COVID19 is inundating the national news cycle—and it should be. During this global pandemic, people want the latest information about the virus and how to best protect themselves and those around them. It can be hard to consider attacks on the environment when many are working at the front lines of the epidemic, have lost jobs or income, or are experiencing the sudden responsibility of caring for family members.

While we adapt to this new “normal”, the government is still chugging along making decisions that affect our public lands and waters. 

Recently, we’ve witnessed some issues that gave us pause for concern. During a time of media overload, government officials are working without the same level of public scrutiny, and some appear to be exploiting this opportunity.

In a time of national crisis, the government should press pause on all non-essential activities, just like the rest of us. But over the past few weeks we’ve observed government officials loosening regulations on polluters, pushing anti-environmental rule makings without sufficient public engagement, making final decisions on land use plans, and even hosting lease sales of oil, gas, and coal on public lands.

Read the full article to find out about the issues to have on your radar.