Republicans who want to weaken NEPA blamed environmentalists again last week for the flooding after hurricane Katrina despite two government reports that failed to show any connection.
The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to prepare an environmental impact statement for proposed actions that will significantly affect the environment. NEPA supporters say it is a “look before you leap” law, but some right-wing conservatives see it as a roadblock to industry, transportation and development.
At a hearing Thursday, Republicans on the House NEPA task force tried to resuscitate a link between Katrina’s devastation and a private lawsuit under NEPA. Save Our Wetlands sued the government in 1977 over a planned hurricane barrier project that was never built.
Never mind that the Government Accounting Office and the Congressional Research Service separately debunked any connection between the lawsuit and the New Orleans flooding.
NEPA is not the only object of blame for Katrina flooding. The Louisiana’s attorney general is investigating reports of negligence by construction companies that built the levees that failed.
Regardless of reports or attorney general investigations, the urban legend that links NEPA to the hurricane Katrina damage is producing the desired effect: Several bills currently in Congress that would exempt various projects from NEPA. For example, the Louisiana Katrina Reconstruction Act would allow the president to exempt Katrina restoration projects from NEPA.
