Shhhh, Keep Your Voices Down, It's a Secret

July 28, 2004 Bush Plan Excludes Public From Environmental Review A new directive proposed by the Bush administration would grant broad environmental exemptions to numerous government agencies under the guise of national security. It would also exclude the American public from decisions that can have long-term health and environmental consequences. Under directives for carrying out the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), agencies such as the Coast Guard, Border Patrol, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and many others would be given "categorical exemptions" from following federal environmental regulations if they invoke reasons of national security. Such exclusions would enable agencies to conduct activities in secret that could have serious implications for public safety - such as using or storing hazardous chemicals in close proximity to residential areas and schools without letting citizens know about their risk of exposure. The directive would also allow the degradation of public resources -- such as the building of new roads through national forests for use by the Border Patrol -- with no input from the public whatsoever. While these agencies would still have to conduct environmental reviews before taking action, those reviews would not be subject to public scrutiny or public comment....

But hey, that's alright, because this is all for national security. We're in a war against an aggressor right now (no, not bin Laden, but those Iraqis who attacked us last year, remember?), so we must fear everything that moves and let the money-thirsty corporations work in secret since that's the only way to secure our freedom.