Hyperbole, and sensationalist title: Executive orders cannot be enacted so easily, it can be disputed in congress and lawsuits can and will be brought forth to contest them.
But this isn't new, the Keystone XL debacle pipeline was essentially the same thing that marked a new norm. Propping up these dead industries, mines and pipelines, with typical plutocratic nepotism has to be the most prevalent thing in Washington. And while this speaks to me directly as an environmentalist, I can't help but think of all the BS bailout bankster/corporate welfare we've seen decade after decade despite whatever administration is in office, which is what essentially enables these corporations to lobby the Government to do this in the first place.
Different article about the same event: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23422469
At the same time, you have to admit that these environmental reviews were weaponized by people such as NIMBY’s to prevent infrastructure being built by tying up projects in years of environmental reviews. In the last several decades, the US forgot how to do infrastructure. I doubt we could get the NYC subway ever built now, for example.
Something needed to be done. This is heavy handed now, but maybe we can achieve a better balance in the future.