Experts warn that the executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Thursday that fast-tracks major infrastructure projects by overriding environmental permitting requirements will have a disproportionately harmful effect on minorities, The Hill reported on Sunday.
Critics point to research that demonstrates the impact of polluting infrastructure that is often located in or near black, Latino, and Native American communities, linking the situation to, for example, higher rates of asthma and cancer deaths.
"It shows again that they have no respect for the lives in these communities that are already overburdened," National Wildlife Federation activist Mustafa Santiago Ali said.
The president's order eliminates numerous ways in which such communities were able to fight back against unwanted projects and also significantly cuts back requirements in a number of landmark environmental laws, The Hill reported.
David Hayes, executive director of the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center at New York University's School of Law, specifically pointed to the bypassing of the National Environmental Policy Act, which had given a chance "for affected citizens and communities to object before the federal government approves a project that may have a dramatically negative impact on their community."
The White House did not respond to any of The Hill's questions regarding the impact of the executive order on minorities, instead saying the move would "accelerate the nation's economic recovery and improve America's infrastructure."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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