Last week the U.S. Department of the Interior proposed a rule change aimed at limiting public commentary on new oil and gas leases on federal land. Coming as it does against the backdrop of new voter restrictions backed by the Donald Trump administration, the new rules represent yet another in a series of efforts to silence the voice of the American public.
Why public comments matter
Trump-supported voter suppression efforts under the proposed SAVE Act have received widespread media attention, but elections are far from the only opportunity for the public to influence policy under the American form of government.
Community meetings and hearings routinely take place at every level of government. The power of in-person public input can be seen most recently in the local pushback against new data centers, ICE detention facilities and industrial plants, alongside ongoing local opposition to new wind and solar farms.
Pressure on government officials also plays a constant role in the democratic process regardless of the election schedule. When the National Science Foundation started abruptly dismantling a key ocean observation system in May, for example, a bipartisan firestorm quickly forced the agency to reverse course.
Where in-person appearances are not feasible, public comments in writing can carry considerable weight, particularly at the federal level. The public’s right to submit written comments on rulemaking by federal agencies has been codified into law for decades. While not as attention-grabbing as the yearly election cycle, the comment period on a new rule or project can serve as an effective rallying cry that motivates broader public action and raises the pressure on elected officials.
The fate of the Keystone XL oil pipeline is a particularly dramatic example. First proposed in the early 2000s, the project would have brought crude oil from tar sands fields in Canada through the midwestern United States and on south to refineries in Texas. President Trump attempted to push the project forward during his first term, but environmental organizations and individuals flooded the required comment period with more than 120,000 submissions.
“With a huge amount of public comments pouring into the State Department’s comment period, steadfast climate activists, Indigenous communities, landowners, and farmers along the route have shown that 11 years of resistance have only strengthened the movement against the Keystone XL pipeline,” said Kendall Mackey, a campaigner with the climate organization 350.org, in a 2019 press statement.
The Keystone XL project was ultimately abandoned amid public pushback, though the tar sands fight continues. Earlier this year, for example, Trump fast-tracked the Bridger project aimed at piping tar sands oil from Canada to a terminal in Wyoming.
The new oil and gas rules
The Trump administration’s effort to squeeze public input out of the federal rulemaking process has already touched off opposition from advocacy groups.
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s proposed rule changes include shortening the public comment period for new oil and gas leases on public lands from 90 days to just 10 days.
Advocates say the proposal is only the latest in a series of attempts from the administration to remove or weaken public input on new development. “By ignoring public comment [requirements] while propping up companies, they’re really attacking democracy in a very clear way,” Alexa Dietrich, research director at the science advocacy organization Union of Concerned Scientists, told The Guardian. “The administration is eliminating an important part of our democratic participation … where people still get to have a voice, not just every four years when they vote, but throughout the process of governance.”
For example, last month the Bureau of Land Management eliminated more stringent Biden-era requirements for community input on public land use, including review of environmental impacts and scientific evidence. The Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity are also suing the Trump administration over a new U.S. Department of Agriculture rule that would eliminate public comment from most projects in national forests.
For its part, the Interior Department described its proposed rule changes as “modernizing federal onshore oil and gas policy,” “eliminating unnecessary administrative barriers,” and streamlining “outdated procedures that have slowed development.”
Environmental and community advocates disagree, and they’ll have a chance to make their voices heard through the very process the administration is looking to dismantle. Under current federal rulemaking requirements, the Interior Department’s proposed rules cannot take effect until they are subjected to a 60-day comment period, which commences when the rules are published in the Federal Register.
The comment period is open until August 24. The Wilderness Society, Taxpayers for Common Sense, the National Wildlife Federation and Public Land Solutions are among the organizations urging the public to weigh in.
“We really firmly believe that the public should be given plenty of time to analyze any proposal from the [Bureau of Land Management], leasing on public lands, any type of activity that would occur on public lands,” Aaron Kindle, director of sporting advocacy at the National Wildlife Federation, told the Colorado newspaper Summit Daily.
Advocacy groups are also beginning to organize at the state level, such as the newly formed ND Public Lands Coalition, which includes the North Dakota Wildlife Federation, Dakota Resource Council, and the state chapter of the Sierra Club. The coalition plans to post billboards across North Dakota during the open comment period in protest of unchecked leasing on public lands. “Let’s do this responsibly, and not just try and make it so that a handful of people are making themselves extremely rich off the great resources of our public lands,” Dave Brandt, a board member for North Dakota Wildlife Federation, told the North Dakota Monitor.
Those interested in adding a public comment in support of, well, public comments can post your input on the Federal Registrar website.
Featured image: Bonnie Moreland/Flickr
