The Trump administration announced late Wednesday that it is moving to implement new permitting procedures designed to speed up reviews and approvals of oil and gas development, a plan that environmentalists called an attack on the public’s right to weigh in on projects that would directly impact communities across the United States.

The U.S. Department of the Interior, led by billionaire oil industry ally Doug Burgum, said the new permitting measures would “take a multi-year process down to just 28 days at most,” citing President Donald Trump’s declaration of a “national energy emergency” at the start of his second term.

“In response, the Department will utilize emergency authorities under existing regulations for the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act,” the agency said.

The expedited permitting procedures will apply to crude oil, fracked gas, coal, and other energy sources favored by the president, according to the Interior Department.

Notably absent from Interior’s list are wind and solar, which accounted for a record 17% of U.S. electricity generation last year. As it has moved to boost the fossil fuel industry — the........

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