** Oil and gas leasing continues through pandemic
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Thursday, March 26, 2020
Oil and gas drilling site ([link removed])
While much of the country is focused on the coronavirus pandemic, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt continues to lease public lands for oil and gas development ([link removed]) for dirt cheap prices, locking up lands that could be managed for other uses. Taxpayers are unlikely to see fair returns for the development of publicly-owned resources during the oil price crash.
This week, the Bureau of Land Management has held oil and gas lease sales in three Western states—Montana ([link removed]) , Nevada ([link removed]) , and Wyoming ([link removed]) —while the price of oil sits just above $24 a barrel. In total, just 78,000 of the 194,000 acres available for lease were purchased, and many sold for the minimum bid of $2 per acre. The remaining unsold leases can now be purchased noncompetitively for just $1.50 per acre. The Bureau of Land Management will hold ([link removed]) another lease sale today in Colorado, offering up almost 19,000 acres of public lands for lease for oil and gas development.
The Trump administration has offered a total of 24.4 million acres of public lands for oil and gas leasing ([link removed]) . The industry has purchased just 21 percent ([link removed]) . The Center for Western Priorities oil and gas dashboard ([link removed]) will continue to track lease sales.
Quick hits
** As government battles coronavirus, Trump pushes ahead with major reversals of environmental regulations
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New York Times ([link removed])
** U.S. energy sector slashes capital spending and jobs, outlook turns "extremely pessimistic"
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Reuters ([link removed])
** BLM scrambles to make temporary changes to lease sale public participation rules in response to COVID-19
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NM Political Report ([link removed])
** Conservation bill, with full LWCF funding, could get a second look as a jobs measure amid economic downturn
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Bloomberg ([link removed])
** Coal miners told to keep working during the outbreak despite close quarters, damaged lungs
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Washington Post ([link removed])
** Western governors demand say in NEPA overhaul
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E&E News ([link removed])
** “Locals only” coronavirus closures of public lands may not be legal
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])
** Social-distancing visitors flood national parks, creating new coronavirus concern
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The Hill ([link removed])
Quote of the day
The administration is essentially taking advantage of the fact that the public is distracted and in fact disabled from fully engaging against this ideological push.”
—David J. Hayes, New York University School of Law ([link removed])
Picture this
Snow melting & freezing on Dream Lake @RockyNPS ([link removed]) creates the illusion of frozen waves. | @Interior ([link removed])
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