Environmental review of infrastructure projects gets turned down by Senate Republicans
In a surprising turn of events, Republican Senate members voted unanimously to overturn the Biden administration rule requiring permits and strict environmental reviews of major highways, pipelines, and oil well infrastructure projects. But regardless of the Senate’s vote on the matter, there is strong a strong push to modify the federal permitting process, which often takes up to ten years to approve projects, such as highways.
President Joe Biden has frequently cited infrastructure issues as a priority of his administration, but critics of the environmental review rule state that the measure will only create more problems for the country. Senator Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, took the Senate floor to state that it was disappointing that it takes a decade to approve the construction of a bridge in the United States.
When Florentino Escobar, a Starbucks barista from Memphis, learned that his case had reached the U.S. Supreme Court, he was stunned.