Trump announces rule changes to exempt big projects from environmental review - Axios

The proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) will make the process to review big-ticket fossil-fuel projects like the Keystone XL Pipeline easier and faster, while also excluding consideration of climate change.

This makes me think about something CGP Gray likes to talk about all the time: a lot of time is spent on making individual people feel bad about how they live their lives in terms of changing the world (reusable vs plastic bags, for example) but the real changes we need to make are at a much higher level. Having to worry about climate change in all projects except the ones that have the most impact seems like something out of a parody right wing blog, not the actual policy of the United States, but here we are.

The tragedy of the Trump presidency (as if there was only one) is that there is so much flashy stuff going on (you know the list) that things like this get swept under the rug and don’t make the splash they deserve.

Oh, and if you were like “well this is clearing out the red tape,” think again.

Richard Revesz, a professor of environmental and regulatory law at NYU School of Law, said the rule change could ultimately — and ironically — prolong reviews even more because critics will sue, tying up the projects in court.