Barrasso-Manchin permitting reform act is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Oil and gas development, BLM Wyoming

Earlier this week, U.S. Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Joe Manchin of West Virginia introduced the Energy Permitting Reform Act, a long-awaited bill to streamline permitting of both renewable energy and fossil fuel projects. While the bill includes important and needed provisions that would help accelerate renewable energy development, it is primarily a Trojan horse filled with fossil fuel industry wish-list items, according to a new Westwise blog post from Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 made renewable energy rights-of-way contingent on the BLM offering a certain number of acres for oil and gas leasing. The Energy Permitting Reform Act changes how this number is calculated so that only parcels nominated by industry, and not parcels nominated by the BLM, are considered. It would also limit the BLM’s ability to include conditions on leases if those conditions are not already authorized by a Resource Management Plan for the area. This is problematic because RMPs are often outdated and do not reflect the most up-to-date science and information about the area. It also offers a massive giveaway of public lands to mining companies through a provision clarifying that mining companies can claim as many mill sites—lands where they can dump mine waste and build other mining infrastructure—as they feel they need, and eliminates the requirement that mining companies prove that their claims are valid.

In short, the Energy Permitting Reform Act is “an oil and gas reform rollback bill trying to masquerade as a renewable energy permitting bill,” according to Hamby, and legislators should instead focus on policies that emphasize thoughtful up-front planning for renewable energy siting and development.

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All the stuff they’re doing right now, there is a chance that by Saturday, they’ll be doing the same cleanup, with the same amount of debris.”

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@whitesandsnps

"If there's a sudden chill in the air, of thunderstorms you should beware..."

This Wild Weather Wednesday, add a new catchphrase to your folksy forecast lexicon! While many of us know the classic expression "red skies at night, sailor's delight," we can memorize plenty of other predictable weather patterns by taking advantage of our brains' affinity for a good rhyme.

In this case, the goal is to remember that although a cool breeze feels like a blessing on a hot summer day, it may in fact be an omen of worse weather to come. A sudden chilly draft may be caused by the outflow boundary of an approaching storm. An outflow boundary, or gust front, is a wall of cold air created by a thunderstorm that can be accompanied by shifting winds and an increase in barometric pressure. They can often be visually identified by the presence of arcus clouds, or long, low, horizontal cloud formations.

Thunderstorms are particularly dangerous in the dunefield where lightning can travel many miles and the lack of vegetation leaves you exposed. If you suspect a thunderstorm is approaching while you're in the park, return to your vehicle or go inside as soon as possible.

Monitor the park's current weather on our website: https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/weather.htm