The plan also calls for amending the National Environmental Policy Act to favor big business. Among other provisions, NEPA requires the federal government to include the public in federal land decisions. Project 2025 directs a future administration to set page limits and arbitrary deadlines for environmental analysis, which experts say would undermine the ability to assess impacts thoroughly. The plan also encourages a future interior secretary to urge Congress to do away with judicial reviews, a key tool to hold appointees accountable.
These are just a sampling of the ideas in the public land chapter. In total, it includes dozens of actions, ranging from specific to sweeping, that a future president could take to cripple climate action, remove wildlife protections, and curtail outdoor recreation.
“Some of those suggestions are just completely unrealistic: Repealing the Antiquities Act is unlikely to go anywhere in Congress,” said Jeff Ruch, the executive director at the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “The Alaskan [provisions] were the more egregious in the sense that they were more doable than a lot of the other ones, but my overall impression is that it was sort of a clueless take.”