** Interior speeds environmental attacks during pandemic
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Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Center for Western Priorities analysis ([link removed])

A new analysis by the Center for Western Priorities ([link removed]) finds that in the month after President Trump signed the first emergency coronavirus bill, the Interior Department took dozens of policy actions unrelated to COVID-19, moving ahead with unfettered oil and gas leasing, removing protections for endangered wildlife, and expanding mining operations across the country.

CWP’s analysis ([link removed]) identified 57 separate actions taken by Interior Department agencies since March 6, when President Trump signed the first coronavirus emergency bill. Those 57 actions include 34 public comment periods that were opened or closed by the Interior Department despite numerous requests ([link removed]) from local elected officials and members ([link removed]) of Congress ([link removed]) that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt suspend rulemakings during the pandemic.

In March, the Interior Department held seven oil and gas lease sales, despite a glut of oil production leading to the collapse of global oil prices. The agency also paved the way ([link removed]) for a private mining road to be built through Gates of the Arctic National Preserve in Alaska. Secretary Bernhardt’s former firm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, has lobbied the Interior Department to approve the project ([link removed]) on behalf of a Canadian mining corporation.


** Oil companies warn of widespread bankruptcies
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Almost 40% of oil and gas producers face insolvency within the year ([link removed]) if crude prices remain near $30 a barrel, according to a new survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which serves oil-rich Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Northern New Mexico. The findings mirror a recent survey ([link removed]) by the Dallas Fed, which covers Texas.
Quick hits


** As oil industry collapses, companies warn of widespread bankruptcies in major Western oilfields
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Bloomberg ([link removed]) | Reuters ([link removed]) | Foreign Policy ([link removed]) | Independent ([link removed])


** U.S. slashes oil projections by more than 1 million barrels per day, set to become net oil importer again
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Bloomberg ([link removed]) | Politico ([link removed])


** New Mexico oil producers begin shutting wells
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Albuquerque Journal ([link removed])


** While oil busts, wind and solar expected to continue growth
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New York Times ([link removed])


** Calls to close national parks intensify
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The Guardian ([link removed])


** Local officials close recreation hot spots in Utah's Grand Staircase, San Rafael Swell as visitation surges
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** Public lands advocates protest growing influence of oil and gas amid coronavirus pandemic
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Missoula Current ([link removed])


** Peabody Energy announces layoffs at three Wyoming coal mines
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Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed])
Quote of the day
It’s not pretty down here. Probably the most activity we’re seeing now is from folks moving rigs out of the oil fields and into storage yards.”
—Raye Miller, president of Regeneration Energy Corp., on New Mexico's Permian Basin, Albuquerque Journal ([link removed])
Picture this


** @BLMNational ([link removed])
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#DYK ([link removed]) - The dramatic scenery of @BLMUtah ([link removed]) ’s Fisher Towers and surrounding Castle Valley has made the area a popular filming location for films like the Lone Ranger, Austin Powers and City Slicker. #ArmchairAdventures ([link removed])

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