Trump Wants To Give Ryan Zinke The Power To Approve Pipelines In National Parks

The infrastructure plan unveiled Monday by President Donald Trump would give Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke the unilateral power to greenlight construction of pipelines through national parks — one of the many proposals in the document that has environmentalists seething. Currently, building an oil or gas pipeline on land administered by the National Park Service requires an act of Congress. The administration sees that as a burden to economic growth and is looking to make the process as simple as installing electric lines, communication facilities or water infrastructure. “Obtaining congressional approval for each pipeline crossing and facilities necessary for the production of energy is time consuming and delays construction,” the infrastructure plan stated. The White House says that granting the secretary of the Interior Department the power to approve rights of way for pipelines and other energy production infrastructure on Park Service land “would reduce the delays and uncertainties caused by requiring congressional approval.”...more

Funny,though, that Zinke chose to do nothing about those "delays and uncertainties" when he had the chance during the monument review process.