On the Radar

President Trump revived the political battle between industrialists and environmentalists Thursday, introducing a proposal to streamline an "outrageously slow and burdensome federal approval process" that can delay major infrastructure projects for years.

The proposal would put new limits on implementation of the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, which requires federal agencies to consider the environmental effects of proposed projects before they are approved. 

NEPA also gives communities the ability to comment on what gets built in their backyards.

"From day one, my administration has made fixing this regulatory nightmare a top priority," Trump said during a ceremony at the White House. "And we want to build new roads, bridges, tunnels, highways, bigger, better, faster, and we want to build them at less cost."

Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, told USA Today that “the implications for access to clean air and clean water and for public input, especially among the low-income communities and communities of color most impacted by climate change and toxic pollution, could be dire.”

Do you support easing environmental rules on construction projects?

Under the Radar

Manufacturing Declining in Recent Decades

The significance of manufacturing in the U.S. economy has declined in recent decades.

In 1998, there were 18.1 million manufacturing jobs representing 11% of the workforce, but in 2018 that total had fallen to 13.5 million jobs, which is 6.7% of the labor force. This chart from USAFacts shows how the manufacturing labor force has changed in that period on the national level and state-by-state:

For many more charts explaining the role of manufacturing in America's economy, click here. Then tell your reps:

How do you feel about the decline in U.S. manufacturing?

What You're Saying

Here's how you're answering Should the Gray Wolf be Taken Off the Endangered Species List?