Quoting The Lorax, court vacates Atlantic Coast Pipeline permit to cross national forests – “We trust the U.S. Forest Service to ‘speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues’”

By Julia Fair
15 December 2018
(Staunton News Leader) – A federal court has vacated an environmental permit that would have allowed The Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross two national forests, according to a court opinion filed Thursday with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The opinion quotes Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, saying: “We trust the United States Forest Service to ‘speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.’ ” A review of the permit records led the court to decide that the Forest Service “abdicated its responsibility to preserve national forest resources.” “This conclusion is particularly informed by the Forest Service’s serious environmental concerns that were suddenly, and mysteriously, assuaged in time to meet a private pipeline company’s deadlines,” the opinion reads. The court granted a petition to review the Forest Service’s Record of Decision and Special Use Permit, vacate the Forest Service’s decisions and remand to the Forest Service for proceedings consistent with the new opinion. [more]

Quoting The Lorax, court vacates Atlantic Coast Pipeline permit to cross national forests