Trump promises ‘fully expedited’ permits for anyone investing $1 billion in US
US President-elect Donald Trump has pledged “fully expedited permits”, including environmental approvals, for companies that invest $1 billion in the country.
Although he did not specify who would be eligible for the fast-tracked approvals, energy projects, including natural gas pipelines, export terminals, solar farms and offshore wind turbines, meet the billion-dollar criteria. In a post on his Truth Social app on Tuesday, the President-elect said that anyone making a $1 billion investment in the US “will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all environmental approvals”.
As per the US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), government agencies are required to assess environmental effects before approving any energy or infrastructure projects like pipelines and highways. Trump’s announcement will come as a boon to companies that have long-complained about delays regarding such assessments. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, whose EV company Tesla has been accused of violating environmental regulations in the US in the recent past, praised Trump’s announcement.
American environmental bodies have, however, slammed the President-elect’s decision, saying that it violated NEPA and was illegal. Evergreen Action, a Washington-based environmental group, said, “We need to address permitting in this country. Rigging the approval process so only wealthy corporations benefit, ain’t it.”
“Trump is unabashedly and literally offering to sell out America to the highest corporate bidder,” the Associated Press quoted Lena Moffitt, the executive director of Evergreen Action, as saying. She said the plan was “obviously illegal” and another example of Trump “putting special interests and corporate polluters in the driver’s seat, which would result in more pollution, higher costs and fewer energy choices for the American people.”
Meanwhile, Alexandra Adams, chief policy advocacy officer at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Trump should be careful what he wishes for. “What if someone wants to build a waste incinerator next to Mar-a-Lago or a coal mine next to Bedminster golf course?” she said in reference to Trump’s Florida residence and New Jersey golf club, respectively.