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With ten days remaining in his presidency, the Center for Western Priorities today released a report looking at President Joe Biden's final year on public lands.
Report authors Lauren Bogard and Sterling Homard write that 2024 was the culmination of years of work for the Biden administration on public lands, including the completion of several high priority rulemakings related to federal oil and gas leasing and bonding, renewable energy development, bringing conservation on par with other uses of public lands, regulating methane emissions, and protecting millions of acres in Alaska from future drilling and mining.
This week, President Biden capped off his remarkable year with the announcement of Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments in California, pushing the total number of acres he protected using the Antiquities Act to nearly 4.5 million (including the restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments) and establishing his legacy as the most consequential conservation president in modern history.
Learn more about President Biden's public lands record, and how he left a road map for future conservation-minded presidents to follow, in CWP's report.
Trump's energy team is already fighting
Meanwhile, with ten days until he takes office, President-elect Donald Trump's energy and public lands team is already beset by infighting. Politico reports that Trump's "National Energy Council" is caught in a turf war between Trump's nominees to run the Interior and Energy departments.
One industry executive told Politico that it appears the council will be run on an "ad hoc" basis with little staff and report to Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff who is the architect of Trump's mass deportation plans. Even the council's name is in flux, with Politico reporting that it will be renamed the "National Energy Dominance Council" to avoid acronym confusion with the long-standing National Economic Council.
Trump had originally announced that the council would be run by Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum. Politico reports that Chris Wright, Trump's incoming Energy secretary who denies the existence of a climate crisis, wants an equal role on the council, with another industry executive saying "some hardliners want more of a true believer" leading the council.
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It’s important we codify that the people of Wyoming have the right to access their public lands.... I’m not one to sit by and hope the Supreme Court makes the right decision when we know people’s rights are on the line.”
