Rollbacks on environmental review could endanger SC coast and communities | Opinion
Last month, the Trump administration proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) under the guise of streamlining infrastructure projects. In reality, this proposal would make it easier for projects to proceed with little to no review of their impacts — like offshore drilling and seismic blasting, which would severely harm ocean habitats and marine wildlife.
It would also limit the information the government has to evaluate the impact on endangered marine mammals, coral reefs, and coastal ecosystem protection and restoration.
If that was not bad enough, the new rules would also allow dirty fossil fuel projects, such as pipelines and coal-fired power plants, to proceed without any analysis of how their project will pollute or contribute to climate change.
In short, the Trump administration’s effort to “expedite” environmental review is actually an effort to ignore science, rubber stamp projects that will damage our communities and ocean, and further fuel our rapidly-warming climate.
This isn’t just a problem for our planet and our ocean, but for communities in South Carolina especially.
Beaufort and other coastal regions rely on a healthy ocean and marsh environment in many ways. Some make a living in our seafood industry as commercial or subsistence fishermen, while others depend on marshes to buffer their homes from flooding and sea level rise.
Environmental protections prop up South Carolina’s $16.3 billion outdoor recreation industry while also safeguarding clean air and water in our communities.
South Carolinians have a voice and we use that to protect what we love about our state — like how every coastal community passed a resolution opposing offshore drilling. Environmental rollbacks like the one proposed to NEPA would strip us of our ability to protect our coast from federal decision-making.
This is extremely troublesome in light of the undeniable toll that climate change is taking on the ocean. Manmade emissions of carbon dioxide are making it warmer and more acidic and starving it of oxygen. Last year, the ocean was the hottest it has ever been, causing great harm to fish and marine wildlife. Adding insult to injury, ocean acidification — made worse by carbon emissions — now threatens to cause billions of dollars of damage to the U.S. economy.
As scientists from around the world have noted, the most important thing we can do for the ocean and our communities right now is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the administration’s proposed rule would allow agencies to ignore emissions during project reviews. At the precise moment when we should be tackling climate change and its impacts head-on, the Trump administration’s attempted regulatory rollback would do just the opposite.
This regulatory rollback would also minimize the opportunities for the public to express concerns during the reviews of proposed projects. But we still have a voice — and we have the chance to use it. We cannot give up our fight for clean air, clean water, and a healthy ocean. It is too important.
The White House must hear directly from South Carolinians about this misguided proposal. Public comments can be submitted until March 10 through the Federal Registry.
Especially here in the Lowcountry, the ocean is integral to our day-to-day lives, supplying our food and oxygen, supporting our coastal economies, regulating our weather and climate, and buffering our shorelines from storms. Climate change is putting all of that at risk.
While our elected officials in Congress like U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham work to take ocean climate action, this is a chance for us to act. If the administration’s proposed changes to NEPA are allowed to go forward, it will be a devastating step in the wrong direction for our ocean, our planet, and for life as we know it.
Susan Hilfer of Beaufort is a Conservation Voters of South Carolina board member and has served on advisory panels for the federal South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.