Donald Trump’s current attempt to gut bedrock environmental law may take away your ability to have a voice in decisions made by federal agencies. The National Environmental Policy Act has been implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) since 1977. His Executive Order, Unleashing American Energy, strips the CEQ of its authority, putting implementation in the hands of each federal agency. He directed CEQ to provide guidance to the agencies that tells them they should not consider a proposed project’s cumulative environmental impacts or matters of environmental justice. The agencies can also make the call on whether a project undergoes an environmental review and how detailed that review will be. It is the environmental review process that provides the public a formal opportunity to comment.  CEQ is managing the process of its own dismantling and has opened its Interim Final Rule to the public for comment until March 27. Please sign our petition and, if you can, take the additional step of submitting a comment. The government counts petitions as one comment, so we're asking people to submit comments to help us show the broad support for protecting our bedrock environmental law. We’ve created an EZ form to make it simple for you to comment. Write opening and closing sentences and select points to add to your comment from the list we provide. We’ll format your comment as a PDF and submit it to Regs.gov. We’ll also keep a copy of your comment and its tracking number. We do NOT use your information to add you to our mailing list. If you prefer, you can submit your comment directly to Regs.gov. Please share a copy of the comment and tracking number with us or keep them on file. Background The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), signed into law by Richard Nixon in 1970, is often referred to as the “Magna Carta” of environmental law. In 1977, Jimmy Carter issued an executive order directing the executive branch’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to develop regulations for its implementation.  President Trump’s Day 1 executive order, Unleashing American Energy, eviscerates NEPA by stripping CEQ of its authority and by further ordering the Council to propose rescinding all of the regulations it developed and providing guidance to federal agencies on how they can implement NEPA themselves. The executive order continues regulations implemented “must expedite permitting approvals and meet deadlines established in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (Public Law 118-5)” and  “must prioritize efficiency and certainty over any other objectives, including those of activist groups, that do not align with the policy goals set forth in section 2 of this order or that could otherwise add delays and ambiguity to the permitting process.” (The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 chipped away at NEPA in amendments to the unrelated bill, like setting arbitrary page limits on environmental reviews.)  Trump cannot repeal NEPA without Congress, so he’s doing the next best thing (in his view). He’s removing its teeth.

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget.  Nicole Malliotakes was elected to represent us—she should not be hiding from their constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand Nicole Malliotakis host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget.  Representative Bresnahan was elected to represent us—he should not be hiding from his constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand Representative Bresnahan host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget.  Representative Mike Bost was elected to represent us—he should not be hiding from his constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand Representative Mike Bost host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget.  Representative Don Bacon was elected to represent us—they should not be hiding from their constituents. Period. Earlier this month 60 MoveOn members from Nebraska District 2 urged local representatives to host town halls. But we have to keep up the pressure. Add your name to the petition NOW to demand Don Bacon host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget.    Ted Cruz was elected to represent us—he should not be hiding from his constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand Sen. Cruz host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget.  Rep. Richard Hudson was elected to represent us—he should not be hiding from his constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand Rep. Richard Hudson host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. Tim Burchett had scheduled a town hall for March 16, but canceled it citing concerns about "professional instigators" (The Hill). This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget.  Tim Burchett was elected to represent us—he should not be hiding from his constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand that Tim Burchett host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget. Senator Alex Padilla was elected to represent us—they should not be hiding from their constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand Senator Alex Padilla host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget. Representative Adam Schiff was elected to represent us—they should not be hiding from their constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand Representative Adam Schiff host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget. Representative George Whitesides was elected to represent us—they should not be hiding from their constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand Representative George Whitesides host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess! 

Recess is a time for members of Congress to return to their home states. They should be using this week to meet with their constituents, give space for their concerns, and take that back to D.C. Instead, House Republican leaders are now reportedly telling their offices to avoid holding public events when they are home for March recess. This is the opposite of the directions Democrats are receiving—with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraging all members to connect directly with constituents to talk about the Republican-backed attacks on key services like Social Security and Medicaid embodied by Elon Musk's actions and the Republican budget.  Rep. Stauber was elected to represent us—they should not be hiding from their constituents. Period.  Add your name to the petition to demand Rep. Stauber host a town hall or public office hours during the congressional recess!