Pros And Cons Of NEPA

With an increasing global population and ever industrializing society 's, environmental concern is rarely given priority over economic incentive. But what people fail to realize is that our environmental failures, and relative apathy about it set up a plethora of problems for future generations to deal with. One of the most important decisions president Obama will face in the next year will be whether or not to approve the building of the Keystone XL pipeline, a massively sized, and massively controversial oil pipeline that would stretch all the way from Alberta Canada, to American oil refineries along the Gulf Of Mexico. Despite the economic incentive present, the building of the Keystone XL pipeline should not happen because of the

The national or federal environmental administration asks their states to help maintain a safe and clean environment for all of its’ people to enjoy. The National Environmental Policy Act or also known as NEPA was established in 1969 to aid federal agencies to help convey the message for the need to protect the environment. “Federal agencies are required to systematically assess the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and consider alternative ways of accomplishing their missions, which are less damaging to and protective of the environment” (U.S. General Services Administration). Even though the National Environmental Policy Act “requires” federal agencies to ensure states to follow through, Texas has not fully committed to the requirement. “Texas contains an abundance of natural resources, but efforts to impost environmental regulations have faced roadblocks for many decades” (The Texas Tribune). Texas has neglected to keep the environment’s safety in mind and thought of only the business boom. The natural resources found on the land of Texas represents a magnet that attracts people. Texas desires to continue the attraction of people into the state as it is allowing the state to flourish in economic matters. During the past few decades, “From 1970 and 1980, as oil prices spiraled upward and people flocked to Texas,” (Petersen and Assanie) there has been little attempt made in conserving

The long term advantages for this system are quite easy to see. These climate conditions will only worsen with time. The drought in the west will become even worse and begin expanding through the mid west, and flooding will also become more prevalent in areas closer to the coast or built around major waterways. Therefore if the United States were to ratify a 28th amendment it should be the approval of the NAWPA for the safety and security of our nation's

Environmental welfare has become one of our most important priorities since the widely-spread awareness of climate change. Recently, there has been a controversial subject arousing from the midwest that is allegedly threatening our environment - the construction of Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). This $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile pipeline project will be crossing four states from North Dakota through Illinois to supply crude oil coming from the oil-rich Bakken area (Yan). DAPL will supposedly create new jobs like construction and maintenance, lower gas prices as we do not have to rely exporting oil from overseas, and boost energy production in our country as we continue to consume more energy resources. However, induced with negative feelings from

NDAA is designed to ensure the safety of its citizens one way they are taking care of their citizens is by taking care of their warfighter and the warfighters family ‘The NDAA provides our warfighters and their families with the care and support they need, deserve, and have earned.’ But besides that it also takes the right of people away. This is

One of the major is the environmental effect of the pipeline manufacturing. Then when the pipeline is constructed hundreds of acres of land will be destroyed, and thus unfit for nature. By the way it is in fact unconstitutional because the land is owned by the government thus is private property. The natural gas is actually obtained by fracking which is horrible for the environment because of the many negative environmental effects. Just to name a few:

An environmental disaster waiting to happen in ones eyes, a potential “gold mine” in the others; the decision of the Keystone XL pipeline. What seems to be a perpetual environmental battle and one of the most politically controversial topics in the past decade. The Keystone XL pipeline is a proposed 1,179-mile pipeline running from Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would join an existing pipe. There’s no question the intended pipeline has its pros such as its projected attribution to the American economy and the jobs it will create. However, I strongly believe the few pros it possesses simply do not outweigh the negative effects it will have. These include deforestation, the impact the pipeline could have on the environment and wildlife if there is a spill as well as the continued reliance to depend on fossil fuels; specifically coming from the tar sand oils from Alberta.

As a result, enactment of environmental laws and policy implementation developed into a political debate between both Republican and democratic politician in the 1960s. By the end of the 1960s numerous environmental bills aimed at protecting the environmental from pollution, degradation, erosion, deforestation, land ownership were introduced on the floor of the U.S senate. These policy actions action give birth to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a comprehensive environmental policy conceived in the late 1960s by Henry M. Jackson a democratic senator from Washington State and signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), is a landmark environmental policy that has helped in shaping the environmental policy arena and have proven to be one of the most important environmental policy Act of the nineteenth-century. The author of Environmental Law Handbook writes, “The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969(NEPA) has been heralded as the Magna Carta of the country’s environmental movement. It was signed into law on January 1, 1970, to address the need for a national environmental policy to guide the growing environmental consciousness and to shape a national response”(Sullivan

Now there are supporters of the Dakota Access Pipeline that believe the environmental risks are just possibilities that warrant a close watch on the pipeline and not the total halt of its construction. However, there is a prime example that shows what could happen with the Dakota Access Pipeline, case in point, the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Keystone XL Pipeline was commissioned in 2010 and runs from Canada all the way to Texas. The previous pipeline, Keystone, faced some of the same opposition and problems. It was being said at the time that the Keystone Pipeline would increase greenhouse gas emission and that will further affect and advance global warming issues that our planet already faces, which it did. According to usanews, “After being commissioned in 2010, it reportedly recorded 35 leaks in its first year alone, including a spill of 21,000 gallons of oil in North Dakota” (Neuhauser, 2016). Another example would be the BP Oil spill that still to this day, affecting marine and mammal life. It becomes clear that these risk become eminent and the construction of any future pipeline warrants great consideration. In addition, there has to be some

With Republican President, Donald Trump, and the Republican Party holding the majority of both chambers of the 115th Congress, passing environmental protection legislation doesn’t seem to be a priority (or even a thought). Not only are Congress and the President ignoring environmental protection, but they have also worked together to reverse current environmental protection regulations. Normally, repealing any form of legislation is a lengthy and challenging task. However, during the spring of 2017, the Legislative and Executive branches were able to quickly and easily get rid of two environmental protection rules. This ease of change definitively had do with the legislation being bureaucratic agency rules and laws. Though, not only were

The proposed extension of the Keystone Pipeline XL has become a rallying cry for both its proponents and those who oppose it. The debate, which has raged for six years, has become fierce and even bitter. I have followed the controversy closely.

The Pipeline will also reduce the current use of transportation and create more than 8,000 new job opportunities. With these positive potential outcomes of the Pipeline, there are many negative aspects as well. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota is directly affected by this project and it would ruin many of their sacred sites in the reservation. Also, with the pipe running underneath the Missouri River, there is a chance that the pipe could rupture and contaminate the water and cause people to develop an illness. The DAPL can not be approved because it will create a multitude of issues affect thousands of people in the United

In July 2016, the Army Corps of Engineers determined that the Dakota Access Pipeline presented no significant environmental risks and could go forward as planned by its developers. However, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe whose lands the pipeline would cross, as well as other indigenous groups, and allies including scientists, have urged the Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider this judgment. Perhaps due to this pressure, the Army Corps of Engineers has since delayed the easement, to the resistance of Energy Transfers Partners (ETP), who say they will build anyway, even without the permit (Heavey). While this struggle over legal rights as well as economic, environmental, and health concerns continues, we should understand why the Army Corps

Unsurprisingly, MEPA defines that state government must abide by environmental policy precedent, signifying the recently formed MPCA plays a centrally important component to state environmental programs. Expectantly, MEPA delegated overarching administrative power and duties to the MPCA, but extended further and implicated environmental responsibility to all departments and agencies of the state government (MEPA 1973). To incorporate Minnesota’s diverse agencies and resources, legislators required an additional system to monitor and report environmental conditions across

Did FERC’s issuance of an Environmental Assessment (EA) and corresponding Finding of no Significant Impact (FONSI) for Maryland Gas’ “400 Line” pipeline project violate NEPA? Should the Sierra Club sue FERC over this issue?