would also put Americans back to work.

We call on Congress to push back on this executive order and demand answers from this Administration on how they intend to implement this order.