WASHINGTON— The Trump administration is intensifying its war against the environment by prioritizing destructive fossil fuel and logging projects during a government shutdown that is approaching the one-month mark.

With no end to the shutdown in sight, most federal workers are left without pay while millions who depend on food aid are about to lose their safety net. But some government offices, including those that approve mining projects and dangerous pesticides, are operating business as usual.

“The Trump administration will move heaven and earth so polluting industries can make even more money while America’s most vulnerable families go hungry. This is next-level cruelty,” said Stephanie Kurose, deputy director of government affairs at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We deserve so much more than so-called leaders who care more about environmental destruction than the welfare of everyday Americans.”

Some lawmakers are calling out the Trump administration for issuing more than 300 new oil and gas drilling permits and potentially spending government money illegally. This week representatives Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) are demanding documents and communications on non-essential government activities that have continued since the shutdown.

Border wall construction, national forest logging auctions and other environmentally harmful programs have continued since the shutdown began Oct. 1. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has intensified its environmental attacks by:

• Approving destructive projects in Alaska, including right-of-way permits for Ambler Road to advance mining, and a land trade deal to allow road construction through Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The Izembek road would destroy an ecosystem that supports millions of migratory birds.
• Processing dangerous fossil fuel projects including BP’s plan for deep underwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and an oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. Oil and gas projects in the Dakota Prairie Grasslands were also approved.
• Approving the export of nearly 4 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas per day from a Louisiana facility.
• Directing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve utility connections for data centers within 60 days.
• Approving logging projects in Washington’s Colville National Forest, Boise National Forest in Idaho and Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota.