The Legislature and the environment: a report card Lawmakers concerned about coal industry, jobs
Brayden Zenker
BISMARCK – As the 2021 Legislature works toward adjournment later this month, what has the assembly’s impact been on the environment of North Dakota?
According to one environmental advocate, that answer may be – not much.
Wade Schafer, conservation organizer for the state chapter of the Sierra Club, said that ever since the Bakken oil boom, environmental issues have not been at the forefront of the Legislature’s agenda.
“From our standpoint … it is very pro-industry,” Schafer said.
He said that before the boom there was a closer balance between development and environmental protection. He said that in response to the oil boom some environmental protections were rolled back while others were not enforced.