Feds Plan 'Energy Corridors' Through National Parks

"Energy production and distribution is a problem in the United States. To help solve the problem, the federal government has proposed the creation of energy corridors, areas of land where the infrastructure needed to move energy resources including hydrogen, oil, natural gas, and electricity will be constructed. According to Nada Culver, senior counsel in the Wilderness Society's Denver office, "Once designated, the corridors (averaging 3,500 feet wide but ranging up to five miles in width) will cover 6,000 miles and almost three million acres of public lands. Areas within the designated corridors are essentially deemed appropriate for pipelines and power lines, with expedited construction applications and limited environmental review." The official goal of the proposed corridors is to improve the reliability and availability of energy resources specifically in the Western U.S. Though the government's proposal-called the West-wide Energy Corridor project-may help provide energy to the states where the corridors are proposed, the government intends to construct them in federally protected lands, launching a debate over whether the corridors can be created in such a way that they avoid protected areas while taking local concerns into account."