The National Environmental Policy Act, affectionately called NEPA in the alphabet soup of environmental law, is the cornerstone law that requires the federal government to look at the environmental, economic, social, and health impacts of any decision that might impact the environment. 
It applies to federal permitting decisions like those related to logging, mining, transportation, oil and gas extraction, and infrastructure like pipelines. It also applies to consequential multi-year land management plans that can set out how federal lands may be subjected to extractive projects. 

Most important, it gives local people and the public generally the chance to participate in the federal decision-making process to convey their concerns, knowledge, approval, and disapproval.… Read More

Fannie Dock talks about growing up in Bristol Bay: I was born the 11th of 16 children, all of us raised in Togiak on the southwestern part of Alaska in the Bristol Bay area.… Read More

Like a lot of you, I feel a sense of chaos and overwhelm more than usual these days. The feeling can make it hard to remember everything in the last three years that has challenged our ability as human beings to make the world just and livable for everyone. But it’s important to remember everything–all the pieces, and how they fit together in driving toward long-term outcomes.… Read More

Greed drives the Pebble project, and the pandemic hasn’t changed that. Pebble’s “business as always” approach to hunkering down includes scrounging for cash, trying to buy local support, and sending out PR this week touting its close and fruitful relationship … Read More